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The meteorology of the exceptional winter of 2015/2016 across the UK and Ireland
Author(s) -
McCarthy Mark,
Spillane Sandra,
Walsh Seamus,
Kendon Michael
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.467
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1477-8696
pISSN - 0043-1656
DOI - 10.1002/wea.2823
Subject(s) - meteorology , environmental science , climatology , geography , atmospheric sciences , geology
The meteorological winter of 2015/2016 will be remembered as another exceptional winter across the UK and Ireland, with numerous climate records broken and high impact weather events causing considerable disruption from flooding and high winds. A succession of winter storms tracked across the region, bringing persistent and in places record-breaking rainfall, including the highest 24 and 48h rainfall accumulations on record, from storm Desmond on 4–6 December. Persistent rain, particularly through the first half of the winter, resulted in new records for both monthly and seasonal rainfall accumulations widely across Ireland, Scotland, Wales and northern England. Temperatures were also exceptionally high through much of December and in late January. In this paper we document the main meteorological and climate features that defined this exceptional winter season, and consider its wider historical context.