Why is the weather so bad
What is the weather so bad? STV meteorologist Sean Batty explains
[Music]
the storms are coming so quickly we
might run out of names and as another
week begins there's no sign that the
weather is going to improve anytime soon
but why are things so bad this year s TV
meteorologist Sean batty explains most
people will have noticed the real lack
of wintry weather this winter especially
during December and January we were not
alone and with the exception of Alaska
most parts of the northern hemisphere
have experienced much warmer conditions
than normal and no snow in moscow snow
even had to be shipped in for New Year
celebrations and there wasn't a white
Christmas for most of the US and even
Canada so where has winter been then now
picture this a fast-moving cone of air
encircling the Arctic extending from
about six miles to 30 miles above the
ground this is called the polar vortex
the fast-moving air acts like a ring
fence holding in the cold air which gets
colder and colder as the long polar
night continues occasionally this can
break down and allow bursts of very cold
air to break away and move south into
Russia the US and sometimes us here in
Scotland has happened in 2018 when the
beast from the east arrived but this
winter the polar vortex has remained
robust and in place meaning the cold air
has stayed backed up over the Arctic
what's quite interesting though is the
Arctic sea ice is covering the largest
area it has since 2010 after a bit of a
jump in early February this is likely to
be down to the fact the polar vortex has
remained fairly stationary so we've
covered the cold air but why is it so
windy and wet here well while the polar
vortex is strong jet streams further
south are usually stronger the jet
stream that affects us here is called
the polar jet in this drives areas of
winds and rain around the northern
hemisphere recently it's been very
strong reaching speeds in excess of 250
miles per hour at 30,000 feet and that's
why we've had record-breaking flight
times across the Atlantic from the US
recently great news if you're on a
flight back from New York but not great
for those of us on the ground
that powerful jet stream is also winding
up in deepening areas of low pressure
crossing the Atlantic and turning them
into storms through a process known as
explosive cyclogenesis unfortunately for
us here in Scotland not much in the
atmosphere is going to change in the
foreseeable future meaning that this
will be the status quo with more rain
and occasional storms there is a little
hint in some of the computer models that
the jet may are just slightly south
towards March which would move storm
tracks south of us but that also means
snow will become more likely for more on
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