‘Weather bomb’ leaves thousands of Scottish homes without power

As a ‘weather bomb’ hit Britain, bringing 80mph winds and huge coastal waves, more than 17,000 Scottish homes have been left without power. Warnings have been issued across northern England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The weather has also affected transport, with disruptions for trains and ferries in the north. Winds are expected to peaks during the afternoon and evening on Wednesday. The Met Office has issued a ‘be prepared’ warning to parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A ‘weather bomb’, or explosive cyclogenesis, occurs when the pressure at the centre of a storm drops rapidly as it intensifies. This phenomenon creates storms, whilst the intensity of a weather bomb loses energy towards the shore it does create larger coastal waves and strong winds, and this is it what the UK is experiencing.

The effects of the storm are unlikely to be severe and the weather is no unusual for this time of year.

At the beginning of the year, experts warned that the UK’s weather will “change rapidly” because of the effects of climate change.

Photo: Gareth Thompson via Flickr 

Further reading:

Met Office: chance of heatwaves in Europe has ‘increased dramatically’

UK weather will ‘change rapidly’ because of climate change, experts say

UK weather: one in four chance of hottest summer ever, says Met Office

Met Office: evidence says ‘exceptional’ UK weather is linked to climate change

UK weather: changing jet stream linked to flooding crisis