Occasional severe storms are something we associate with winter in the UK. They happen, but they are unusual. This winter saw the most named storms since records began. The question being asked is: is climate change causing more storms?
Between zero (in a very good year) and nine severe storms occur across the UK in winter (NCAS). The 2023/2024 winter season was very unusual with eight named storms by January 2024, the most since named storm records began in 2015.
The UK experiences stormy weather because of the jet stream, strong winds that blow west to east across the Atlantic and bring storms with them.
There are always fluctuations in the jet stream, but projections by Oscar Martínez-Alvarado and his research team show that sting jets are likely to increase from one third of all storms to one half by the end of the century. Sting jets ‘are narrow jets of air that accelerate as they descend’ and they create severe storms.
More extreme storms cause more damage, disrupt more travel and are a greater risk to life.
It’s important that we improve scientific understanding of the effects of a warming climate on extreme storms, so that society can mitigate the impacts.
Dr Emily Grace Norton, Meteorological Instrument Scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and University of Manchester.
Is climate change causing more storms
A recent article in The Guardian quotes a study by the the World Weather Attribution group, a group of climate scientists who are analysing how much of the change in wet weather can be attributed to climate change. It says the 23/24 winter was made ‘ten times more likely and twenty times wetter’ by ‘human-caused global heating’.
Dr Sarah Kew, who is a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and a part of the WWA, says that the UK will get wetter, damper and mouldier as climate change progresses.
Her words highlight the issue of concern. Homes are at risk of extreme weather.
Older UK housing stock is not designed to withstand prolonged wet, damp and stormy weather. 34% of UK households (9.6m people) are living in cold, damp and poorly insulated homes according to analysis by the Institute of Health Equity and Friends of the Earth (The Guardian).
New build home owners are not safe either. 109,017 new-build homes have been built in flood zones (The Flood Hub). One in eight new build residents have experienced flooding in their new home and 16% have had flooding in the garden.
The Red Cross says weather-related claims have risen by a third in the UK and led to a record-breaking £583m in claims. As risk factors increase, so do insurance premiums. And already one in seven people have no insurance as they cannot afford it.
Flooding affects those on low incomes and the vulnerable the most. Flooded homes cost money both to repair and to replace the contents.
Is climate change causing more storms
The studies seem to agree that climate change is causing more storms in the UK and this is likely to continue. We need to reach net zero to reduce the impact of climate change on our lives and our homes.
The Blue Patch sustainable business directory includes companies that supply renewable energy, energy efficiency tips and advice for the home and ethical insurance. We also provide free net zero training to our community. Join today.
