Heavy snow in February resulted in deep drifts on many Lake District hills. Little of this snow‐fall was seen in Wales. Consequently, the warm and sunny April reduced the snow significantly across both regions quickly. The last snow in England persisted until 29 May, and in Wales until 21 April.

How much CO2 can the world emit and still avoid dangerous climate change? Carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuels burning and land‐use change is accumulating in the atmosphere. Current levels are over 40% higher than in the pre‐industrial era and a continued increase of atmospheric CO2 will lead to further warming of the planet. In the Paris Agreement, countries set out to hold the increase in the global

Introduction A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of water. The displacement may result from ‘bottom‐up’ seabed movement, such as that caused by earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions or ‘top‐down’ movement, from pressure perturbations in the atmosphere. These ‘top‐down’ events are termed meteotsunamis. Meteotsunamis frequently occur in the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea

Co‐hosted by the Grantham Institute, a Royal Meteorological Society meeting was held on 18 November 2019 to discuss climate change around the globe and the two recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special reports (SR) (IPCC, 2019a,b). The meeting's presentations and panel discussions covered the current state of knowledge on climate change and the options for action. Andy

Why is sea level rise important? Sea level rise increases the frequency and severity of storm surges and coastal flooding, causing serious damage to critical infrastructure and leading to the displacement of coastal communities around the world. Globally, more than 600 million people live in low‐lying coastal areas at less than 10m elevation, and the population of these regions is expected to exceed

During 19–20 January 2020, the rapid intensification of an anticyclone over the British Isles resulted in the mean sea level (MSL) barometric pressure surpassing 1050hPa over south Wales and southern districts of England, for the first time anywhere in England or Wales since 1932. New long‐period records for high barometric pressure were established across south‐east Ireland, all of Wales and all of

Snow lying in October at low levels in the UK is unusual even in Scotland, which is closer to the source of Arctic air necessary for its occurrence and with lower sea temperatures. Rarity increases further south, and for the southern Home Counties a single occurrence of lying snow was not reported in October during the twentieth century. As a consequence, the snow which fell in Surrey during the evening

The severe winter weather that prevailed during the period between 7 December 1981 and 18 January 1982 was truly a once‐in‐a‐lifetime experience. During this six‐week period, two episodes of heavy snowfall were followed by clearing skies and exceptionally low temperatures, both by day and by night. This account reports the author's recollections of observing daily weather conditions in rural Worcestershire

One of the most memorable weather events in my 42 years of observing occurred on the morning of Saturday 8 January 2005, during the time when I was keeping weather records from my home on the West Cliff at Whitby, North Yorkshire. A severe gale, with gusts approaching 90 knots, caused considerable structural damage to my property – and resulted in an abrupt and unfortunate termination of my anemometer

Lightning observed from Kirby Cross, near Frinton‐On‐Sea, Essex, 25 July 2019. (© Francesca Knight.)

The record‐high pressures from the January 2020 anticyclone were sufficient to measurably change the boiling point of water.

The very deep 1000‐500 hPa thickness cold pool which affected the UK and Ireland near the end of February 2018, advected the coldest air mass (in depth) into these islands since February 1991 (and the equal coldest since January 1987). This paper focuses on the first phase of the cold spell when snowfall was convective in origin. It was principally ‘Lake Effect’, i.e. associated with the inter‐action

Graphical abstractCoastal boulder deposits on Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands off Ireland's west coast, showcase many of the classic features. Note the adult human for scale (in the yellow circle). The cliff‐collapse block in the foreground is the largest ever documented to be moved by storm waves. Weighing 620t, it was shifted several metres during the storms of 2013–2014. The platform on which

February 2019 was exceptionally warm in much of Western Europe, and new monthly records were established during the last week of the month in data series going back more than 100 years. So, what were the origins of the exceptional warmth? In this article, we examine the sources of the warm air, the mechanisms that led to temperatures well above those expected late in the winter season.

Recent research on snow cover patterns over recent decades is reviewed for GB. Interpretation for upland areas is complicated by data availability issues. Nevertheless, two distinct features can be highlighted. Firstly, a general relationship of average yearly snow cover duration with mean temperature. This relationship is apparently non‐linear indicating that snow cover duration is especially sensitive

There was a fall of red snow in southwestern Europe as a result of a cold trough that penetrated from the north towards the central Mediterranean and Saharan Africa, together with movement eastwards. A strong southwesterly flow formed along the eastern flank of the trough. This flow transported a large amount of red Saharan dust, which mixed with the snowfall in the area and painted the snow red.

This article reviews synoptic extratropical cyclone research starting from the skilfully constructed conceptual diagrams of the Bergen school in the 1920s. Careful analysis of multiple surface observations allowed Norwegian scientists to deduce the existence of cold and warm fronts and to characterise a complete cyclone lifecycle. Since then, new observing systems and advances in computational capabilities

A review of the exceptional sunshine of February 2019 in France and the Channel Islands, where new monthly temperature records were established at many stations.

Virga associated with a dissipating cumulus, reflected in the glassy water at Elounda, Crete, at dawn on 1 October 2018. (© Frank Le Blancq.)

The aim of this study was to analyse the thermal discomfort of outdoor environments in two climates of Iran using physiological equivalent temperature (PET), predicted mean vote (PMV) indices and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI).

The stratospheric polar vortex forms each winter 10–50 km above the surface over the pole, and variations in its strength and position are known to influence the weather we experience. During winter 2018–2019, the Arctic polar vortex was highly variable – with both a sudden stratospheric warming and a strong vortex event. We discuss this unusual evolution of the vortex in terms of climatology and its

Key findings. Fewer and shallower patches than normal in spring meant that none survived into summer. In England, the final melt– date for all snow was 21 May, with Wales's following one days later.

Accurate assessment of record extreme wind gusts is important for building design standards and for industries such as insurance and forestry. Here, we show that the current record wind gust for Northern Ireland – 108kn (56ms−1) recorded at Kilkeel on 12 January 1974 – is almost certainly incorrect and may have arisen from an instrumental error or a power surge. We deduce this from direct anemograph

The extreme conditions of the summer season in 2018 in England gave rise to comparisons with earlier drought events. Using the information provided by documentary records, such as chronicles, accounts and diaries, this paper investigates extreme summer droughts in the period 1200–1700, and their impacts under the conditions of natural climate variability and before the provision of modern infrastructure

The predictors of the south Asian summer monsoon used in statistical long‐range forecasting by the Indian and Pakistan Meteorological Departments have, in recent decades, had their validity reassessed. The results of such studies, including this one, show that the relationships between numerous predictors and the monsoon rainfall have changed over time, and many predictors have lost or gained significance

For many businesses, the weather is a strong driver of performance. Here, we introduce two assessment tools for organisations wanting to identify these links, so that they may subsequently be used to predict future changes. By combining data collected by businesses with historical weather data, the assessment tools use a set of pre‐defined statistical analysis methods to quantify their particular sensitivities

Florida's Citrus Belt is uniquely situated at the crossroads of tropical storms and hurricanes as they track across the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, towards the state of Florida. Our objective here is to consider the constraining effects of cold air outbreaks in combination with landfalling hurricanes on citrus production across Florida's Citrus Belt. A simple statistical