Extreme Weather
Geography: KS3, topic 5.1.13
Extreme Weather
Extreme weather is weather that is very different from the normal expected weather of a particular location. Extreme weather includes heat waves, droughts, freezing spells, flash floods, and strong winds.
What is extreme weather?
- Extreme weather is unexpected, unusual, unpredictable weather.
- It may be a very short lived event,
- E.g. a flash flood.
- Or can last over a longer period of time,
- E.g. a summer heatwave and drought.
Heat waves
- Heat waves are periods of abnormally high temperatures.
- E.g. the summer of 2018 in the UK and Europe.
- There were more than 1,000 excess deaths in the UK, wildfires, crop failures, and a widespread drought.
Droughts
- Droughts are prolonged periods of abnormally low rainfall.
- They have to be more than 15 days but can last for years.
- They cause a shortage of water.
Drought example
- An example of a drought was the summer of 2018 in the UK and Europe when a lack of rainfall severely affected:
- Agriculture, tourism, sporting events, electricity production and water supply.
Extreme Weather
Extreme weather is weather that is very different from the normal expected weather of a particular location. Extreme weather includes heat waves, droughts, freezing spells, flash floods, and strong winds.
Extreme cold spells
- Extreme cold spells are periods of unusually low temperatures over widespread areas, possibly with heavy snowfall.
- E.g. The ‘Beast from the East’ in March 2018 in the UK where record low temperatures and heavy snowfall were recorded.
- Everyday life was severely disrupted and the economy suffered.
Flash floods
- Flash floods are excessive rainfall in a short period of time.
- E.g. Boscastle, Cornwall in August 2004 when approximately three times the average month’s rainfall fell in a single day.
- The resulting flood caused approximately £15 million of damage.
Strong winds
- Strong winds include storms and gales, cyclones, typhoons, tropical storms, tornadoes and hurricanes.
- Exceptionally high winds affect transport, electricity supplies and cause flooding and tremendous damage, including loss of life.
St Jude storm
- In the UK, the St Jude storm in 2013 brought torrential rain.
- The St Jude storm had winds up to 160 km/h.
- The St Jude storm caused five deaths.
- The St Jude storm left 600,000 homes without power.
Hurricane Katrina
- The extremely destructive Hurricane Katrina is the deadliest United States hurricane.
- Hurricane Katrina hit the south of the USA in 2005.
- At least 1,245 people died because of Hurricane Katrina.
- The damage to property was estimated at US$125 billion.
Test yourself on Extreme Weather
What was NOT a consequence of the European heatwave of summer 2018?
Where experienced flash flooding in August 2004?