Comment from Dr Abigail Waring, Surface Temperature Research Associate at the University of Leicester in the School of Physics and Astronomy (Dep...
Comment from Dr Abigail Waring, Surface Temperature Research Associate at the University of Leicester in the School of Physics and Astronomy (Department of Earth Observation Science) on this weekend’s warm weather.
“The UK is set for a late-May heatwave this Bank Holiday weekend, with temperatures potentially reaching 33°C across parts of southern England and the Midlands, which could break the current UK May temperature record of 32.8°C.
“According to the UK Met Office, the heat is being driven primarily by strong high pressure and sinking air warmed via compression, rather than direct transport of hot air from southern Europe.
“While much of the UK will see dry, sunny and increasingly hot conditions through the weekend, the Met Office and UKHSA have issued heat-health alerts due to risks for vulnerable people, warm nights and increased pressure on health services, with coastal hazards also enhanced by unusually cold sea temperatures for the time of year.
“High pressure systems are a completely natural part of the atmosphere, but climate change is increasing the likelihood, intensity and duration of the extreme heat associated with them. A recent Met Office attribution study found that human-driven climate change has made breaking the UK’s May temperature record around three times more likely than in a natural climate, turning what was once roughly a 1-in-100 year event into about a 1-in-33 year event.”
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