Tropical News
Britain should expect increasingly tropical weather for the future.
Research carried out at Newcastle University and released today shows that rainfall over the past 40 years has become more frequent and more likely to lead to flooding, “[providing] further evidence of climate change occurring.”
Dr Hayley Fowler, a member of the research team who will speak about the project at the BA Festival of Science in Norwich on September 6, used records from the UK Met Office and the British Atmospheric Data Centre.
She and colleagues examined four distinct periods classed as ‘extreme rainfall events’ ie where rain was observed to fall steadily over either one, two, five or ten days. They found the probability of an extreme five or ten day rainfall event during the 1990s, compared to the previous 30 year period, increased by four times in Scotland and by two times in Northern England.
The probability of an extreme rainfall event in South East England over five and ten day events actually decreased by 1.5 times but further analysis showed that this part of the country is experiencing a greater frequency of smaller extreme rainfall events, and a change in the timing of such events, with a greater frequency in autumn months. These still pose a threat in terms of flooding because a greater amount of rain is falling in total.