This chapter explores the difficulties of forecasting weather in the UK for the summer season, emphasizing the impact of small changes through the butterfly effect. It highlights the limitations of long-term weather predictions while providing insights that suggest a potentially warmer and drier July and August based on climate indicators.
Here in the UK talking about the weather is already a national pastime, but this month the water-cooler weather chat has ramped up a notch as rain, grey skies and biting temperatures have put summer firmly on hold. Ian Sample talks to Matt Patterson, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, to find out what’s causing the chilly weather, whether it’s really as unusual as it seems, and whether any sun is on the horizon for the UK. Help support our independent journalism at
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