Published 16:19 IST, February 12th 2021
UK records coldest February night since 1955, temperature falls to minus 23.0 °C
On Thursday, February 12, the United Kingdom recorded its coldest February night across the country since February 1955.
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On Thursday, February 12, the United Kingdom recorded its coldest February night across the country since February 1955. Taking to its official Twitter handle, the UK Met Office confirmed that the temperature in Braemar, Aberdeenshire fell to minus 23.0 °C at 08:13 this morning. According to the reports by the DW News Agency, the past week’s sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfalls across Europe is more than just a cold winter as there is a possibility that this is all due to the collapse of the polar vortex, which is a huge ring of cold winds raging in the Earth's stratosphere.
Weather conditions explained
“We can now confirm that last night was the coldest February night across the UK since 23rd February 1955. That includes the infamous winter of 1962/1963 Snowflake. The #temperature in Braemar, Aberdeenshire fell to minus 23.0 °C at 08:13 this morning”, read the tweet by the UK met office. The polar vortex is connected to a band of strong winds about 10 kilometers above the ground, which is known as the jet stream. This flows between warm air from the tropics and subtropics, and cold polar air. The pressure extremes that are formed in this area at lower layers are sometimes referred to in weather reports as the Icelandic low or the Azores high.
We can now confirm that last night was the coldest February night across the UK since 23rd February 1955 🌡️ 📉
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 11, 2021
That includes the infamous winter of 1962/1963 ❄️
The #temperature in Braemar, Aberdeenshire fell to minus 23.0 °C at 08:13 this morning 🥶 pic.twitter.com/NpcdIbg5eC
Jet stream is used to determine the winter weather in Europe. If it is strong and flows from west to east, it is hinting towards mild, windy and rainy weather from the Atlantic. However, if the jet stream is weak and wavy, it indicates that the polar vortex has also weakened. Sometimes, it breaks down completely. Therefore, the cold weather around Europe is a consequence of the weak jet stream. This has also caused a strong and long-lasting collapse of the polar vortex.
(Image Credits: AP)
16:22 IST, February 12th 2021