Some analysts believe that the smoke from the wildfires in North America has spread hundreds of miles and “could enhance our sunsets and sunrises this weekend.” Meanwhile, the weather in the United Kingdom is expected to be affected by the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto.
This weekend, smoke from wildfires in North America may “enhance” the sunsets and sunrises in the United Kingdom. This is before the remnants of a hurricane are expected to deliver some “unseasonably wet and windy weather” to the region.
Even though there was a lot of sunshine in the southern regions of the United Kingdom on Saturday, the skies were not as blue as many people would have anticipated them to be.
This is due to the fact that smoke from the wildfires, which were primarily located in Canada, moved hundreds of miles to the United Kingdom as a result of a divided jet stream.
Throughout the course of this summer, flames have raged across North America, causing thousands of people to evacuate their homes and straining the resources of emergency services.
Their smoke has caused the sky in the United Kingdom to become “hazy,” and now their effects are being felt over the Atlantic as well.
According to Kirsty McCabe, a meteorologist, “you may have noticed that the skies have been rather hazy this weekend. This is because the jet stream has brought smoke from North America (primarily from wildfires in Canada) all the way across the Atlantic to our shores.”
“Luckily, because the smoke particles are so high up in our atmosphere, they won’t have an impact on our health, but they could enhance our sunsets and sunrises this weekend.”
According to Ms. McCabe, such occurrences are “not unheard of,” and throughout the summer of the previous year, situations that were comparable to this one took place.
“Unfortunately, these events are becoming more common as climate change is linked to heatwaves and droughts, leading to earlier, longer, and more intense wildfire seasons,” according to the researcher.
The Canadian Rockies have been the epicentre of some of the most destructive wildfires in recent history.
In the past month, almost 25,000 people abandoned the town of Jasper and the national park that it is located in as wildfires increased in proximity.
In the past year, a record number of wildfires caused more than 235,000 people to be forced to evacuate their homes across Canada. Additionally, dense smoke was pushed into certain regions of the United States, which resulted in hazy skies and health advisories.
Ernesto, Tropical Storm
On the other hand, the weather in the United Kingdom is expected to be affected by a weather system that originates in North America, specifically the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto.
During the past week, Hurricane Ernesto has caused a significant number of people in Puerto Rico to be without access to water or electricity.
Now that the jet stream is coming back together, it is going to deliver the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto in the direction of the east.
It is not simply smoke from wildfires that the jet stream can bring from North America, as Ms. McCabe explained.
“Hurricane Ernesto, which made landfall in Bermuda as a category 1 hurricane on Saturday morning, is expected to transform into an extra-tropical cyclone the following week.
As a result of the complex low-pressure system, it is quite probable that the remnants of the former hurricane will make their way to the United Kingdom.
“There is a lot of uncertainty on the exact track and timings, but it looks likely that some unseasonably wet and windy weather will be heading our way later on Wednesday into Thursday.”