UK summers are likely to regularly feature intense 40°C heatwaves

3 years ago 411

UK summers are apt to regularly spot temperatures supra 40°C adjacent if humanity manages to bounds planetary warming to 1.5°C, meteorologists person warned.

The UK is already seeing progressively utmost weather, with 2020 the 3rd warmest, 5th wettest and eighth sunniest twelvemonth connected grounds – the archetypal to autumn into the apical 10 for each 3 variables. Data published successful the The State Of The UK Climate 2020 study contiguous revealed the mean wintertime somesthesia for past twelvemonth was 5.3°C, which is 1.6°C higher than the 1981 to 2010 average.

That makes December 2019 to February 2020 the 5th warmest wintertime connected record, portion the mean somesthesia past summertime was 14.8°C, 0.4°C supra the 1981 to 2010 average.

Early August 2020 saw maximum temperatures deed 34°C connected six consecutive days, with 5 “tropical nights” supra 20°C, making it one of the astir important heatwaves to impact confederate England successful the past 60 years, the report’s authors said.

Comparing information from the Central England Temperature series, which goes backmost to 1772, the probe recovered the aboriginal 21st period successful this portion has been 0.5°C to 1°C warmer than 1901 to 2000 and 0.5 to 1.5°C warmer than 1801 to 1900.

Liz Bentley, main enforcement of the Royal Meteorological Society, which publishes the report, said the satellite was already seeing utmost vigor arsenic a effect of warming of 1.1°C to 1.2°C supra pre-industrial levels.

“If you instrumentality that up by different 0.3°C, these [heatwaves] are conscionable going to go overmuch much aggravated – we’re apt to spot 40°C successful the UK though we person ne'er seen those kinds of temperatures [before],” she said.

“As we deed 1.5°C of planetary warming, that’s going to not conscionable go thing that we spot erstwhile oregon twice, it’ll commencement to go thing that we spot connected a overmuch much regular basis.”

Mike Kendon, clime idiosyncratic astatine the Met Office and pb writer of the report, said the figures indicated a caller normal for the UK.

“In 7 retired of the past 10 years, we’ve seen temperatures of 34°C successful the UK compared to 7 retired of the erstwhile 50 years earlier that,” helium said. “So this is an denotation of the information that our baseline of our clime is changing and what we respect arsenic mean is changing.”

Journal reference: International Journal of Climatology, DOI: 10.1002/joc.7285

Sign up for Countdown to COP26, our escaped newsletter covering this important twelvemonth for clime policy