Met Office warns Arctic air could reach UK later this month
Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 8 Nov, 07:44 · Archive
A weakening polar vortex could bring Arctic conditions to the UK deeper into November.
The polar vortex is a band of strong winds high in the atmosphere that typically keeps cold air trapped near the North Pole. When it weakens, there is a greater risk of colder air pushing south into the UK.
Marco Petagna, a forecaster at the Met Office, said: 'At the moment, we've got a warming taking place in the stratosphere. The polar vortex in the stratosphere is starting to weaken.' If the winds reverse, it could become a 'major sudden stratospheric warming' event—potentially the earliest ever recorded.
However, Petagna cautioned against assuming this will lead to significant cold weather. He explained: 'For the UK, it does increase the chance of cold weather, normally a few weeks down the line, so sort of deeper into November is when we're more likely to see an influence if it does happen.' He noted that a similar event last November did not directly produce much cold weather in the UK, and emphasised that 'it doesn't always happen, it just increases the chance of it occurring'.
Forecasters will continue to monitor the polar vortex over the coming weeks to assess the likelihood of colder conditions reaching Britain. In the immediate term, a yellow fog warning is in place across parts of the South West, South East and Midlands on Sunday morning, potentially disrupting travel.
How it is being reported
- UK could be hit by Arctic air later this month as polar vortex weakensMet Office warns a weakening polar vortex could bring Arctic air and wintry weather to the UK later this month.Whitehaven News · 8 Nov, 07:35
- UK could be hit by Arctic air later this month as polar vortex weakensMet Office warns a weakening polar vortex could bring Arctic air and wintry weather to the UK later this month.Westmorland Gazette · 8 Nov, 07:35
- UK could be hit by Arctic air later this month as polar vortex weakensMet Office warns a weakening polar vortex could bring Arctic air and wintry weather to the UK later this month.Cumberland News · 8 Nov, 07:35
- UK could be hit by Arctic air later this month as polar vortex weakensMet Office warns a weakening polar vortex could bring Arctic air and wintry weather to the UK later this month.NW Evening Mail · 8 Nov, 07:35
In this story: Met Office · Marco Petagna · UK · North Pole
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