October was no different, indeed the country was hit by what turned out to be the most severe storm in years.
Autumn is always stormy and forecasters warn of more gales and heavy rain over the next few days.
However nothing as severe as last Monday’s St Jude Storm is likely, this is because St Jude it was not your typical seasonal tempest.
Named after the patron saint of desperate causes it whipped up winds of 99mph on the Isle of Wight with fierce gusts around the country ripping down power lines and uprooting trees.
It was borne out of an unusual set of circumstances which all came together at the same time to cause the level of chaos we saw.
GET THE LATEST WEATHER FORECAST FOR YOUR AREA HERE
Hours before it hit the UK St Jude hadn’t even formed, it was still a swirling mixture of weather systems thousands of miles away which eventually came together and barreled towards the UK.
The storm started life as an area of cloudy weather over the Great Lakes in America and a separate weather system over the Caribbean.
They gradually merged forming an area of very low pressure which deepened rapidly and was picked up by the jet stream - a fast ribbon of air circulating the globe - over the Atlantic.
The 200mph jet stream winds, which were also unusually strong, swept the resulting storm towards the UK.
These storms often form way out in the Atlantic but usually blow themselves out before ever reaching our shores, however this time round everything came together slightly differently, proximity to the jet stream was a major factor.
The exact path of the storm was uncertain even the night before, but when it did arrive it followed the course Met Office computers had forecast to be the most likely.
These events are thankfully rare, tragically St Jude claimed six lives and left thousands of people clearing up the mess.
October was also unusual in that is was very mild, early Met Office figures show it is likely to be one of the warmest on record.
The mean temperature from the 1st to the 28th was 11.6C - 2.1 C above the long-term (1981-2010) average.
It is currently the fifth warmest October in history although this could change once the final three days of data have been included.
October is also notable because it was dull and, for most places, relatively wet, according to Met Office forecasters.
Sunshine hours (provisionally) were below the long-term average, while rainfall was already above ‘normal’ levels for everywhere apart from Scotland.
So what is in store next?
Forecasters are warning of more wind and rain on the way for most places, and it may be a good idea to dig out those hats and scarves - it is set to turn colder.
0 comments:
Post a Comment