The United Kingdom is experiencing a once-in-250-year climate event, the Met Office said this Friday. A sudden stratospheric warming event associated with extremely cold weather, such as 2018, usually hits the British Isles every two years – however, according to experts, this is the first time three SSW events have been recorded.
An SSW is a disturbance of the normal westerly wind between 10 and 50 kilometers above the Earth, which often causes the jet stream to become more meandering, leading to the development of a large area of high pressure above the Earth. .
A Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) event is underway – this chart shows that temperatures are rapidly rising here and the polar vortex is collapsing. This will encourage more pressure on Greenland and Iceland over the next few weeks. Intermittent cold N+W half EU. Often v. Mild in IF I . pic.twitter.com/5oHPAljxGJ
— wxcharts – MetDesk Company (@wxcharts) March 5, 2024
As a result, the Met Office highlighted the 'blocking' of Atlantic low pressure systems responsible for the relatively mild, wet and windy weather that often occurs in UK winters – this blocking pattern increases the likelihood of cold and dry conditions. Mild, wet and windy conditions in the UK and southern Europe.
“Although we haven't seen this before, we have recently documented an unprecedented chance of three SSW events occurring in one winter,” said Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office. “Our research work, using several computer simulations, shows that this can happen once every 250 winters.”
Although the event does not always cause a drop in temperature, 70% of SSW events are linked to cold snaps. “Although it is extremely rare, the probability of multiple SSW events increases and the probability of multiple events this winter increases.”
In 2018, this process caused the chaotic 'Beast from the East' blizzard, which saw heavy snow, ice and strong winds, causing 17 deaths and paralyzing the country.
Happy Sudden Stratospheric Warming Day to all who celebrate pic.twitter.com/htsbk2dbPL
— Dr. Simon Lee (@SimonLeeWx) March 4, 2024
