Weather

Tropical Cyclone Kenneth captured by NASA's Terra satellite. The eye of the storm is clearly visible. (Image: NASA WorldView2019)

The RMetS' FutureLearn course, developed with the University of Reading, ‘Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the weather’, is now in its second year, and continues to be run three times a year.

Developed from the course we offer to secondary geography teachers, 'Come Rain or Shine' helps people to further understand the physical processes behind the weather. The stand-alone course complements the ‘Learn About Weather’ course, but you do not need to have completed that course before signing up for ‘Come Rain or Shine’.

Biometeorology is the study of the impact weather has on the natural world, including animals, plants and humans. This includes the impact on symptoms of existing diseases, contribution to new conditions and temporary physiological changes. There are a number of illnesses and symptoms that are caused or exacerbated by certain types of weather. Here we discuss some of the more obvious conditions, as well as some, perhaps, more surprising ailments.

Videos have been doing the rounds on social media showing how an intense hailstorm in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, turned a bridge into a waterfall on 26th June. The storm which lasted 15 minutes also damaged trees, electricity pylons and left some houses without a roof.

Watch the video here >>

Dr Jo Elworthy is Director of Interpretation at the Eden Project. Jo has worked at Eden since its inception and is dedicated to sharing the amazing workings of our planet Earth with Eden’s visitors: ‘Visiting the rainforest and experiencing weather and finding out about the relationship between rainforests and climate first hand can help transform our understanding of our world and how we interact with it.’ Here, Jo takes us on a journey to ‘The Weather Maker’ in the Rainforest Biome at the Eden Project.

The mixture of gasses that make up the Earth’s atmosphere. Excluding water vapour and dust, the main components of air are nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, krypton, hydrogen, xenon and ozone.