Southern Europe continues to stew.

An intense heatwave gripping southern and central areas of Europe set new records. At 41.9 centigrade Hungary saw its highest ever recorded summer temperature, whereas a record summer high of 44 centigrade was also registered in Bulgaria. Meanwhile not far away in Greece temperatures topped even this with a reported 45 degrees in the Greek capital Athens. In Italy the capital Rome also sweltered.

So far an estimated 500 deaths have been attributed to the unbearable heat and hospitals were swamped with cases of heatstroke and other weather related casualties. In Spain the city of Barcelona was subject to a blackout as the electricity network struggled to cope with increased demand due to the over use of air conditioning. Temperatures at around 40 centigrade were not quite as high as eastern and central Europe, but nonetheless uncomfortable and very different to those of northern Europe. Here floods, high winds, rain and unseasonably low temperatures continued to account for some of the worst summer conditions for over 60 years. So just what was going on?

Inevitably the Global Warmers were chirping with an unbroken chorus of glee, sprouting out to anyone who would listen that this was just a foretaste of the real miseries that would soon strike the planet.

So was this really Global Warming at work? Was this the result of the swirling clouds of carbon dioxide or was there a much more mundane explanation? Turns out there was.

As this site continues to illustrate there is nothing particularly mysterious about these spells of extreme weather. As on other occasions it was simply the work of whatever particular wind direction was blowing where. As can be seen from the picture below the Balkans and Central Europe were under the influence of very hot winds blowing up from the tropics. These then crossed over the deserts of North Africa and came streaming into areas of Europe to register the record temperatures outlined above.

Meanwhile Britain and northern Europe were still under the influence of considerably more cooler winds streaming across the Atlantic, bringing wave after wave of rain laden clouds. The reason that these caused so much flooding was simply because of the swirling nature of the weather system as it remained focused above Britain for a comparatively long time. Not much mystery then and shows how ordinary the explanations are when one looks to science instead of fantasy.

Well done to the Times

Congratulations to the Times newspaper for refusing to join the growing bandwagon of those streaming to attribute the recent spell of flooding in Britain to the effects of Global Warming. In a strongly critical editorial published on July 25th it points out that historically speaking Britain has a long and solid tradition of summer flooding. It comments: "All of this is worth remembering during the present deluge. If the torrent of water was not bad enough, the surge of ignorant speculation as to its causes has added to the misery of the season. Numerous commentators and supposed "experts" have asserted that the flooding is proof of global warming."

The Times adds: "One camp that has not joined in this ludicrous orgy of false prophesy is the category that should know most about the weather, the professional meteorologist. Our weather correspondent Paul Simons has pointed out that summer floods do occur in Britain rather often. There were, he outlines, dreadful runs of weather in the 1840s, 1910s, and 1950s before the advent of low-cost airlines and quantifiable carbon emissions. The claim that global warming is at work is no more plausible than more far-fetched suppositions. These include the idea that years ending in 7 are cursed." The column concludes: "Global warming has become an industry of its own, generating more heat than light (never mind the rain) as it wallows in breast beating hyperbole."

For the whole of the comment feature please turn to the following link:
Times Comment.

Low Solar flare activity may mean extreme weather to come.

As the picture below illustrates current Solar flare activity is almost non existent. In this connection it should be stressed that previous, though not quite so dramatic episodes of Solar inactivity have almost always resulted in particularly disturbed weather patterns (see here for more) and it will be interesting to see how the worlds weather systems react in the days and weeks ahead.

Solar flare activity again linked to extreme weather.

Recent spells of extremely turbulent or unusual weather across the world may be linked to periods of reduced Solar flare activity. As our post below (see here) illustrates quite convincingly it is a matter of record that the period of extreme and unsettled weather that affected many parts of the world around the end of June, and which brought heavy flooding to Britain, occurred very shortly after a period of reduced Solar flare activity.

Now the same thing has happened again. A matter of just over two and a half weeks ago we announced (see this link) that a renewed spate of reduced Solar flare could well result in yet another period of weather turmoil, and this is exactly the way it has turned out. Once again Britain saw widespread flooding and disruption of services, and once again there was a remarkable carbon copy of extreme heat in the Balkans, and in particular Greece where temperatures are tipped to reach 44 centigrade early in the week.

Although a lot more work needs to be done before we can understand the effects of the Sun on the weather there is definite proof that Solar flare activity has a direct bearing on extreme weather conditions. In fact exactly the sort of conditions that others have mistaken for human induced Climate Change. But there’s more. For interestingly enough, as the pic below will illustrate, current Solar flare activity has again dwindled and this could well create yet further turbulent weather conditions for the weeks to come.

With such definite effects of the Sun on our weather it is important to remind readers that Solar activity has increased quite dramatically over the last 50 years and the turbulent changes this has brought about have now been misinterpreted as man made damage to the environment.

Southern and Central Europe swelters.

As areas of northern Europe continued to endure less than attractive summer weather southern areas of Europe sizzled in the sort of temperatures (around 40 centigrade) that first gave credence to the theory of Global Warming. Particularly affected were nations such as Slovakia, Austria, parts of Italy, as well as a variety of Balkan nations including Romania and Greece for whom the summer - as reported elsewhere in this site has seen prolonged periods of very high temperatures.

So finally this just had to be Global Warming - the clear signature of man made carbon emissions that now exerted a unique stranglehold over wide areas of the southern Mediterranean and beyond. Well you may think that!! But you would be very mistaken, because once again we see quite plainly from the pic below that the reason for these high temperatures is simply a matter of wind direction. Greece for example catches a glancing blow from the winds threading their way up from the Sahara Desert in North Africa, whereas Central Europe is in the direct flow of winds flowing up from the Sahara Desert which as we all know is supremely hot, so that any wind that blows from it is bound to exhibit the same scorching properties.

So once again no mystery, and a quite obvious explanation that is apparent to anyone who really bothers to look.

What a difference a year makes.

What a difference a year makes. This time last year advocates of Global Warming were cooing with delight as temperatures in Britain topped the high 30’s centigrade, and actually bested some of the more popular resorts of the Mediterranean.

However fast forward a year and what do we find. We find one of the most miserable summer periods for quite some time with regions of Britain again subject to flooding, torrential rain, and very average, if not below average temperatures. But of course if this wasn’t Global Warming then it just had to be Climate Change. Presumably those highly active, but not entirely consistent concentrations of carbon dioxide must have conspired to make this an entirely forgettable British summer.

As ever - and as this site so brilliantly illustrates the answer was much more prosaic. In fact simply a matter of wind direction.

As the pic below illustrates, the British isles were subject to a swirling wind pattern of the sort that only last month deluged areas of England, and particularly the city of Sheffield with particularly heavy downpours. (see here for a link to the entry of that period and also one of the nicer pics of Paris Hilton)

Swirling weather systems of this sort can stay active above a region for a prolonged period, at least long enough to result in widespread flooding or otherwise miserable conditions. Either way there was no evidence of any swirling clouds of carbon dioxide, and even the staunchest advocate of Global Warming was left facing the unpalatable possibility that perhaps their equations were in need of urgent revision as the British summer stubbornly refused to be anything but ordinary.

Extremes of condition.

While most of the southern hemisphere has experienced unusually cold conditions in what is their winter (see post below) parts of the northern hemisphere have registered other extremes of circumstance. These involve floods and torrential rain in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma in the USA, as well as near heatwave conditions in New York and other areas of the eastern US coastline.

For those tempted to believe that maybe this involved the subtle effects attributed to Global Warming or Climate Change, then think again. As the picture below shows quite prominently the floods and prolonged rainfall were no more than the result of warm winds from the south colliding with those from the north. The meeting point between them inevitably produced ferocious downpours which once again considering the factors involved owes less to some fanciful scenario such as Climate Change and more to natural cycles of weather that have existed for thousands of years.

Meanwhile the New York heatwave was the result of warm southerly winds emanating from the Gulf of Mexico. (click on map for larger version)

In Europe there was a sharp division between north and south. For example while Britain continued to experience a parody of summer with cool, wet, and windy conditions, the Mediterranean regions could not be more different. Areas of Spain registered around 43 degrees centigrade, and in Greece there was a return to a mini heatwave with some areas touching 40 degrees, following highs of 47 degrees only a few weeks ago.

And the reason? Was it Global Warming? Climate Change? Clouds of carbon dioxide? In fact none of these. As the picture below illustrates quite plainly it was just the result of winds that emanated from the tropics and fed themselves up across the deserts of North Africa.

Another explanation is that the last three of four weeks have seen varying periods of much lowered Solar flare activity. This has frequently been cited as a trigger for unusual or extreme weather patterns, and the last few weeks seem to confirm this pattern. See the following link for more on this topic.