News

Two tropical storms affected the Middle East in the past weeks. Cyclone Sagar developed in the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia on May, 16. It caused heavy rains and flash flooding after hitting Djibouti on May, 19. A total of 110 mm of rain was recorded on May 19-20, which corresponds to the average rainfall for the entire year. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), two people are reported to have died and between 25,000 and 50,000 people have been affected by the flooding.

Parts of Eastern Europe were left looking quite Mars-like this week, as orange snow blanketed mountainous landscapes. Storms in the Sahara desert led to the unusual snow being deposited in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania

The Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) and AccuWeather have today launched the third edition of the photography competition to award Weather Photographer of the Year 2018 and Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2018.

Unusual warming around the North Pole has sent a blast of cold Arctic air across Europe. A rare snow storm hit Rome on Monday and many other parts of Europe are also being blasted by bitter easterly winds from Siberia, including the UK.  

A Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) event has taken place, resulting in the split of polar vortex in two vortices which may impact our weather later this month (there is a lag time between an SSW and the impact it has on UK weather).

A SSW of the atmosphere refers to a rapid rise in temperatures in the stratosphere (which is found at an altitude of 10 km to 50 km) when the temperature can rise by up to 50°C over a couple of days – and this often leads to cold conditions across the UK.

Cycle Gita has hit islands of Tonga in the South Pacific. It is the worst storm to reach the islands in more than 60 years, bringing winds of more than 140 m.p.h.

Gita peaked overnight on 11th and 12th February, battering the main island of Tongatapu, flattening many buildings including a parliament building and bringing down power lines. Gita then picked up pace as it headed towards Fiji, where it hit the Lau Islands south of the mainland as a category 5 storm, flattening several homes and crops.

The Met Office have completed a £10 million pound state-of-the-art upgrade of the UK’s rainfall radar network.  For the first time the size and shape of raindrops and snowflakes can be captured, as well as wind speed data. These new scientific advancements have not only improved radar coverage but will lead to improvements in the accuracy of rainfall estimates, particularly during high impact weather events, such as flooding.

The BBC launched their new TV weather forecast graphics on their lunchtime news today. This follows a staggered roll out of their new weather app and website graphics over the past couple of weeks.  Over the last year the BBC have been working with their new weather services provider, MeteoGroup, to develop the new graphics – the biggest change in more than 10 years.

A new forecast published by the Met Office indicates the annual global average temperature is likely to exceed 1°C during the next five years (2018-2022).

It also notes that there is a 10% chance that the temperature could reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900) for at least one year during that period. The 2015 Paris agreement requires us to limit warming well below 2°C and to aim for 1.5°C.