Europe needs to prepare for temperatures of 50°C in future
Syracuse, in Sicily, has provisionally exceeded the previous European highest temperature with a record of 48.8°C yesterday. If the record is confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization, this temperature will break the previous record of 48.0°C in Athens in 1977.
Heatwave helps mark fifth warmest July on record
The mid-month heatwave has helped the UK to its joint fifth warmest July on record according to provisional Met Office figures, with Scotland and Northern Ireland recording their third warmest July, in a month where Northern Ireland also broke its all-time high temperature record, exceeding 31C multiple times.
Why the Met Office is launching a new extreme heat warning
Although hot weather can often be seen as ‘good news’ and is enjoyed by many, it can have serious consequences. Research shows that, as a result of climate change, we are now much more likely to see prolonged spells of hot weather here in the UK.
Climate Data Challenge – working in partnership for innovation
As Governments, organisations and individuals around the world seek to tackle the challenges of climate change, creativity and innovation are key to finding ways to improve our resilience to weather and climate.
New year begins with a sudden stratospheric warming
Meteorologists are already able to note a significant atmospheric observation in their 2021 diaries with the beginning of a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW), which started over the weekend – this was forecast last week.
Rainfall on UK’s wettest day on record could have more than filled Loch Ness
Saturday 3 October 2020 is now the wettest day on record since 1891 for UK-wide rainfall. It received the greatest rainfall in any single day averaged out across the UK, beating the previous record on the 25 August 1986.
Global temperature: how does 2020 compare so far?
The Earth’s average temperature has increased by about 1 degree C since pre-industrial times, which for the climate record is calculated as the period 1850-1900.
Spring 2020: the sunniest on record in the UK
The UK has recorded the sunniest spring since records began in 1929. Since that time there have been only nine UK springs recording more than 500 hours of sunshine, with the previous sunniest being 555.3 hours in 1948.
Coronavirus will impact the atmospheric CO2 record – but not enough to slow global heating
The drop in global carbon-dioxide emissions following the coronavirus pandemic could be large enough to noticeably slow the build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere this year, a team of scientists at the Met Office and Scripps Institution for Oceanography have predicted.
Summer temperature 2018 – the ‘new normal’?
The Met Office Chief Scientist, Professor Stephen Belcher, appeared on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday evening to talk about current extreme temperatures and climate change.
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