Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm, recently ravaged Florida's west coast. With wind speeds peaking at 180 mph, it is one of the most powerful hurricanes in recent memory.
Milton unleashed catastrophic damage, including flooding, downed power lines, and structural destruction as it made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane. The devastation has been immense, and while the immediate concern is Florida, hurricanes of this magnitude can have far-reaching impacts beyond the U.S., including potential effects on British weather patterns.
How Hurricanes Can Affect British Weather
Though Britain is not located in the tropics, the remnants of hurricanes like Milton can still reach its shores. When these storms travel across the Atlantic, they often weaken and lose their tropical characteristics but can still interact with other weather systems, causing major disruptions. For instance, hurricanes can influence the jet stream, the powerful winds high in the atmosphere that guide weather patterns across the Atlantic.
A disrupted jet stream can bring wet, stormy weather to the UK, with heavy rainfall and strong winds. This phenomenon is known as an "extratropical transition," where a former hurricane combines with other low-pressure systems. Over the years, there have been several examples of hurricanes affecting Britain, demonstrating how these tropical storms can significantly alter the UK’s weather.
Historical Hurricanes That Affected Britain
The Great Storm of 1987 is one of the most well-known examples of a hurricane system impacting the UK. While it was not directly a tropical cyclone, it had origins in the remnants of Hurricane Floyd. This unexpected storm caused widespread destruction across England and northern France, uprooting millions of trees, damaging homes, and resulting in numerous fatalities. The storm was notorious for its meteorologists' underestimation and the surprise it brought to Britain.
Hurricane Ophelia (2017) was another example of a hurricane impacting the UK. Ophelia reached Ireland and parts of Scotland with hurricane-force winds after transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. The storm brought strong gusts, disrupted transport, and left thousands without power.
In 2019, Hurricane Lorenzo brought heavy rain and gusty winds to parts of Ireland and the UK after transitioning into a post-tropical storm. Though it didn’t cause catastrophic damage, it disrupted travel and demonstrated that hurricanes, even weakened, can reach Britain and cause significant weather anomalies.
The Science Behind Hurricanes: How They Form and Strengthen
Hurricanes, like Milton, form under specific conditions: warm sea surface temperatures (typically above 26.5°C), high humidity, and low wind shear. As the warm, moist air rises from the ocean’s surface, it cools and condenses, forming clouds and releasing latent heat. This process fuels the storm, allowing it to intensify. Milton, like other powerful hurricanes, was able to undergo rapid intensification due to favourable environmental conditions, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, where waters were unusually warm.
One of the alarming trends in recent years is that more hurricanes are experiencing this rapid intensification, partly due to rising sea surface temperatures. Warmer oceans not only provide more energy for storms but also enable them to grow larger and more destructive. This pattern is becoming more common as the climate continues to warm.
The Case of the Missing Snow Crabs: A Warning About Rising Sea Temperatures
One stark example of the effects of rising ocean temperatures is the mysterious disappearance of 10 billion snow crabs in Alaska’s Bering Sea. This unprecedented event has alarmed scientists and fishery managers alike. Snow crabs, which are highly sensitive to water temperature, appear to have migrated or died off due to rising ocean temperatures, which have made their natural habitat uninhabitable.
The Bering Sea, typically cold enough to sustain large snow crab populations, has been warming at an alarming rate. Scientists believe this warming is linked to climate change, as higher global temperatures cause the oceans to absorb more heat. The disappearance of the crabs is a clear example of how rising sea temperatures are disrupting marine ecosystems. In the case of hurricanes, this same warming trend is providing storms like Milton with more fuel, making them more intense and dangerous.
The loss of the snow crabs also has significant economic and ecological consequences. Snow crabs are a crucial species in the food chain, and their sudden disappearance could disrupt the balance of the marine ecosystem in the Bering Sea. This situation underscores the broader impacts of climate change, from ecological shifts to extreme weather events.
The Future: More Hurricanes, Bigger Impacts
If the current trajectory of climate change continues, hurricanes like Milton may become increasingly frequent and intense. Warmer oceans, rising sea levels, and shifting atmospheric conditions create a perfect storm for these extreme weather events to thrive.
The potential for more powerful hurricanes to make landfall, combined with their increasing ability to cross the Atlantic, raises concerns for regions far beyond the tropics.
In the UK, while direct hits from hurricanes remain rare, the country is not immune to their secondary effects. As hurricanes continue to intensify, Britain may experience more frequent extreme weather tied to the remnants of these storms. Whether it’s heavier rainfall, stronger winds, or altered weather patterns, the UK could see a rise in storm-related disruptions in the years to come.
A Call for Action and Hope for Safety
Hurricane Milton is a stark reminder of the growing intensity of natural disasters fueled by climate change. As Florida grapples with its immediate effects, the world must acknowledge the far-reaching consequences of these storms and their connection to the warming planet. From disappearing snow crabs to devastating hurricanes, the signs are clear: the climate is changing, and it’s creating more extreme conditions.
While we hope everyone in Florida stays safe in the wake of Hurricane Milton, we must also take this as a call to action. Without significant steps to mitigate climate change, hurricanes like Milton will only become more frequent, posing even greater threats to communities worldwide.
Britain may be thousands of miles from the hurricane’s landfall, but the ripple effects of such storms are undeniable. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to address the global climate crisis before more lives, economies, and ecosystems are lost.
