Extreme weather in the uk

• Recent extreme weather events have also occured elsewhere in the world -such as the bush fires and floods in Australia in 2020. Whislt no single weather event can be blamed on climate change, trends over many years could be linked to global warming, which:

  • Lead to more energy in the atmosphere, which could in turn lead to more intense storms
  • Possibly affcer atmospheric circulation, bringing floods to normally dry areas and heatwaves to normally cooler areas
• UK weather systems, driven by the winds from the jet stream, usually cross from west to east. The jet stream moves north and south but can 'stick' in one position resulting in prolonged periods of time of the same type of weather, such as heatwaves
• 'Stuck' weather periods have become more frequent and could be due to climate change
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2003 - heatwave:

  Highest ever UK temperature recorded in Kent. Over 2000 died, railways buckled and roads melted
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2010 - heavy snow:

  Record low temperatures in Northern Ireland
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2013/14 - floods:

  England's wettest winter in 250 years
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2015/16 - floods:

  December 2015 wettest and warmest ever recorded
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2017 - strong winds:

  Ex-hurricane Ophelia disrupted transport and caused power cuts
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2018 - heavy snow:

  The 'Beast from the East' closed schools, disrupted transport and caused power cuts
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2019 - heat:

  New highest ever UK temperature recorded in Cambridge. New record highs for February and December
• Extreme weather in the UK

  2020 - floods:

  A series of storms in February brought severe floods and strong winds