Saturday, 23 November 2024

Weather: "Polar Vortex” Hitting The UK

Report about brutal” freezing conditions and snow are likely at the start of October. A polar vortex is a circulation of winds high up in the stratosphere which can affect the weather.

 According to report, the Met Office has rubbished reports of a “polar vortex” hitting the UK next week.

The weather agency criticised the reports (and an image of heavy snow accompanying them), branding them "really misleading".

“This doesn’t tally with our forecast,” a spokesman said. “We will be having a colder feed of air coming into the UK from the weekend, but no suggestion of snow. That image is misleading. 

“We may have some frosts to lower latitudes in the UK, and snow on the highest mountains in Scotland, but we aren’t forecasting snow to lower levels.”

The Met Office's current short-term forecasts are predicting "drier and brighter" weather on Tuesday, with "some spells of sunshine" and a "few showers" on Wednesday and Thursday. 

The agency has become increasingly vocal against headlines predicting extreme weather events. “Talking about the weather is a national obsession in the UK,” it says in guidance, “making it a popular subject for the media.

“However, our weather is not always exciting or extreme, meaning misleading or exaggerated headlines can appear at times." 

Last week, the agency even directly called out The Mirror for “clickbait journalism” over a story about upcoming thunderstorms.

It posted a video on TikTok that blasted the “utter rubbish” warning urging people to “shut the curtains” during a rainy spell in England.

Addressing why it’s difficult to predict extreme weather events such as heatwaves in the summer or snowstorms in the winter, the Met Office has previously: “When looking at forecasts beyond five days into the future, the chaotic nature of the atmosphere starts to come into play - small events currently over the Atlantic can have potentially significant impacts on our weather in the UK in several days' time.

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