MAGA Denial Continues As Wildfires, Boosted By Climate Change, Ravage Northern Hemisphere

Horses flee a wildfire in Biscarrosse, France
recently. There was no time to evacuate them,
so the horses released so they could run away
on their own. Followup stories reported 
the horses were later found and retuirned
to their owners. 

While MAGA was complaining this month about wildfire smoke wafting across the border into the United States, blazes were breaking out all over the Northern Hemisphere in a relentless, climate changed summer. 

MAGA has been complaining about the wrong thing, obviously. Climate change, the problem that most in the MAGA world deny, is driving much of this fire trouble. 

And, while MAGA complains about Canada supposedly not managing its forests and driving smoke south across the border, the Trump administration has cut forest management funds and jobs in the United States.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Wildfires are a risk every summer and fall, with or without climate change. These days, many of the blazes are turbocharged by climate change. 

The warmer world is helping make fires worse. As I noted in a previous blog, Canada and other far northern areas area especially susceptible to climate change. 

The snow melts earlier in the spring than it once did, leaving more time for the vast boreal forests to dry out. Summertime heat waves up north often set record highs. Hot, dry weather dries things out further. 

When weather disturbance finally grace the Great, formerly White North, the heat helps increase atmospheric instability. So you get lightning strikes. That set new fires amid a landscape that doesn't receive adequate wetting from the scattered thunderstorms. 

Europe is burning, too. It's the world's fastest warming continent, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. 

The extra hot summers Europe has seen in recent summers are certainly killing thousands of people across the continents. That's the biggest problem. But that hot weather is also drying out the continent's woodlands, forests and scrublands, leading to enormous fires, some of which are burning as I write this. 

Here in the United States, the western half of the nation endured a record hot, dry winter and early spring. According to World Weather Attribution, the heat, particularly the hot temperatures in March, would have been virtually impossible without climate change. 

That heat early this year set the stage for the deadly wildfires in places like Utah and Colorado in the late spring and early summer.  A hot, dry spring and summer also contributed to serious wildfires in northern Minnesota. 

The Minnesota fires might have been made more intense because of our MAGA president. As the Washington Post reports:

"Last year, the Trump administration delayed a $10 million grant that was supposed to help Minnesota thin out about 4,000 acres of dense, dry forest at high risk of burning. Most of that work ever got started, according to five people familiar with the situation and a document reviewed by the Washington Post. And now, some of those areas are on fire."

The project would have removed decades of dead trees and undergrowth, creating breaks that would stop advancing fires. The grant would have paid for fire prevention efforts along a key 36-mile gravel road.  One of the two dozen lightning-sparked fires burning since the beginning of the month jumped the road and threatened houses. 

Remember, Trump and MAGA complained that recent big fires were so destructive and smoky in California and Canada because they didn't "rake their forests" or whatever he was trying to say. 

So, Trump & Co. canceled money that would have literally raked Minnesota forests. 

Even worse, many in the West and elsewhere fear that the 6,000 permanent U.S. Forest Service staff lost to layoffs, buyouts and early retirements as the Trump people keep decimating critical government work. The Trumpsters also wants to move the agenda headquarters to Utah and consolidate or close dozens of research centers and regional offices. 

Dave Upthegrove, Washington state's elected public lands commissioner told NPR: "These layoffs at the federal level are presenting risk to our ability respond to major wildfires."

U.S. Forest Service said in June that they have reached or exceeded seasonal hiring goals for woodland firefighting this summer. 

We shall see. It might be hard to tell whether firefighting capability this summer is as robust as it could be, amid the noise of all the wildfires out there. In the United States and elsewhere. 

THE FIRES

As of this past Saturday, 932 wildfires were still burning on Canada.  Those fires were burning in a  huge band from Yukon and the Northwest Territories and through northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan  into most of Ontario and central Quebec. More recently, there's also been a burst of new fires in southern British Columbia. 

The British Columbian fires are extending into the new United States fire hot spot in Washington and Oregon.  

In Washington, the Kaiser Mountain Fire not far north of the Grand Coulee Dam has covered more than 100,000 acres. That one is likely the largest of dozens of fires burning in the state. 

Down in Oregon, 1,200 wildfires were burning on Oregon. Crews were arriving in Oregon fro as far away as New Zealand and Australia to help. 

In Colorado and Utah, monsoon rains have tamped down, but not eliminated the fires. A turn toward drier weather will almost immediately help the wildfires power up again. The monsoon downpours hit areas where wildfires stripped the landscape of trees and vegetation that held the soil together. The fires also cooked the soil, so water runs off instead of soaking in.

These factors have already created huge flash floods and debris flow. One debris flow caused widespread damage in and below Cottonwood Canyon, where a fire burned through earlier this summer. 

Europe

As of Saturday, at least 250,000 people had been evacuated in France and Spain because of the fires. That includes 70,000 people evacuated in central Spain. That was said to be the largest European evacuation since World War II. At least one death was reported in Manises, Spain. 

The fire around Madrid was described as the worst in that city's history. 

The city of Bordeaux, France appeared to be in serious trouble.   The wildfire was described as a "firestorm"  last Friday but had later calmed down somewhat Saturday. Still, the Associated Press description of the wildfire fight sounds like a war battle:

"....fire crews and authorities were digging trenches, using retardants and taking other blaze-blocking steps. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunex said,  predicting a 'long and very difficult' battle."

The final stage of the Tour de France was shortened as thick smoke hit the region, CNN reports. 

Temperatures in western Europe are forecast to climb again this week, heightening the risk of new fires, and possibly making existing fires worse. 

During mid-July a wildfire swept through a section of southern Norway, destroying more than 100 homes. 

Finally, in what should be damp Edinburgh, Scotland, the second wildfire in three months ravaged Arthur's Seat, a landmark extinct volcano that offers sweeping views of the city. The fire came somewhat close to housing for students at Edinburgh University, but no damage to those structures was reported. 

"Worst Ever" Heat Wave In Europe Makes Our Impending Muggy Spell Feel Like Sweater Weather.

People in France try to cool off during the recent
deadly, record shattering, climate-driven heat wave

 All kinds of record high temperatures have been afflict9ig Europe as a terrible, deadly heat wave as become entrenched in the region. 

Scientists who track climate and weather events say this is the worst heat wave on record for much of Europe. The hot weather would have been "virtually impossible" just a half century ago, but climate change has altered the equation.

The record highs are far too numerous to list, and it's almost impossible to keep up with them. Records for month of June and all-time record highs are being broken, and then the next day they're broken again. 

At last check, nations that set new all-time record highs were Luxembourg (105.3 degrees); Belgium (102 degrees); Netherlands, (102.9 degrees); Czech Republic (105.4 degrees).

Several other nations, including Slovakia, Poland, Austria, United Kingdom experienced their hottest June weather on record.

EUROPEAN HEAT WAVES DANGEROUS

Extreme heat in Europe is more dangerous than similar temperatures in the United States. There is little air conditioning in most of Europe. 

Only around 20 percent of European homes have air conditioning, compared to nearly 90 percent in the United States. 

Intense, long lasting heat waves are a relatively new thing in Europe, thanks to climate change. The architecture of the buildings are designed to keep heat in during long, cold damp winters. So they turn into ovens when long heat waves arrive. And the heat doesn't dissipate in the homes at night. 

 The architecture makes installing AC difficult. Energy costs in Europe are high, so people are reluctant to install air conditioning. 

Heat waves in recent years have killed thousands of Europe's. The current heat wave is blamed for 1,000 or so deaths in France alone. 

Intense, climate-driven heat waves began to hit Europe in earnest in the early 2000s. In 2003, Europe heat waves are estimated to have caused or contributed to at least 70,000 deaths. The hot summer of 2022 in Europe also led to more than 61,000 excess deaths, according to the journal Nature.    

This doesn't get much publicity, but heat waves are the biggest weather killer. I guess that's not noticed as much as it should because heat waves are not nearly as telegenic as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. 

ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

It's become widely accepted that these new, more intense and longer lasting European heat waves are being made worse by climate change. 

 According to World Weather Attribution, which assesses how climate change has influenced major storms and weather events, has this to say:

"In 1976, when some of the previous European records were set, the 2026 temperatures would have been virtually impossible to occur in June, while also highly unlikely at any time of the year. In 2003, the first major heat wave of this century, daytime heat like this would still have been very rare, about 10 times less likely that today, while nighttime temperatures such as this June would have bee more than a hundred times less likely in 2003."

World Weather Attribution calculated that a similar European in June to the one currently underway would have been about 3.5 degrees Celsius  (6.3F) during the day and 2 degrees Celsius (3.5F) cooler in 2003. Nighttime temperatures would have been about 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3F cooler at night in 1976 and roughly 1.3 degrees Celsius  (2.3F) cooler in June, 2003.

The organization also had this ominous statement: "This summer shows that at 1.4 C of global warming, extreme heat is already reaching the limits of our societies ability to cope. Our analysis here shows that intense heat is increasing rapidly even in living memory, with such events tens to hundreds of times more likely since only 2003 and virtually impossible just 50 years ago. 

A rapid phase-out of fossil fuels is critical if we are to avoid even higher temperatures and their consequences in the future."

That statement is something that should chill the heart, despite the intense heat outside. Here in the United States, an intense heat wave is about to strike the Midwest and East Coast. But the Powers That Be keep dismissing the danger, so they can remain in good favor with the fossil fuel industry. 

As Politico reports, U.S. Energy Secretary basically told heat-wilted Europeans to stop whining. "Always more people die in the winter than die in the summer, because cold is a vastly. larger killer than heat is," he said. 

It's true that more Europeans die from cold weather than hot weather. But deaths from hot weather are rising fast, but deaths from cold weather are holding steady or falling. In the United States, the annual death toll from heat exceed the of cold weather deaths. 

Overall, then, weather related deaths in Europe are generally rising. 

LOOKING AHEAD

Relief from the heat is now spreading across Europe. The change in the air is creating severe thunderstorms in some areas. The relief from the heat might not last long. Some forecasts move a new heat dome into western Europe starting in a roughly a week. 

 

Storm Goretti Left Behind Incredible Wind Damage In UK, France. Other Places Snowed Under

A huge tree toppled by Storm Goretti crushed
this car in England. The storm caused havoc from
England and France to Germany. 

Last week, I said here in this blog thingy that one of the most powerful storms in years if not decades - Storm Goretti - was about to pummel Europe.

Well, it did, and here are some of the result.s 

As of Saturday, at least 13 Europeans had been reported killed the the storm. 

Cornwall, on the southwestern tip of England and northwestern France were especially hard it. 

In northwestern France, winds gusted as high as 134 mph, according to France24.com. A 121 mph gust hit France's Cotentin peninsula. A weather station in Cornwall recorded a 123 mph wind gust. 

 As previously reported, winds reached 99 mph on the Isles of Scilly At least 170,000 properties in the UK and 320,000 in northwestern France lost power in the storm. 

The Cornwall Council called Goretti  "one of the most severe storms Cornwall has experienced in living memory."  Cornish MP Andrew George has asked for a national emergency response for the region because of a lack of power and water, now roofless homes and blocked roads. 

At least one house in Cornwall lost its roof.  Parts of the roof of the main grandstand of the Cornish Pirates rugby team stadium were blown off amid gusts to 90 mph. 

Many homeowners said the wind was so strong it blew out windows in their homes. Countless trees are down through Cornwall. 

In Guernsey, another roof flew off a building and some of the debris hit a man in the face. He was treated at local hospital and is expected to recover. 

Several shipping containers fell off two ships in the stormy seas near Isle of Wight. 

In other areas, snow joined the party as storm Goretti ripped through. Parts of Scotland had up to 20 inches of snow. Additional snow was falling on Scotland Sunday. 

The snow has been falling daily in Scotland since January 1. Schools have repeated closed there daily since then. Aberdeen has had the worst conditions in 15 years. 

 The snow that was falling in Scotland Sunday was forecast to turn to rain and continue all week. That rain and snowmelt has raised the risk of flooding. 

 Elsewhere in Europe, areas along the North Sea in Germany and in the southwestern part of the country were warned to expect hurricane force winds.  Other areas of Germany were hit by windswept snow, which disrupted travel and pretty much everything else. A Volkswagen factory that employs 8,000 people in Emden, in northeast Germany shut down Friday because of the storm.  

I don't know whether climate change had much to do with this storm or not. But the storm was consistent with a warming world. Storms have in general been getting stronger. Yes, Goretti was a cold storm. But warm winds feeding in from the south helped give it the power it had. 

The warmer air in a climate changed world adds fuel to the fire, so to speak. Storms get stronger as a result. Goretti might have been an example of that. 

Storm Goretti Blasts Europe With Extreme Winds, Snow After A Week Of Wintry Weather

Satellite view of Storm Goretti, centered over southwestern
England in this satellite photo. After a week of wintry
European weather, this storm is causing winds gusting
to 100 mph in spots, heavy snow and other dangers. 

 While we here in Vermont get a brief break from hard core winter, the nasty cold of the Arctic has shifted into Europe for awhile. 

Stormy, cold and often snowy weather has engulfed much of western Europe. As of Wednesday, six deaths had been reported as the rough weather continued to intensify. 

The latest problem is Storm Goretti, which has evolved into a rapidly intensifying "bomb cyclone."  It's causing, and in other areas threatening to cause damaging winds and deep snows in the United Kingdom and other areas of western Europe. 

The British Met Office, which is the government meteorological agency has issued a red severe weather warning, its more dire alert, for the Isle of Scilly and Cornwall, were wind gusts of 100 mph are expected. 

Winds have already gusted to 99 mph at St. Mary's Airport on the Isles of Scilly, which is a new record for the site

Gusts to 60 mph were expected across the rest of southern England and parts of southwestern Wales. Up to a foot of snow might fall on higher elevations in Wales and the Peak District. 

Forecasters warned of roof, tree and power line damage, along with large, battering waves along the coast. 

France's northwestern Manche District, which borders the English Channel is also expecting gusts to 100 mph. 

Schools were closed and people were told not to drive as the storm tears through northern France. 

Storm Goretti will then make its way to Germany and surrounding nations by tomorrow. Parts of Germany are expecting six inches of snow in the north, and icy weather in the south. Schools win swaths of Germany are closed Friday. 

BEFORE GORETTI

Even before this storm, western Europe's weather took a sharp turn to winter harshness as the new year of 2026 clicked in.

Amsterdams's Schiphol Airport, one of the busiest airline hubs in Europe had more than 500 flights canceled on Wednesday. More than 1,000 people had to spend the night in the terminal. At least it was better than what would happen in the U.S.  Schiphol airport staff set up camp beds and provided breakfast to people who couldn't immediately leave. 

The bad weather extended into France where more than 100 flights at the Charles de Gaulle Airport were canceled on Wednesday. Bus served in Paris was suspended due to icy roads. 

 In England, there had already been some notable weather related road crashes even before the worst of the weather arrived. A bus in Kent ended up in a ditch and a school bus full of kids crashed into another bus in Reading. It doesn't look like there were serious injuries. 

In Rome, weeks of cold rain that have swollen the Tiber River over its banks again muted Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas-time celebrations. St. Peter’s Square was only partially full Tuesday as a few thousand people crowded under colorful umbrellas to hear Leo deliver his Epiphany blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Rome has been soaked by steady rains since before Christmas, and Mayor Roberto Gualtieri issued an ordinance for Tuesday limiting public access to parks and other areas at risk for falling trees and flooding.

In Sarajevo, Bosnia, a woman was killed when a large, snow-laden branch fell on her. 

The weather has even disrupted parts of Scandinavia, which is more used to rough winter weather compared to other western European nations. 

Heavy snow disrupted travel in western Sweden. Finnish diesel buses aren't starting in the morning because it's been so cold.

Contributing to this rough weather is still an Arctic or Greenland block, which tends to suppress winter cold air into the mid-latitudes of North America, Europe and Asia.  Parts of the United States were affected by this a little over a week ago. Then the cold weather sloshed to Europe in the past week.

To give you a sense of how topsy-turvy this weather pattern is, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said the part of Norway that was above freezing was the normally super frigid Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.  

Svalbard is far north of mainland Norway, well north of the Arctic Circle  and is at about the same latitude as north-central Greenland.

Although the Greenland block does not appear ready to break down, it appears the frigid weather will tend to move away from western Europe next week and head once again toward North America. 

 

Iceland Gearing Up For Atlantic Current Collapse

Iceland considers the risk of a critical Atlantic Ocean
current collapsing an existential threat. 

New research I posted about back in September about the possible collapse of a critical Atlantic Ocean current has Iceland on high alert. 

The newer research contradicted some earlier studies and said that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could shut down as soon as the middle of this century.  

That's really bad, because the current is what keeps western Europe mild and wet. Without the current, winters in western Europe would become something like central North America, and droughts would take hold. In effect, western Europe would suffer through a sort of regional ice age. 

This mess would, of course, be due to climate change.  

The collapse of the current would also cause bad, bad, worldwide effects, such as greatly increased water temperatures along United States East Coast. That would cause an abrupt rise in sea levels, since warm water expands. It would also might make the eastern United States more prone to hurricanes and other big storms. 

The collapse of the AMOC would also mess up rainfall amounts and seasons that farmers in Africa, India and South America have relied upon for centuries. 

Then there's Iceland. 

Like most of the rest of the world, Iceland has been warming up, thanks to climate change. The island nation way up in the North Atlantic actually saw their first mosquitoes in recorded history this year because the region had warmed up so much. 

If the AMOC shuts down, Iceland would definitely earn its name. It, too, benefits from the warmth of AMOC. 

Even though an AMOC collapse might not happen for a few decades, if at all, it has put Iceland on full alert:

According to Iceland Review:

"Iceland has, for the first time, classified a climate-related phenomenon as a national security threat, following warnings that a key Atlantic Ocean current system may be approaching collapse."

......"The move allows authorities to coordinate response plans across ministries, covering food and energy supplies, infrastructure and transport resilience."

MSN continues the story: 

"It is a direct threat to our national resilience and security.' Iceland Climate Minister Johann Pall Johansson said by email '(This) is the first time a specific climate-related phenomenon has been formally brought before the National Security Council as a potential existential threat.'"

Iceland is looking at a full range of possible effects of an AMOC crash, such as energy supplies, food security, infrastructure and transportation, both internal and with other nations.  

Other nations are taking notice, too. 

For instance, Ireland's weather service scientists briefed the nation's prime minister on the AMOC issue. Norway's environmental ministry said it was "seeking to deepen our understanding of the issue through new research" before determining whether to classify AMOC as a security risk,' MSN reported. 

INTERCONNECTED CHAOS

Of course, nobody knows when or if the AMOC will grind to a halt. If that happens, scientists think it would make Antarctica warm up even faster than it is now.

Newly released research also suggest that melting around West Antarctica now could help preserve the AMOC, or at least slow its demise.   

According to New Scientist:

"..it won't be enough to prevent major changes to the climate. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) would still decline buy 60 percent, and its full recovery would take 3,000 years."

Which seems to me a little long to wait, don't you think?

As always, there's a lot of ifs, questions and blank spots in the research done by Sacha Sinet at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. 

 New Scientist again:

"According to simulations by Sinet and his colleagues, the timing of the melting is key. If a centuries-long pulse of Antarctic meltwater arrives at the same time as massive melt from Greenland, it will only see up the AMOC shutdown. 

If the Antarctic water arrives about 1,000 years before the peak of Greenland's melting, however, the AMOC would weaken for several hundred years, but then recover over the next 3,000 years. While the AMOC eventually recovered in all scenarios, this early Antarctic melt prevented its total collapses and sped up its revival." 

In other words, climate change isn't as simple as the world just warming up. Everything is connected, so expect the unexpected when it comes to climate change. 

Mosquitoes In Iceland? Climate Change Adds Bugs To "Cold" Nation

Thanks to a warming planet, mosquitoes have been
found for the first time in Iceland. The bugs, and
the diseases they carry, have been heading into 
colder areas largely because of climate change. 

 Mosquitoes have invaded Iceland. 

The cold island in the North Atlantic was considered too nippy for mosquitoes to take hold. 

But thanks to climate change, it's toasty enough in Iceland for those nasty little buggers. 

Per ABC News:

"The disease-carrying insects twas first spotted by insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjalstason, who posed to Facebook group 'insects in Iceland' about a 'strange fly' he spotted on Oct. 16."

Since then, three mosquitoes, two females, one male, have been caught in Iceland. 

ABC News again: 

"The mosquitoes are Culiseta annulata, a cold-tolerant species that live in the Palearctic region, which includes northern Africa, Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas, according to the National Institutes of Health."

It's the most common mosquito in the UK, and has been found in Canada and the northern United States. 

Until recently, Iceland was too cold for mosquitoes. They breed in warm, stagnant water, like in buckets, drainage ditches, flower pots and discarded tires. 

In the good old days, standing water in Iceland was too cold for mosquitoes. But thanks to climate change, not anymore. A mosquito "dumb" enough to find itself in Iceland is no longer guaranteed an immediate, frigid death. 

Or at least its offspring might survive. They'll survive in basements and barns and other protected places around Iceland. 

Pretty much the whole world is warming due to climate change. Iceland is warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the northern hemisphere.

This year, Iceland had a long, hot summer, at least by their standards. It started early, with a May heat wave bringing Icelandic temperatures to as high as 80 degrees, which was by far unprecedented for that time of year. 

The early start of this year's Iceland summer might have helped mosquitoes gain a foothold. 

MOSQUITO DISEASES HEAD NORTH

Meanwhile, places that already have mosquitoes are finding that diseases spread by these bugs are also spreading north, thanks to climate change.  For the first time, mosquitoes in the UK had the West Nile virus, which in rare cases can cause severe illness or even death in humans. 

Experts also said mosquito-borne disease like dengue and chikungunya could become endemic in Europe soon as the continent warms. 

A type of insect called the tiger mosquito is moving north into Europe as the area becomes toasty enough to allow the mosquito to survive.  Dengue outbreaks have already hit Italy, Croatia, France and Spain. 

Here in the United States, the tiger mosquito (the one that spreads dengue) is on the move north in tune with climate change. They've been spotted as far north as southern New England.

As they move north, subsequent generations of this mosquito evolve to survive slightly lower temperatures. 

That makes them more likely to stick around. 

Because of climate change here in Vermont, we're getting warmer and wetter, the drought this summer and autumn notwithstanding. The hotter and soggier it gets, the more mosquitoes thrive. So if those bugs bother you every summer, they're going to bother you even more, and for a greater portion of the year as time goes by. 

 

New Study Says Critical Ocean Current Called AMOC Is Amok Due To Climate Change; Could Cause Big Danger

The warm ocean current abbreviated as AMOC 
brings warmer conditions to western Europe in the
winter. If it collapses, winters in parts of
that continent could abruptly turn much
colder in the winter, despite the warming
effects of climate change. 

 I've seen a lot of back and forth in recent years concerning a critical ocean current in the Atlantic Ocean that basically keeps us living the life as we know it.  

If that current collapses, Very Big Deal bad things would happen. 

So, the latest piece of news is not what I wanted to hear. 

As Politico.eu reports:

"The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the system that forms part of the Gulf Stream -an Atlantic Ocean current that keeps Europe from becoming frigid - could start shutting down in the 2060s as a result of climate change, according to a study by Utrecht University researchers published this week."

AMOC keeps Europe warm, especially in the winter, by bringing warmth and moisture from the tropics. Paris, France is at about the same latitude as International Falls, Minnesota. 

International Falls does not benefit from AMOC so normal January high and low temperatures there are minus 2 and 16 above Fahrenheit.  

Normal January weather brings lows in the mid 30s Fahrenheit and highs in the mid-40s. 

Now imagine all of western Europe turning into an icebox like northern Minnesota.  It would be an incredibly sudden,  devastating change. No region can withstand an immediate change in climate that abrupt. 

The world is indeed warming under the force of climate change, but it can create some strange, cold spots as longterm atmospheric and oceanic patterns break down. 

An AMOC shutdown would also cause severe summertime European droughts. 

Here in the United States, an AMOC  collapse event would also abruptly raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast by as much as 50 centimeters, or nearly 20 inches. 

The Dutch study uses 25 different climate models found that a rise in global temperatures of around 2.7 degrees Celsius (around  5 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels could get the AMOC to start collapsing around 2063. 

We're already about halfway there, as the world is already 1.3 degrees hotter than those pre-industrial levels. The rate of global temperature increase is accelerating, so time is of the essence. 

Under scenarios in which the global temperature rise by 4 degrees Celsius or more the AMOC shutdown would arrive in around 2055. Warming that fast is considering quite unlikely, but 2.7 degrees is solidly in the realm of possibility at the rate we're going.

This new study is a departure from previous studies, which had suggested an AMOC shutdown is unlikely. 

One study that came out late last year suggest AMOC was more stable and was unlikely to entire collapse before 2100 but could definitely weaken, which would have some effect on Europe's climate. 

I'm sure there will be more science and research regarding the AMOC.  I don't think we have a perfect answer for what's going to happen. But something will, eventually, and it won't be pretty.  

European Heat Wave Killed Thousands In Disturbing Trend,, As Activists Refer To "Climate Breakdown." .

An attribution study says an early summer European 
heat wave was worsened by climate change and
killed thousands. Meanwhile, the world continues
to rack up more all time record heat waves this summer.

 A scientific group that does rapid analyses of extreme weather events to determine how climate change influenced the incidents concluded a late June and early July European heat wave killed thousands. 

Per the Guardian:

"Scientists estimate that high heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across Europe between June 23 and July 2.  They attributed 1,500 of the deaths to climate breakdown, which has heated the planet and made the worst extremes even hotter.

Milan was the hardest hit city in absolute terms, with 317 out of 499 heat deaths attributed to climate breakdown, followed by Paris and Barcelona. Long had 273 heat deaths, 171 of which the researchers attributed to attributed to human influence on the climate."

People have always died in heat waves, of course, but the study led by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that climate change made the heat wave worse than it otherwise would be. That added heat intensity had a disproportionate effect on deaths. 

Essentially, the scientists concluded the heat wave nearly tripled the number of deaths from heat. 

The study was part of a growing body of science called rapid attribution, which seeks to assess the cost and effects of climate-related weather events shortly after they happen. 

CLIMATE TERMINOLOGY

 As an aside, The Guardian is describing climate change in a new way that I haven't seen too much previously, but has gained a lot of use among activists in recent years: The term is  "climate breakdown"

Climate activist Greta Thunberg have the term its currency about six years ago when she said this:

"It's 2019. Can we all now please stop saying 'climate change' and instead call it what it is: climate breakdown climate crisis, climate emergency, ecological breakdown, ecological crisis and ecological emergency?"

2025 HEAT WAVES WIDESPREAD

Whatever it is, this is another summer when heat is clearly killing people, and so far, we arguably haven't had quite as many extreme heat waves as last year or the year before. But there's been plenty of horrible and sometimes deadly hot spells all over the world.  

Some example:

Finland finally just came out of its longest, most intense heat wave on record. This far northern, Scandinavian nation, endured three weeks in which daily highs were 86 degrees or higher.  

A town north of the Arctic Circle in Norway was also 86 degrees or warmer daily for almost two week. 

People who live in northern areas like Scandinavia can be especially prone to heat as it's historically uncommon there.  Nighttime heat combined with the fact it doesn't really get dark overnight near and north of the Arctic Circle in summer cause sleep disruptions. Air conditioning is rare, which is especially dangerous in retirement communities or health care settings. 

Just this week, at least 25 Japanese cities hit all time record high temperatures. Last Wednesday, the temperature in Tamba in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture reached 106 degrees, the hottest temperature on record for the entire nation. 

China is already reporting nearly 70 stations setting new August high temperature records, with six of those places setting all time records. 

Parts of Iran and Iraq have gotten as warm as 124 degrees. 

A historic heat wave hit the Northeast U.S. a month and a half ago,  breaking or tying all time June record highs in all six New England states.  

I've said his previously and it's worth saying again: Heat waves are underreported risks of climate change in most of the media. Hot spells are not "sexy" like picturesque and dramatic images of flash floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. 

Media to a large extent depends on images. And media depends on clicks - eyeballs on web sites and podcasts and such. Which means, behind the scenes, heat waves cause a lot more deaths, a lot more harm than the storms you see on the news all the time.  

The Guardian again, going back to that attribution study of European heat: 

"'This study demonstrates why heat waves are know as silent killers,' said Malcolm Mistry, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and co-author of the study. 'While a handful of deaths have been reported in Spain, France and Italy, thousands more people are expected to have died as a result of the blistering temperatures." 

Big Heat Waves Hitting Large Parts Of World, Are We Next?

When you see a weather pattern like this in the
summer with a big ridge or northward bulge in
the jet stream over the Northeast, expect a heat
wave. This is one forecast for next Tuesday, 
though computer models are varying on the
strength and duration of the hot spell. 

With climate change taking hold more and more, dangerous, record breaking heat waves have been hitting different parts of the world each summer in the past few years.  

It's only June, but the deadly extreme heat fest for 2025 has already started here on Earth.

 What strikes me the most is that there are currently so many record heat waves going on in different parts of the globe simultaneously. 

There's always a heat wave somewhere in the summer, but the fact that places as diverse as Japan, France, and Kuwait are breaking all time record highs for the month of June all at the same time is pretty unsettling.

We in Vermont could get at least a taste of the hot weather next week. And I think all time record heat will hit the Green Mountain State within the next few years.  More on that in a bit. 

WORLDWIDE HEAT

First, we'll look at some of the incredible heat withering different parts of the world. Much of this information comes from Maximiliano Hererra, a climatologist who tracks worldwide heat waves.

Our first visit is to Kuwait, since the strongest heat was there. Kuwait is an extraordinary hot nation anyway, but this is ridiculous. At last report, the following Kuwaiti figures haven't been confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization.

But if these temperatures are real, they're insane. 

If the 130 degree temperature in Kuwait is confirmed, it would tie the reliable record for the world's hottest temperature on record, which was 130 degrees in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California on July 9, 2021.

The widely reported hottest temperature isn 134 degrees in Death Valley on July 10, 1913, but there are questions about the reliability of that long-ago reading. 

EUROPE HEAT

A heat wave is building in Europe, too, with record high temperatures already reported in France and Germany. A few cities have already set record highs for the entire month of June. One town in France has hit 100 degrees over the pst couple of days. It's been as hot as 96 degrees in Germany.

Nights in parts of western Europe have been sultry, giving no real relief from the heat. Overnight lows in much of Germany over the weekend were in the low 70s. 

Mertola, Portugal on Sunday reached 105 degrees, hottest for so early in the season. Parts of Spain broiled over the weekend in temperatures as high as 107 degrees.

ASIA

At least 23 weather stations in China have broken their all time record high temperatures for the month of June. In Japan, at least a dozen cities have set record highs for the entire month of June, with readings reaching the upper 90s.  Parts of Indonesia, India and Pakistan are also reporting unprecedented June heat. 

UNITED STATES

The eastern United States is being plagued by persistent storminess that has led to some terrible flash flooding in the central Appalachians. Those floods are expected to continue for the next couple of days, but a new element is about to be added.

Forecasts call for a strong, hot ridge of high pressure to develop over the East early next week. At least a some record high temperatures are expected from the Plains to the East Coast. It's possible a few cities could see their all-time record for the month of June threatened. 

Some computer models depict insanely hot weather in the Northeast early next, though I think a few of these are overdone.  Some runs of the European model bring New York City to an all time high of 107 degrees. The Euro depicts highs up to 101 degrees in southeast Vermont and 97 degrees as far north as Burlington.

I doubt it will get that hot. I think the European model is exaggerating. But the way things are going around the world, who knows?   

VERMONT FORECAST

A taste of very warm, oppressive weather will arrive tomorrow and Thursday, with high humidity and temperatures well up into the 80s.  This won't be anywhere near any record highs, but it will be our most solid introduction to heat and humidity yet this year.

Showers and thunderstorms both tomorrow and Thursday will help hold temperatures well under 90 degrees, but will help keep the humidity incredibly uncomfortable.

We get a brief break Friday and Saturday with high temperatures both days in the 70s. But then the heat should begin to build back up starting Sunday, when it should get into the 80s with increasing humidity. 

Most forecasts have much of Vermont in the low 90s next Monday and Tuesday. There's a slight chance those outlier models of extreme, record breaking heat early next week are correct, but for now, I'm really doubting that. 

The heat next week should be mercifully brief, as temperatures by midweek should drop some.  But only to levels that are normal, or a little warmer than normal for this time of year. 

The long range weather pattern forecast also suggests that strong heat will spend most of the rest of June and probably beyond lurking not all that far to our south and west.  If the wind swings in the right direction, we have the potential for more big oppressive hot spells through the summer. 

NOAA forecasts for this summer in New England have consistently pointed toward a hotter than normal summer. 

FUTURE HEAT

While June and all-time heat records have been falling worldwide in recent years, the all-time hot records for Vermont remain distinctly old fashioned.

The hottest on record for anywhere in Vermont still stands at the 105 degrees recorded down in Vernon way back on July 4, 1911. The hottest it's ever gotten in Burlington is 101 degrees on August 11, 1944.

Now that climate change is increasingly in our lives, I think it's just a matter of time before those old records are broken. And I suspect it could come within just a matter of a few to several years.

We've had some incredible, record smashing hot spells in Vermont in recent years, but they have tended to not come in the summer.  It's just a roll of the dice when they hit. 

In Burlington, records go back to the 1880s. But the records for hottest temperature on record for the entire months of February, May, September, November and December have all happened since 2002 - so pretty recently in the grand scheme of things. Just last Halloween we shattered the record for hottest for so late in the season - 78 degrees on October 31.

That's why I think we are close to breaking are all-time record highs. An intense mid-summer unprecedented heat wave feels inevitable in this age of climate change. 

Extreme Flooding In Central, Eastern Europe Claims At Least 21 Lives

Flooding in central Europe has killed at least 21 people
and caused widespread destruction across several nations.

 Weather patterns in much of the northern hemisphere are kind of stuck, meaning certain areas keep getting the same weather day after day.  

For us in Vermont, we lucked out. In central and eastern Europe, the weather pattern has contributed to an extreme flood disaster that has so far claimed 21 lives and counting.

Widespread and record flooding are hitting large swaths of central and eastern Europe.  

So far the worst of it has hit Romania, Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and parts of Germany. The flooding is spreading into Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia and other countries as the slow moving storm meanders over Europe.  

Large parts of southwestern Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria have received more than eight inches of rain. Jesenik in the Czech Republic had 18.2 inches of rain in four days. That amount of rain normally falls there over six months. Some towns in Austria had 14 or more inches of rain over four days. 

Also, high water is spreading into major rivers like the Danube. Budapest, Hungary residents were told to expect the worst flood there in at least a decade. 

In the Czech Republic, the flooding was described as worse than the devastating floods in 1997 which were up until now known as "flood of the century." A fifth of the 56,000 residents in the city of Opava have been moved to higher ground.

Poland was especially hard hit.  Crews on helicopters were plucking people off roofs in Klodzko, a town with about 25,000 residents. Numerous other Polish towns and cities were also flooded. 

 A worst case scenario meteorological set up created this big calamity. A burst of Arctic air, much stronger than you'd expect for this time of year, plunged southward into central Europe. To the east of that cold front, warm, very humid air streamed northward from the Mediterranean Sea. 

The water temperature in that sea is at near record high levels, thanks largely to climate change. That allowed even more water vapor and moisture to feed into the storm. The whole thing stalled over central Europe, leading to days of torrential downpours. 

The Arctic air combined with all that moisture also led to unprecedented September snows in the Austrian Alps. Up to ten feet of snow fell on some high elevations, and a few spots had their first September snows on record. 

While the intensity of the cold is easing somewhat, the strong storm continues to meander under a blocked weather pattern that is not allowing systems to move in and out of any particular spot readily. 

This blocked up weather pattern in the northern hemisphere is having consequences elsewhere, though Europe is getting the worst of it. The blockiness is why that weird sort of semi-tropical storm lingered off the coast of North Carolina, sending boatloads of moisture inland to create massive flash floods from up to 20 inches of rain. 

Videos:

The following Associated Press video of flooding and rescues in the Czech Republic remind me of what Vermont went through in the past two summers. Click on this link or if you see the image below, click on that. 

More news footage of the flooding shows the water overtaking a beautiful European city: Again, click on this link or if you see the image below, click on that. 

As We Deal With A Spring Snowstorm In Vermont/New England, Heat Blasts On Much Of Planet

 Sure, winter has just given us (hopefully!) a last big blast here in Vermont. 

A tropical feel to the atmosphere on Burlington, Vermont's
waterfront during a record heat wave in July, 2018.
We're far from any heat records here in Vermont this
week, but many all time heat records have been
broken in the past couple weeks in
many parts of the world. 

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the world is hot, hot, hot. March closed with all time monthly highs in large parts of Europe, Asia and central America, just to name a few hot spots. 

Most of the following information comes from weather historian and climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who runs the Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps) on X, formerly Twitter. 

Eight eastern European nations logged records for their hottest March day on record, says the Washington Post. Numerous cities in Russia, Ukraine, Greece and Turkey also set record highs. 

Tokyo and other parts of Japan was actually kind of on the cool side during March, but that all changed at the end of the month. Tokyo got up to 82.6 degrees, easily its hottest March day on record. several other cities in Japan also had all time record highs for the month. 

In the last week of March, Hong Kong also had its hottest March day on the 24th with a reading of 88.7 degrees.  On March 27, Phuket, Thailand reached 102.6 degrees, its hottest temperatures record in any month.  

Cities in Taiwan, southern China, Myanmar and the Philippines also broke heat records by large margins in late March. Record highs have been reported somewhere in Thailand every day so far this year. 

Parts of Mongolia also reported record high temperatures for March. This follows an intense spell of frigid temperatures and snow in February that killed millions of livestock. 

April seems to be picking up where March left off, with heat records falling in a whole bunch of disparate places around the world - except here in Vermont, apparently. 

Kayes, in the western African nation of Mali, reached a terrible 119 degrees on Wednesday. That was the hottest temperature on record for any date for the entire nation of Mali. It was also the hottest April day on the entire African continent. It was also the hottest temperatures on record anywhere on Earth for early April. 

Central America also got into the act as April opened. 

On Tuesday, Guatemala reached 95 degrees for a new national record for the month of April. Costa Rica also hit an April record with 104 degrees. Not to be outdone, Belize City reached 100 degrees, its hottest day on record for any time of year. 

This is only some of the hot records noted around the world in recent days. And more record heat is due over the next week in several other parts of the world. 

But not here in Vermont. 

Sure, it will warm up to seasonable temperatures for April by Monday. But no record heat is in the cards for at least two weeks, probably longer. 

However, with all the heat waves hitting in rapid succession around the world, it's only a matter of time before Vermont starts breaking record highs again, like we did in February and early March.  

Let's just hope they're all time record highs in the middle of summer. 

I can't blame the heat waves 100 percent o climate change, but it's certainly having an influence. is 

 

Hot Times Already On Earth In Just First Month Of Year

Global temperature anomalies for Sunday, January 28.
Most of the world is warm compared to normal, in
some cases record warm. Note this is temperatures
compared to the average from 1979 to 2000 a 
period when global temperatures had already
increased due to climate change. 

UPDATE FEB 1

More wild record highs have come in since this post three days ago,

The most incredible to me came in from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan on Tuesday.

The temperature there reached 70 degrees, breaking the record by a full four degrees for the

highest January temperature in that province. 

The normal high temperature this time of year in Maple Creek is in the low 20s.

Churchill, Manitoba, on the shore of Hudson Bay, reached 38 degrees. The normal high in Churchill this time of year is 5 above. 

Today, February 1, the Maldives became

the first nation or territory this year to set its all time high temperature for any day of the year. It reached 92.5 degrees.

On Wednesday, the temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, the supposed "Icebox of the Nation" set a new record high for the entire month January with a high of 53 degrees. It was the first time on record temperatures ever reached 50 degrees in International Falls. 

 

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION JAN. 29

We're had another really warm January here in Vermont this year,

It might not feel like it, given all the storms and ice and clouds and gloom we've had.  Chances are low that it will make the top ten warmest, but it's still much balmier than Januaries of the past.  

Meanwhile, the heat is really, really on in other parts of the globe.

Last year was the hottest on record for the Earth. Many experts are saying 2024 will be even hotter. It's less than a month  into the new year, but we're off to a good start in fulfilling that hot prophesy. We're seeing incredible warmth in almost too many spots on the Globe to count.

Throughout history, with or without climate change, there's always been weather extremes. You were always sure to find a couple spots with the warmest temperatures in memory and a couple of others that were coldest that anybody recalled. 

In the age of climate change, you still get a few instances of nasty Arctic chill. But those are far outweighed and outnumbered by the super warm spots. This winter, El Nino is supercharging that trend. 

Heat records  are being set in the United States and around the world at a dizzying pace. Even in spots that haven't seen record heat this month - like Vermont - it's still strangely warm. 

Let's start it all of in the good ole U.S. of A. 

UNITED STATES

While we in Vermont were locked in a Steven King style "Mist" on Friday, Washington DC soared to 80 degrees, their hottest temperature on record for the entire month of January. Their previous record for earliest 80 degrees of the year was on February 21, 2018. On average, Washington's first 80 of the year hits on March 28.

The dew point - a measure of how humid it feels, peaked at  66 degrees in Washington during the January heat wave. That occurred in the morning before the heat peaked. But still, the nation's capital had by Vermont standards an uncomfortably muggy July morning. 

Elsewhere, Charleston, South Carolina tied its January record, reaching 83 degrees. Other record highs included 80 degrees at Baltimore Harbor and 83 degrees in Wilmington, North Carolina. 

This national warm spell helps reverse a trend this month in which record lows in the United States were exceeding record highs. In the age of climate change, most months have more record highs than lows,

Elsewhere, record highs were reported in Washington State and Oregon Sunday, with highs of 61 in Seattle and 63 in Olympia.  Record highs in Oregon included 69 in Eugene and 66 in Salem. The near record warmth is expected to spread into the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains and Upper Midwest by middle of the week.  

 Great Falls, Montana, which bottomed out at an absolutely bitter 34 degrees below zero on January 12 and 13, begun what was expected to be five consecutive days with temperatures in the 60s starting Sunday. 

We've had several bouts of this kind of "weather whiplash" in the United States, including here in Vermont, in which whatever rare moments of record or near record cold is followed immediately by record warmth.

Weather historian Maxmiliano Herrera has - as always - been so helpful documenting these weird and frequent heat waves.  I 

Let's take a global tour and check out just part of the widespread heat Herrara has found over the past few days.   

 Europe

January, 2023 brought some of the hottest midwinter conditions ever recorded in wide swaths of Europe. Weather and climate experts were stunned by the level of winter heat last year.

Then January, 2024 hit. Herrera is calling this "the most insane event in European climatic history, beating 1-2 January, 2023."

Here's just some of the reasons he's saying this: 

The temperature reached 66.5 in Kinlochewe, Scotland Sunday, the highest January temperature on record for anywhere in the United Kingdom. It was also the hottest temperature on record for all of meteorological winter in Scotland, which runs from December 1 to February 29. There was another unconfirmed report of 68 degrees in Scotland that is being investigated. 

Dozens of cities across France reported record highs, with some towns reaching as high as a summer-like 79 degrees. 

Some summery temperatures this past week included 74 degrees in Collobrières, France and Cuenca, Spain, 64 degrees in Imst Austria and 62 degrees in Piotta, Switzerland. Andorra had its hottest January day on record with a reading of 69 degrees. 

Record highs for the month of January have also been reported in Spain. 

South America

Argentina has been having repeated bouts of heat for at least six months now.  They basically endured a year without a winter back in July and Augusts. The heat trend  is continuing this month.

Just one example: Trelew, Argentina just saw its hottest day on record with a high of 109 degrees. Surrounding nations aren't doing much better. Talca, Chile broke its all time record high temperatures last Monday, reaching 102 degrees. Peru is dealing with a record breaking heat wave this weekend. This past Monday, Talca, Chile.

Herrera noted that the most striking part of South America's recent heat is how widespread it has been. Almost all the continent has been broiling in extreme heat over the past week or more.

Africa

The high temperature this past Tuesday in Dimbokro, Ivory Coast reached 103, their hottest January day on record. It was 115 degrees in Vioolsdrif, South Africa. 

On the complete opposite end of Africa, several cities in Algeria this past week recorded their hottest January days on record. A couple cities in Tunisia did the same. 

Elsewhere

Instances of record January warmth were also reported in parts of Australia, Mexico, the Caribbean, and around the Mediterranean sea. South-central Canada looks destined to have record January heat as well as the month closes out. 

There are signs that new outbreaks of record January heat will continue as we close out the month in the next few days. I expect the same out of February at this point. 

With all the heat records being set this month,  it will be interesting to see whether January, 2024 becomes the hottest January on record for the world as a whole.

At this point, I'm betting that happens. 

 

Snow Trouble Both Sides Of The Atlantic

Latest snow forecast from the National Weather Service
in South Burlington. Mid and high elevations can
expect perhaps six inches wet snow. Be alert, as
these totals might change substantially in the actual storm.

 EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND -  At my temporary perch in this Scottish city, we haven't gotten any snow so far in my stay. The hills around town yes, but not in the city center.  

But I see there's a snowy mess on both sides of the pond. Swaths of the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, have gotten some disruptive snows.

Meanwhile, it still looks like disruptive snows are in the cards for Vermont and surround areas. Let's take Vermont first.

Like the wet, heavy snowstorm back on November 27 that caused a mess and power outages, the one that's coming today and tonight in the Green Mountain State will easily surprise folks one way or another. 

Temperatures, like last time, will be marginal, very close to the freezing mark. That means, as  mentioned yesterday, if it ends up being a degree or two warmer than expected, it'll be mostly rain. If it's a degree or two cooler than what's in the forecast now, then the wet snow will be much more widespread.

Expect surprises.

The worst of the storm will run from this afternoon to early Monday morning.  Before we get there, freezing drizzle and freezing fog this morning near the Canadian border will cause some spotty ice and travel trouble, especially on bridges and overpasses. 

The heavier precipitation will move in this afternoon. It'll come down heavily at times tonight. The best chances of accumulating snow will be during the heavier bouts of precipitation overnight. That heavy stuff tends to cool the air enough so that if you're above freezing and raining, you'll likely switch to snow.

Once again, the higher you go the more snow you'll get. A winter storm warning is up for the Northeast Kingdom and high elevations of northeast New York, where six inches or more of wet slop is in the cards. 

Elsewhere in Vermont, a winter weather advisory is up for areas outside the immediate Champlain Valley and so far not including the state's southernmost counties. In these areas two to seven inches of sloppy wet snow is forecast, but there could be some surprises with higher totals if temperatures dip just a degree or two downward more than expected.

The immediate Champlain Valley can expect one or two inches, but again, be wary of any surprises that could boost totals overnight. 

As you've noticed, I keep mentioning heavy, wet snow. That means power failures are likely. That's especially true in  mid and high elevations where the snow should accumulate the most.

I can't emphasize enough the predicted snow amounts are not cast in stone.  This is a tricky storm.  My gut is sort of pushing me to expect a little more snow that's currently in the forecast, but it could really go either way.  Either a huge dump of wet snow, something in the middle, or perhaps, not as big a deal.

I'd get ready for a wet snowy mess with difficult travel early Monday and the risk of power outages. Get the LED candles and charge your devices by this evening to be on the safe side.

Whatever comes down will be quite a bit. Rain and melted snow will amount to 0.75 inches to 1.25 inches most areas, with some spots seeing higher amounts. That makes it a pretty substantial storm. 

Much lighter wet snow and rain will keep going Monday in most areas, but accumulations will be lighter and many areas will be above freezing. So things should improve during the day. 

Of course, it will get colder Monday night, so a combination of water freezing on roads and light snow showers will make the roads annoying again overnight and Tuesday morning. 

BRITAIN/EUROPEAN SNOW

Vermont isn't the only place that's dealing with heavy, wet snow. In some places on this side of the pond, there's plenty of it.

Here in Scotland, Edinburgh on the northeast coast hasn't gotten any snow, but we might get some today. The Met Office, the British equivalent of the National Weather Service has Edinburgh and most of eastern Scotland under a "yellow warning" for some snow and us. 

A yellow warning is the equivalent of a winter weather advisory, and not quite as dire as the equivalent of a winter storm warning.   

Snow is visible in the hills near Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Snow is already affected other areas of the UK. The Glasgow, Scotland airport had to suspend flights Saturday morning due to a burst of heavy snow.  The Midlands, Yorkshire and large parts of Wales are snowy, with roads and railways icy and slow.

Jackknifed trucks (I've learned to call them lorries here) blocked a major highway in Cumbria.  

Elsewhere in Europe, heavy snow shut down parts of Germany. Munich had no bus or train service Saturday after 16 inches of heavy, wet snow fell there.

Intense cold and heavy snow are also causing problems. Traffic was at a standstill around Prague in the Czech Republic. Austria and Switzerland are on the alert for avalanches. 

In both Vermont and western and central Europe, longer range forecasts call for somewhat milder conditions in about a week. 

Latest In Series Of Severe Storm Trashes Western Europe, At Least 14 Deaths

In this screen grab from news video, people in 
northwestern France struggle in hurricane force
gusts and flooding from Storm Ciaran 

During the past couple weeks at least, he United States - including us here in Vermont - have been getting a welcome break from the extreme weather brought on by El Nino and climate change.

Not so in Europe, where intense storms coming off the Atlantic Ocean have caused widespread destruction over the past month or so. 

The worst of the storms hit this past week. They name winter storms in Europe, and this one was Ciaran. 

The intense wind and rain storm tore across much of western and central Europe, so far killing at least 14 people and likely causing several billion dollars in damage. 

France and Italy appear to be the two  hardest hit nations. The coast of France endured wind gusts as high as 129 mph. The port city of Brest in northwestern France had record high wind gusts of around 100 mph. The city has widespread structural and tree damage. Half a million French households had no electricity for at least two days because of the storm. 

The island of Jersey in the Channel Islands is said to have worse damage than the Great Storm of 1987, which is the benchmark for the severest storms in the region. Most houses on the island have at least some damage, ranging from broken windows to missing roofs and caved in walls. 

Storm Ciaran unleashed severe floods in Italy, where at least six people died.  Damage was worst in and around Tuscany.  Video showed dozens of cars being shoved down city streets in Italy by powerful torrents of water. 

Flooding extended as far north as Northern Ireland, where the cities of Downpatrick and Newry were inundated, 

Recently, on and around October 20, Another storm, named Babet, hit the U.K,, causing some of the worst flooding on record in Scotland and parts of the British Midlands. 

Yet another storm, named Domingos, is sweeping through France and surrounding areas today. Though not nearly as strong as Ciaran, it is still causing damaging gales and prolonging flooding in parts of western Europe. 

Vicious fall and winter storms have always hit Europe, especially when there's an El Nino, like we're having now. But the storms are also being turbo charged by climate change.  Oceans are warmer, so incoming storms can gather more energy and become stronger. 

The warmer atmosphere can also hold more moisture, so downpours are more intense, causing worse flooding than in the past.