Villain of the winter's tale lies in Greenland (why it's so cold here and warm there)

[jpak]

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Villain-of-the-winter39s-tale.5961809.jp

IT MIGHT be referred to as "upside-down weather". In Scotland, temperatures are well below the seasonal norm. Yet in Canada it is positively balmy, with Goose Bay in Newfoundland barely getting below zero, whereas the average minimum for January is -23C.

The answer to the question of why Britain has been wrapped in snow is to be found far out into the Atlantic. In the middle of December, the water temperature dropped and an unusual layer of cold water spread over the ocean, cooling the air above and developing into a vast area of high pressure centred over Greenland.

If there is a villain in this wintry tale it is this giant mass, which is acting like an ugly bouncer, blocking the normal mild weather from the west and ushering into Britain ice queens from the north and east.

<snip>

Yet while we shiver, many parts of the northern hemisphere are considerably warmer than usual. Alaska and much of northern Canada is unseasonably warm for instance, with temperatures 5C to 10C warmer than expected, although it is still -30C. North Africa and the Mediterranean basin are also warmer than average, by up to 10C, while across northern Europe, temperatures are coming in 5C or so colder than average.

<more>

[polly7]

1. Not really so balmy in some, in fact a lot, of Canada

-37 C here today in SE SK without the wind chill factor (which according to my weather report makes it seem like -49), there's a wind chill warning out currently. My sister in Ontario tells me the same, they're having really cold days.