Fri. Feb 7th, 2025

Why is the UK being hit by so many storms?  As Storm Jocelyn hits the UK with 80mph winds just days after Isha, scientists explain the climate system behind the onslaught<!-- wp:html --><div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">While Britain experiences an average of seven storms a year, this figure has already been surpassed during what is becoming a tumultuous weather season. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Storm Jocelyn, already the 10th storm to hit the UK in just five months, arrived on Tuesday and continued to batter Britain with 80mph winds on its second day. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">It came just days after Storm Isha, which closed schools, caused blackouts and tragically killed five people in the UK and Ireland. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">This was preceded by Storm Henk, also in January, and seven other storms that have also hit the British Isles since early September. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">So why are we being hit by so many of these stormy weather events? MailOnline takes a closer look. </p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Although the position and height of the jet stream changes, it moves at a level similar to that of transatlantic airliners. The jet stream transported low pressure systems across the Atlantic to the UK, creating high-speed winds and undesirable weather conditions typical of storms.</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Storm Jocelyn has brought dangerous conditions and new travel disruption to much of the UK. Pictured, waves crashing on New Brighton beach, Wirral.</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">According to the Met Office, the term “storm” has no official meteorological definition, but is used to describe “a deep, active area of ​​low pressure with associated strong winds and precipitation.” </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">He says the main cause of the recent storms is the jet stream, a band of air that moves rapidly five to seven miles above the Earth’s surface. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The jet stream is blowing from west to east at more than 100 miles per hour. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“The jet stream has a huge influence on the weather we experience in the UK and over the last few months it has been largely directed towards the UK and Ireland,” Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“These systems have headed towards the UK and have eventually become named storms due to the strong winds and rain they bring.” </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The strength of the jet stream was boosted by a recent chain of events. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>About two weeks ago, a pool of frigid, frigid air plunged south across North America, from where the jet stream over the UK originates. </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>As cold air hit warmer subtropical air, the temperature contrast intensified the jet stream, according to Jim Dale, senior meteorologist at the British Meteorological Services. </span></p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">A fast-moving stream of air called the jet stream (pink in colour) is currently passing through the UK.</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>“The collision of these opposing air masses invigorated the upper air jet stream, which then carried low pressure systems into and across the Atlantic,” he told MailOnline.</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>These “low pressure systems” exist as rotating vertical vortices between the ground and the jet stream. </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">They are known as low pressure areas because the atmospheric pressure is lower than the pressure of surrounding places.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">As a result, the surrounding air begins to flow inward in an attempt to equalize the pressure.<span>which creates high-speed winds and undesirable weather conditions typical of storms. </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">According to Dale, the original event that caused frigid air to move south in North America was likely related to climate change. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">It is related to the polar vortex, a pattern of atmospheric circulation found high above the poles, in the stratosphere. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“The polar vortex is displaced by sudden stratospheric warming caused by chaotic atmospheric waves,” Dale said.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“This distorts the normal anticyclonic motion over the pole and allows very cold surface air to flow south toward America (in this case), Europe or Asia.” </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Studies have already linked climate change to high-intensity weather events, such as storms, floods, droughts and wildfires. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The storms are thought to be becoming more intense because warmer sea surface temperatures increase wind speeds. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“Climate change is part of that equation,” Dale told MailOnline. ‘It is happening and it is not a figment of our imagination.</p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">A fallen tree lying in the water after the banks of the River Ouse overflowed following Storm Jocelyn, 24 January</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Workers remove a tree that fell onto an electrical substation on the Kinnaird estate in Larbert during Storm Isha on Sunday. </p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“This and the various extreme events we have experienced over the past five or six years are just the beginning.” </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Melissa Lazenby, a meteorologist at the University of Sussex, said human influence is “altering typical storm patterns in the UK and will continue to do so in the future.” </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“The models agree that the frequency of winter storms is expected to increase, as well as the associated wind speed and rainfall,” he told MailOnline.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘It is also very likely that the intensity of these winter storms will increase and that precipitation resulting from these events will cause major impacts, such as flooding and major storm surge, along coastal regions.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“Additional adaptation and mitigation measures will be necessary to mitigate their impacts, such as flooding and storm surges.” </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">At the beginning of each September, the Met Office reveals its list of names for the next storms, provided they arrive in the next 12 months. </p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Storm Jocelyn is the 10th storm named since 1 September 2023 by the Met Office storm naming group, which includes Met Eireann and KNMI.</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption mol-para-with-font">The Met Office started naming storms in 2015. In the last storm season (2022/23), there were only two storms (both in August). The 2015/16 season saw 11 storms, more than any other. But with 10 storms before the end of January, this season (2023/24) could exceed that total</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">The first storm of the 2023/24 season, called Storm Agnes, occurred on September 27-28, 2023. Pictured is the rotating vortex low pressure system of Storm Agnes over the British Isles. </p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">These names are arranged alphabetically, so the first to arrive is given a name beginning with A, the second with B, and so on.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">For the 2023/24 storm season, the first storm was named Agnes – which also hit parts of the UK and Ireland -, the second was named Babet and the third was Ciarán. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">It’s an effective system because the name of the storm and when it occurs instantly reveals how prolific a storm season is. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">2023/24 marks only the second time in a UK storm season that the letter J in the alphabet has been reached. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Last year’s storm season, which ran from September 2022 to August 2023, went only as far as the letter B, with Storm Antoni and Storm Betty both in August. </p> <div class="art-ins mol-factbox sciencetech"> <h3 class="mol-factbox-title">WHAT IS JET FLOW AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT BRITAIN’S WEATHER? </h3> <div class="ins cleared mol-factbox-body"> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The jet stream is a fast-moving band of air high in the atmosphere and is responsible for directing weather systems towards the UK from the Atlantic. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">It has a warm side to the south and a cold side to the north and can have a major impact on the type of weather we experience.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">In a typical British summer, when temperatures are warmer and drier, the jet stream is found to the north of the United Kingdom, where it carries warm air across the country.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">However, in winter it is further south and brings with it a wet and windier climate as low pressure areas move closer to the UK.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The jet stream, which is located at about 30,000 feet, can also change shape, going from flat to amplified, and it is the latter that can cause huge storms to develop very quickly.</p> </div> </div> </div><!-- /wp:html -->

While Britain experiences an average of seven storms a year, this figure has already been surpassed during what is becoming a tumultuous weather season.

Storm Jocelyn, already the 10th storm to hit the UK in just five months, arrived on Tuesday and continued to batter Britain with 80mph winds on its second day.

It came just days after Storm Isha, which closed schools, caused blackouts and tragically killed five people in the UK and Ireland.

This was preceded by Storm Henk, also in January, and seven other storms that have also hit the British Isles since early September.

So why are we being hit by so many of these stormy weather events? MailOnline takes a closer look.

Although the position and height of the jet stream changes, it moves at a level similar to that of transatlantic airliners. The jet stream transported low pressure systems across the Atlantic to the UK, creating high-speed winds and undesirable weather conditions typical of storms.

Storm Jocelyn has brought dangerous conditions and new travel disruption to much of the UK. Pictured, waves crashing on New Brighton beach, Wirral.

According to the Met Office, the term “storm” has no official meteorological definition, but is used to describe “a deep, active area of ​​low pressure with associated strong winds and precipitation.”

He says the main cause of the recent storms is the jet stream, a band of air that moves rapidly five to seven miles above the Earth’s surface.

The jet stream is blowing from west to east at more than 100 miles per hour.

“The jet stream has a huge influence on the weather we experience in the UK and over the last few months it has been largely directed towards the UK and Ireland,” Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said.

“These systems have headed towards the UK and have eventually become named storms due to the strong winds and rain they bring.”

The strength of the jet stream was boosted by a recent chain of events.

About two weeks ago, a pool of frigid, frigid air plunged south across North America, from where the jet stream over the UK originates.

As cold air hit warmer subtropical air, the temperature contrast intensified the jet stream, according to Jim Dale, senior meteorologist at the British Meteorological Services.

A fast-moving stream of air called the jet stream (pink in colour) is currently passing through the UK.

“The collision of these opposing air masses invigorated the upper air jet stream, which then carried low pressure systems into and across the Atlantic,” he told MailOnline.

These “low pressure systems” exist as rotating vertical vortices between the ground and the jet stream.

They are known as low pressure areas because the atmospheric pressure is lower than the pressure of surrounding places.

As a result, the surrounding air begins to flow inward in an attempt to equalize the pressure.which creates high-speed winds and undesirable weather conditions typical of storms.

According to Dale, the original event that caused frigid air to move south in North America was likely related to climate change.

It is related to the polar vortex, a pattern of atmospheric circulation found high above the poles, in the stratosphere.

“The polar vortex is displaced by sudden stratospheric warming caused by chaotic atmospheric waves,” Dale said.

“This distorts the normal anticyclonic motion over the pole and allows very cold surface air to flow south toward America (in this case), Europe or Asia.”

Studies have already linked climate change to high-intensity weather events, such as storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.

The storms are thought to be becoming more intense because warmer sea surface temperatures increase wind speeds.

“Climate change is part of that equation,” Dale told MailOnline. ‘It is happening and it is not a figment of our imagination.

A fallen tree lying in the water after the banks of the River Ouse overflowed following Storm Jocelyn, 24 January

Workers remove a tree that fell onto an electrical substation on the Kinnaird estate in Larbert during Storm Isha on Sunday.

“This and the various extreme events we have experienced over the past five or six years are just the beginning.”

Melissa Lazenby, a meteorologist at the University of Sussex, said human influence is “altering typical storm patterns in the UK and will continue to do so in the future.”

“The models agree that the frequency of winter storms is expected to increase, as well as the associated wind speed and rainfall,” he told MailOnline.

‘It is also very likely that the intensity of these winter storms will increase and that precipitation resulting from these events will cause major impacts, such as flooding and major storm surge, along coastal regions.

“Additional adaptation and mitigation measures will be necessary to mitigate their impacts, such as flooding and storm surges.”

At the beginning of each September, the Met Office reveals its list of names for the next storms, provided they arrive in the next 12 months.

Storm Jocelyn is the 10th storm named since 1 September 2023 by the Met Office storm naming group, which includes Met Eireann and KNMI.

The Met Office started naming storms in 2015. In the last storm season (2022/23), there were only two storms (both in August). The 2015/16 season saw 11 storms, more than any other. But with 10 storms before the end of January, this season (2023/24) could exceed that total

The first storm of the 2023/24 season, called Storm Agnes, occurred on September 27-28, 2023. Pictured is the rotating vortex low pressure system of Storm Agnes over the British Isles.

These names are arranged alphabetically, so the first to arrive is given a name beginning with A, the second with B, and so on.

For the 2023/24 storm season, the first storm was named Agnes – which also hit parts of the UK and Ireland -, the second was named Babet and the third was Ciarán.

It’s an effective system because the name of the storm and when it occurs instantly reveals how prolific a storm season is.

2023/24 marks only the second time in a UK storm season that the letter J in the alphabet has been reached.

Last year’s storm season, which ran from September 2022 to August 2023, went only as far as the letter B, with Storm Antoni and Storm Betty both in August.

WHAT IS JET FLOW AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT BRITAIN’S WEATHER?

The jet stream is a fast-moving band of air high in the atmosphere and is responsible for directing weather systems towards the UK from the Atlantic.

It has a warm side to the south and a cold side to the north and can have a major impact on the type of weather we experience.

In a typical British summer, when temperatures are warmer and drier, the jet stream is found to the north of the United Kingdom, where it carries warm air across the country.

However, in winter it is further south and brings with it a wet and windier climate as low pressure areas move closer to the UK.

The jet stream, which is located at about 30,000 feet, can also change shape, going from flat to amplified, and it is the latter that can cause huge storms to develop very quickly.

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