Extreme weather news and discussion

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Heatwave: National emergency declared after UK's first red extreme heat warning
Source: BBC

By Doug Faulkner & Charley Adams

A national emergency has been declared after a red extreme heat warning was issued for the first time, as temperatures could hit 40C (104F).

The Met Office's highest warning covers an area including London, Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday.

It means there is a risk to life and daily routines will need to change.

Speed restrictions are likely on railway lines, some schools will close early and some hospital appointments will be cancelled.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62177458

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Europe broils in heat wave that fuels fires in France, Spain
Source: AP

By ROBERT EDME and JOHN LEICESTER

LA TESTE-DE-BUCH, France (AP) — A heat wave broiling Europe spilled northward Monday to Britain, where authorities warned of possible record temperatures, and fueled ferocious wildfires in France, which scrambled water-bombing planes and hundreds of firefighters to battle flames spreading through tinder-dry forests.

In Spain, two people were killed in blazes that the country’s prime minister linked to global warming, saying: “Climate change kills.”

In both France and Spain, fierce heat fueled the fires — part of a wall of high temperatures moving across Europe, touching even places like Britain, where officials have issued the first-ever extreme heat warning. The country’s weather service forecast that the record high of 38.7 degrees Celsius (101.7 degrees Fahrenheit), set in 2019, could be shattered.

“Forty-one isn’t off the cards,” said Met Office CEO Penelope Endersby. “We’ve even got some 43s in the model, but we’re hoping it won’t be as high as that.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-fr ... e68d207784

[weatheriscool]

Flights halted as runways melt and temperatures exceed 38C in parts of England
Source: The Guardian

Luton airport has been temporarily shut to flights following a runway defect – believed to be due to the record temperatures. Flights that took off earlier today destined for Luton have been diverted to alternative airports such as Stansted. Passengers on an EasyJet flight from Catania in Sicily were told by the captain that they were unable to land at Luton because parts of the runway had effectively melted.


Flying activity was also halted at RAF Brize Norton, with Sky News reporting that part of the runway had melted.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/liv ... st-updates

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Just hit 40°C here in London.

[wjfox]

[andmar74]

Here where I am there's just 28 degrees, expected to hit 35 tomorrow. has been spared so far.

[funkervogt]

Heat wave kills at least 1,100 in Spain and Portugal.
https://theweek.com/europe/1015225/at-l ... ted-causes

[Time_Traveller]

UK reaches hottest ever temperature as 40.2C recorded at Heathrow

Tue 19 Jul 2022 14.07 BST

Britain has recorded its highest ever temperature as the 40C (104F) mark was provisionally broken for the first time, at Heathrow airport.

The previous record, of 38.7C in 2019, fell first when 39.1C was provisionally recorded on Tuesday morning at Charlwood in Surrey, and then 40.2C was reported at Heathrow at 12.50pm, the Met Office said.

The soaring temperatures came after the hottest night on record, and the highest minimum temperature in a 24-hour period was recorded in Kenley in south London, of 25.8C in the 24 hours to 10am on Tuesday.

Firefighters battled a blaze at a beauty spot in the West Midlands, households in the south-east were told to save water by switching off washing machines, and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, admitted it would take decades to make road and rail infrastructure resilient enough to cope with the heating climate.

Climate experts described the temperature record as a harbinger of rising risks to lives and livelihoods for at least the next 30 years.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... r-heatwave

[Ken_J]

Bet you snowflakes are glad that global warming is all made up now. Because if it was real, imagine how much worse these things would be. Lol. /Sarcasm.

[caltrek]

No surprise here (see below), but for those snowflakes who continue to doubt the connection between greenhouse gas emissions and extreme heat events.

Human Activities Increase Likelihood of More Extreme Heatwaves, Researchers Find
July 22, 2022

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) July 19 was the hottest day ever recorded in the United Kingdom, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 degrees Fahrenheit). The heatwave serves as an early preview of what climate forecasters theorized will be typical summer weather in the U.K. in 2050. The heat continues across Europe today, as well as in the United States, where more than a third of the country is under heat warnings.

The temperatures harken back to just over a year ago when nearly 1,500 people died during a late June heatwave that more than doubled average temperatures in the United States and Canada.

Will temperatures continue to rise, leading to more frequent extreme heat events?

Yes, according to the latest analysis of the atmospheric circulation patterns and human-caused emissions that led to the 2021 heatwave in North America. The findings, published on July 22 in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences
( https://link.springer.com/article/10.1 ... 022-2078-2), may also explain the U.K.'s current heatwave.

The research team found that greenhouse gases are the primary reason for increased temperatures in the past and will likely continue to be the main contributing factor, with simulations showing that extreme heatwave events will increase by more than 30 percentage points in the coming years. Most of that increased probability is the result of greenhouse gases, according to their results

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/959387

[caltrek]

Scientist Believe Heat Waves Around the World are Connected
by Andrew Freedman
July 22, 2022

Introduction:

(Axios) Two heat waves an ocean apart are inextricably linked.

Why it matters: These kinds of interconnected heat waves could become even more extreme in the future, as human-caused climate change affects the jet stream winds responsible for them.

• Those topsy turvy undulations helped to cause both the 115-degree high temperature in Mangum, Oklahoma, on Tuesday and the U.K.'s breaking of its all-time record high temperature, with 104.36°F recorded in Coningsby, England, the same day, scientists tell Axios.

Driving the news: The jet stream has come under particular scrutiny by climate scientists in recent years due to the hypothesis that the changing temperature difference between the equator and the North Pole could slow down this key weather maker, especially during the summer.

• Perturbations in the jet stream, or its waviness, can enable the formation and maintenance of intense heat domes such as those that have set up across parts of the U.S. and Europe in the past week.

• Also linked — multiple heat domes over Asia that have led to heat waves in China, Siberia and Japan.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2022/07/22/heat- ... nnected

[weatheriscool]

More than 90 million in the US will endure alarmingly high temperatures Sunday as heat wave persists
Source: CNN

By Aya Elamroussi,

(CNN)The deadly heat wave scorching much of the US will continue Sunday, when the Northeast and mid-South regions are likely to be suffocated by temperatures feeling as hot as 105 degrees.

More than 90 million people across the country are under various heat alerts for dangerously high temperatures. Sunday is expected to bring the hottest temperatures to the Northeast.

"From the southern Plains into the East, it will feel extremely oppressive, especially in the major metro areas of Washington D.C. to New York City and Boston," the National Weather Service warned.

In New York City, at least one person died from heat exposure Saturday, a spokesperson for the city's medical examiner's office said. The person also had other medical issues, the spokesperson said. The forecast high in the city Saturday was 97 degrees.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/weather/ ... index.html

[wjfox]

UK facing drought in August following extreme heat

Mon 25 Jul 2022 14.01 BST

The UK is facing the prospect of a drought being declared in August, experts have said, warning of potential crop failures after a period of remarkably dry weather and extreme heat.

Hosepipe bans for households could be brought in across the UK and farmers could be restricted from irrigating their crops if the government implements a drought plan.

On Tuesday, the National Drought Group, made up of government departments and affected groups, will meet to discuss a strategy to deal with the very dry conditions faced by the UK.

The meeting had been supposed to take place in October to plan for 2023, but conditions have become so dry that it has been brought forward.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... e-heat-dry

[weatheriscool]

Record rainfall causes widespread flash-flooding near St. Louis, including on I-70
Source: CNN

(CNN) Torrential and record-breaking rainfall caused widespread flash flooding in the St. Louis area Tuesday morning, submerging vehicles on streets, forcing rescues from homes and cars and spurring numerous road closures, including part of Interstate 70, officials said.

In St. Louis itself, more than 8 inches of rain had fallen from midnight to 7 a.m. -- already surpassing the city's all-time one-day record of 6.85 inches set on August 20, 1915, the National Weather Service said.And more rain was expected before a tapering by 10 a.m., the National Weather Service's office in St. Louis wrote.

In the wider St. Louis area, about 6-10 inches of rain fell from midnight to 6 a.m. CT., according to the weather service. "Move to higher ground now! This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," the weather service's St. Louis office wrote early Tuesday.

Vehicles were reported submerged or otherwise stranded on flooded streets in various parts of the St. Louis area, the weather service said. In the city itself, fire personnel checked about 18 flooded homes, and rescued six people and six dogs by boat, the city fire department said early Tuesday. In the suburb of University City, a rescue from a stranded vehicle was reported early Tuesday, the weather service said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/weather/ ... index.html