Weather Flashcards
Name the 5 air masses that affect the UK
- Arctic Maritime
- Polar Maritime
- Tropical Maritime
- Tropical Continental
- Polar Continental
Describe where the Arctic maritime comes from and what weather it brings
Air masses form over the Arctic Ocean
Bring cold wet air - cold weather and rain
Describe where the polar maritime originates and the weather it brings
Air masses form over the North Atlantic Ocean
Bring cold, wet air - cold weather and rain
Describe where the tropical maritime originates and what weather it brings
Air masses form over Atlantic Ocean
Bring warm, wet air - warm weather and rain
Describe where the tropical continental originates and what weather it brings
Air masses form over Africa
Bring warm, dry air - hot, dry weather
Describe where the polar continental originates and what weather it brings
Air masses form over Siberia
Bring cold, dry air - very cold, dry weather
- can bring snow if air picks up moisture from North Sea
Name a temperate storm which hit the UK and when it was
The Great Storm
15th Oct 1987
Describe the formation of the Great Storm 1987 (3 stages)
- Depression began over Bay of Biscay - south westerly winds (warm, wet air from North Atlantic) met north easterly winds (cold air from Pole)
- Depression deepened rapidly due to unusually warm sea surface temperatures in bay of Biscay and a steep temperature gradient between the 2 air masses - low atmospheric pressure at the core of the depression lead to very strong winds
- Polar front jet stream located further south than normal - depression formed over England rather than N.Scottland
Describe how the pressure changed in the Great Storm in 1987
15th oct - pressure in centre of depression fell from 970mb at midday to 950mb at midnight (uk AV. 1013mb)
Where did the Great Storm of 1987 affect?
Midnight - South coast Cornwall and Devon
moved across Midlands and reached Humber Estuary (east coast) at 05:30
Where did The Great Storm affect the most?
South East
03:00 - 06:00
Gusts of up to 196km/h
Highest hourly mean wind speed recorded in Shoreham-by-Sea 140km/h for 20mins continuously
Name 3 social impacts of The Great Storm 1987
- 18 people died in England (4 in France)
- Power and telephone lines knocked down - 150,000 homes lost telephone connection, 100s of 1000s homes no electricity for 24hrs
- Some historical buildings were damaged or destroyed - Shanklin Pier on Isle of Wight destroyed by waves
Name 4 economic impacts of the Great Storm 1987
- > 1million buildings damaged - insurance claims £1.4bn
- Transport disrupted - fallen trees blocked roads and railways
- Gatwick airport closed - lost power
- 1000s boats wrecked - MV Hengist (cross channel ferry) beached
Name 2 environmental impacts of the great storm 1987
- 15million trees blown down
2. Some areas lost 97% of their trees - loss of woodland habitat
Name 5 short term responses to the great storm 1987
- During storm emergency services dealt with 4 months worth of calls in one night
- Phone companies and electricity boards worked round the clock repairing and replacing equipment until power and phone lines were restored
- Highways agencies began clearing roads and railway companies cleaned railways
- Forestry workers began clearing the fallen trees in forests (4million m cubed of timber) - took 100s workers over 2 years to clear and store it all
- Forestry commission established the Forest Windblow Action Committee - help woodland owners to recover fallen trees and offer advice on replanting