It is said that a weather event is taking place that could cause another ‘Beast from the East’ to take off and hit the UK at the end of the month. Bring it on, things can’t get any worse.
Researchers at the universities of Bristol, Exeter and Bath have found that a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is currently taking place high above the North Pole.
SSW events are among the most extreme atmospheric phenomena and can cause the polar stratospheric temperature to rise by up to 50 ° C in a few days. Such events can lead to very cold weather, which often results in blizzards.
The infamous ‘Animal from the East’ of 2018 was brought by a SSW. It may take several weeks for the disturbance to reach the surface, or the process may take only a few days.
The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), involved the analysis of 40 observed SSW events.
Lead author of the study, Dr Richard Hall, said there is a greater chance of extreme cold and possibly snow during the next week or two.
He added: “While an extremely cold weather event is not a certainty, about two-thirds of SSWs have a significant impact on weather at the surface. At the moment, it is difficult to say whether this event is a split. – or type of displacement will be.
4 days agoDann Mitchell, associate professor of atmospheric science at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study, added: ‘The extreme cold weather that this breakdown of polar vortices brings is a strong reminder of how we can suddenly turn again.
“Even with climate change warming our planet, these events will still occur, which means we need to be adaptable to an increasingly extreme temperature range.”
The Met Office expected us to experience a bit colder weather at the end of the month, but believes that the temperature will not be as low as 2018 – specifically the kind that the Beast brought from the East.
Nicola Maxey, spokesperson for the Met Office, said: “You have the two events at the same time, so they are fighting against each other in a sense. They are fighting for influence over the UK, we are a very small point in the middle of the ocean.
“The feeling right now is that we can see colder weather by the end of January to February, but probably the kind of weather we are currently seeing, as opposed to what is commonly considered an animal from the East.”