US ‘bomb cyclone’ to cause wet and windy weather in UK, says Met Office

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The deadly bomb cyclone that has sent temperatures plunging in the US is also causing the UK to experience wet and windy weather, the Met Office has said.

On Wednesday, the forecaster issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain from 3am on Friday for 15 hours for much of Scotland, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling. The Met Office said heavy rain could bring some flooding and travel disruption.

Simon Partridge, a meteorologist, said the wet and windy weather was being caused by the bomb cyclone in the US. “The UK weather is going to remain unsettled with further spells of wet and windy weather due to the strengthening of the jet stream because of the weather in the US,” he said.

Partridge added that the impact on the UK would be “nowhere near” as significant as it was on the US. “The effect it’s having on the UK is nowhere near as dramatic because that system has brought up a lot of cold air farther south, across the US,” he said.

Indeed, the cyclone is only having an effect on the UK due to its impact on the North Atlantic jet stream.

“What effect (the bomb cyclone) has had is to strengthen the jet stream because the jet stream is basically driven by temperature differences, Partridge added. “So the starker the difference in temperature between the northern edge of it and southern edge, the stronger the jet stream becomes.”

He said the knock-on effect for the UK is spells of wet and windy weather over the next seven to 10 days.

Thursday is forecast to be colder than Wednesday, with sunshine and some heavy showers in northern Scotland and western England, as well as a risk of hail and thunder.

Partridge said that Thursday will be a “cooler feeling day” but “still rather windy and with showers” across the UK, while Friday to Sunday is forecast to be unsettled, with snow over the Highlands, showers and rain in southern England, and frosts and fog overnight.