To get free, real-time breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox, sign up for our breaking news emails
Sign up for our free breaking news emails
A once-in-250-year weather event is about to arrive in the UK, bringing extreme winter conditions, the Met Office has warned.
Sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) usually occurs every two extended winters, but sometimes years go by without it happening, meteorologists said.
But this year three SSW events can occur in one year resulting in something extremely rare.
Professor Adam Scaife, Head of Long-Range Forecasting at the Met Office, said: “Although we have never seen this before, we have recently documented the chances of three unprecedented SSW events occurring in one winter.”
“Our research work, using multiple computer simulations, has shown that this could happen once every 250 winters.”
Met Office forecasts show snow falling on Friday in parts of Scotland, while the rest of the country enjoys pleasant weather
(office met)
The SSW process typically takes place “between 10 km and 50 km above the Earth's surface”, which means we do not observe a warming effect on Earth.
When it develops in the SW, the normal westerly flow of air above the atmosphere makes the jet stream meander more, which could lead to a large area of high pressure over the North Atlantic, the Met Office explained.
The formation of this high pressure area could be an obstacle to the Atlantic low pressure systems responsible for mild, humid and windy weather.
The mass then increases the chance of cold, dry weather in the UK and increases the chance of mild, wet and windy conditions in southern Europe.
Cyclists brave winter scenes in Gloucestershire as snowfall blankets the west of England
(@Dodd1e5)
Although this event does not always bring temperatures down, 70% of sudden hot weather events are associated with a cold snap.
“Although this is very rare, we have also found that the chance of multiple SSW events is increasing… and therefore the chance of multiple events this winter is increasing,” Professor Scaife added.
This operation caused a “Beast from the East” blizzard that caused chaos, killing 17 people and devastating the country.
The Met Office forecast calls for a cool weekend with chilly winds and some rain.
