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Weather Hazards
UK Extreme Weather
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Cards (12)
Prolonged rainfall and flooding
Persistent
rainfall
over a long period = river floods.
Ground is completely
saturated
= it can no longer absorb water.
More
surface
run off, especially
steep
slopes and valleys.
So more water returns straight to the
river
than soaking into the ground.
Occurs in late
winter.
Strong
winds
UK gets battered by strong winds
Remnants of
hurricanes
travel over the Atlantic from the USA and Caribbean.
Storm Eunice battered southern Britain + ripped much of the London O2's roof off.
Drought + Heatwaves
Drought =
15
consecutive days with less than
0.2mm
of rain on one day.
2. Heatwaves = Increasing in frequency.
Hottest
temperature - 40. 2 degrees
Evidence from Met Office : Extreme Weather
suggests that the
UK
is experiencing more
extreme weather events
all weather is subject to great
variability.
Impacts of flooding + droughts + extreme cold
extreme
social
,
environmental
and
economic
impacts
Increase in droughts
UK has seen a temperature
increase
of 1 degrees since 1980
linked to
hotter
summers + greater chance of
drought
Effects of extreme weather
Disruption to
Transport
Loss of
crops
+ livestock
Burst
pipes
Beast from the East
Storm
Emma
brought winds in excess of
70mph.
Extreme cold air from Russia to UK
15-20cm of
snow
fell for the course of
3
days.
Social impacts of Beast from the East
10
people killed
Thousands of homes without
power
Over
1000
schools across the country closed for up to
3
days
Economic impacts : Beast from the East
Cost UK economy £1
billion
/day. Businesses were closed, unable to work.
Airports
closed + flights cancelled,
impacting
tourism + trade.
Environmental impacts of Beast from the East
Crop
yields affected : potatoes
The cold weather reduced the insect population =
food
shortages for birds & wildlife
Sea froze in places for the first time since 1929
How the event was managed to reduce risk?
Met office issues
‘Red’
weather warning to stop people from travelling.
Community centers open for homeless people to
shelter
from the conditions.
Red Cross issued blankets/camp
beds
to people stranded at Glasgow Airport.