2018 British Isles cold wave
{{short description|Cold wave in Europe in February–March 2018}}
{{Missing information|the effects on Ireland|date=September 2018}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox storm
| name = Anticyclone Hartmut
Beast from the East
| image = Hartmut_Feb27.png
| caption = Satellite view showing Europe, including Great Britain and Ireland partially covered in snow under the lines of the strong cold wave on 27 February 2018
| stormtype = Winter storm, anticyclonic storm, polar vortex
| date formed = 22 February 2018{{cite web |url=http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/de/wetter/maps/Analyse_20180222.gif |title=Image 20180222 |date= |website=Institute of Meteorology, Free University of Berlin}}
| date dissipated = 5 March 2018{{cite web |url=http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/de/wetter/maps/Analyse_20180304.gif |title=Image 20180304 |date= |website=Institute of Meteorology, Free University of Berlin}}
| maximum amount = {{convert|57|cm|in|abbr=on}}, Gloucestershire, England
| lowest temperature = {{convert|-14.2|°C|°F|abbr=on}} Faversham, Kent{{cite web |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/2018/snow-and-low-temperatures-february-to-march-2018---met-office.pdf |title=Snow and low temperatures February to March 2018
|website=www.metoffice.gov.uk}}
| sustained wind = {{cvt|116|mph|order=flip}}
| damages = £1.2 billion (2018){{cite web |url=http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com//Documents/20190118-ab-if-december-global-recap.pdf |title=Global Catastrophe Recap |date=December 2018 |website=Aon}}
| total fatalities = 95 total; 17 in UK{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
| areas affected = Great Britain and Ireland; much of continental Europe
| highest pressure = {{convert|1056|hPa|inHg|abbr=on|lk=on|comma=off}}
}}
Anticyclone Hartmut (dubbed the Beast from the East ({{langx|ga|An Torathar ón Oirthear}}){{cite web |date=28 Feb 2018 |title=TÁ AN SNEACHTA AG TEACHT-A |url=https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/irish-independent-seachtain/20180228/281492161809763 |website=Irish Independent |via=PressReader}}{{cite web |url=https://tuairisc.ie/an-torathar-on-oirthear-no-an-sioc-ar-buile-gaeilge-a-cur-ar-the-beast-from-the-east/ |title='An Torathar ón Oirthear' nó 'An Sioc ar Buile'? Gaeilge á cur ar 'The Beast From the East' |website=Tuairisc.ie|date=27 February 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.maradearfa.ie/nuacht/item/398-breacadh-eag-42 |title=Breacadh, Eag. 42 - Mar a Déarfá!}}) was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a cold wave to Great Britain and Ireland. Anticyclone Hartmut also brought widespread unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfall to large areas.{{cite conference |last1=Storm |first1=Emma |last2=Calore |first2=Francesca |last3=Weniger |first3=Christoph |title=Understanding uncertainties in modeling the galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission |conference=6Th International Symposium on High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy |volume=1792 |pages=070021 |date=2017 |publisher=Author(s) |doi=10.1063/1.4969018 |series=AIP Conference Proceedings|issue=1 |bibcode=2017AIPC.1792g0021S}} The cold wave combined with Storm Emma, part of the 2017–18 European windstorm season, which made landfall in southwest England and the south of Ireland on 2 March.
In contrast to usual winter storms, Hartmut was not formed as a normal low pressure area along the jetstream. The initial event was an Arctic outbreak (caused by a disordered polar vortex) into Central Europe, transporting not only cold air from Siberia to Europe but also – due to the lake effect – sending heavy snowfall into Great Britain and Ireland.
This weather situation repeated itself on the weekend of 17 and 18 March, but was less severe than on the previous occasion, due to the onset of spring. This briefer cold snap was given the name "Mini Beast from the East".
Causes and effects
File:Regent's Park in the "Beast from the East" snowstorm (25825404487).jpg, London]]
The Hartmut cold spell was caused by a large arctic airmass with anticyclonic structure, stretching from the Russian Far East to the British Isles and covering large parts of Asia and almost all of Europe. The anticyclone, centred on Scandinavia,{{cite web |title=Atmospheric Pressure Chart |url=http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/de/wetter/maps/Analyse_20180228.gif |format=GIF |website=Met.fu-berlin.de |access-date=10 January 2019}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} was the dominant high pressure area in the weather system and represented its European part. North Asia was covered by other anticyclones that belonged to that giant arctic airmass. The anticyclone brought cold easterly winds into Europe and the British Isles, leading to snowfall and sub-zero temperatures, as a result of freezing air from Siberia.{{cite news |last=Greenfield |first=Patrick |title=UK braces for 'beast from the east' as Met Office warns of snow |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/26/uk-braces-for-beast-from-the-east-as-met-office-warns-of-snow |work=The Guardian |date=26 February 2018 |access-date=27 February 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Greenfield |first1=Patrick |last2=Rawlinson |first2=Kevin |title=Siberian blast could make southern England colder than the Arctic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/23/uk-faces-significant-snowfall-due-to-freezing-air-from-siberia |work=The Guardian |date=23 February 2018 |access-date=28 February 2018 |quote=...Freezing air from Siberia...}} Ireland was predicted to experience its worst winter for at least 30 years.{{cite news |last=Thorne |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Thorne (climatologist) |title=Q&A: What is causing these severe snow warnings? |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/q-a-what-is-causing-these-severe-snow-warnings-1.3406308 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=26 February 2018 |access-date=28 February 2018 |quote=There have been many worse winters in the past, but not in the last 30 years. Met Éireann have a good compendium of historical events available at www.met.ie. ... Peter Thorne is Professor in Physical Geography (Climate Change) at NUI Maynooth and Director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Unit group (Icarus)}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nova.ie/news/ready-beast-set-bite/|title=Be Ready As Beast Set To Bite|last=LeCouer|first=Jack|date=2018-02-26|work=Nova.ie|access-date=2018-02-28|quote=Evelyn Cusack from Met Éireann says the winds coming from Siberia will mean it's exceptionally cold, and said it's been more than 30 years since we’ve seen this kind of weather: "I'm not saying that it's going to be as bad, maybe it'll be worse."|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161646/https://www.nova.ie/news/ready-beast-set-bite/|archive-date=28 February 2018|url-status=dead}} In the United Kingdom the Met Office issued a red snow warning, meaning a potential risk to life.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43221384 |title=UK weather: Snow causing widespread travel disruption |publisher=BBC News |date=28 February 2018 |access-date=28 February 2018}}
File:The Beast from the East hits Bramley (geograph 5701516).jpg, West Yorkshire]]
The anticyclone was such an intense high pressure system that it evolved into an anticyclonic storm, and was named Hartmut. A gust of {{cvt|187|km/h}} was registered in the Øvre Dividal National Park in Norway, relatively near to the anticyclonic centre.{{cite web|url=https://kachelmannwetter.com/de/messwerte/troms/windboeen-6h/20180228-0600z.html|title=Messwerte vom 28.02.2018, 07:00 Uhr – Troms|access-date=2 March 2018}} Other hurricane-force gusts delivered by Hartmut were registered across Europe, particularly over Scandinavia and the British Isles. Such hurricane-force anticyclonic storms are not extremely rare, but occur less often than cyclonic storms of similar intensity.
Sixteen weather-related deaths included that of a seven-year-old girl on Thursday 1 March in Looe, Cornwall, when she was hit by a car that slid on ice into a bungalow. On Wednesday 28 February, Stephen Cavanagh, 60, died after trying to save his dog from a lake in Welling, South East London. Also on Wednesday, a 46-year-old man died in a crash and a 75-year-old woman was found dead underneath her car in Farsley. A carer from Glasgow died on her way to work and a 52-year-old homeless man was found dead freezing inside his tent. On Tuesday 27 February, four people died in two separate weather-related crashes. A 20-year-old also died after slipping and falling whilst crossing a bridge in Haddington, East Lothian. This followed the death of a man trying to help another driver in the snowy conditions in Bergh Apton, Norfolk, who suffered a heart attack. A 70-year-old also died after being rescued from icy cliffs in Torquay.
Storm Emma
{{main|Winter Storm Emma (2018)}}
Storm Emma brought chaos with heavy snow and strong winds to the South of Ireland, South West England and Southern Wales on 2–3 March 2018 with up to {{cvt|50|cm}} of snow in some elevated areas.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43236763|title=Storm Emma to bring up to 50cm of snow|publisher=BBC News|date=2 March 2018|access-date=2 March 2018}} High winds brought disruption to other parts of Great Britain and Ireland. It also brought rail disruption as several trains became stranded, full of passengers, for up to 14 hours.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-43253130|title=What's it like to spend 14 hours stuck on trains?|date=2018-03-02|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2018-09-18|language=en-GB}} Daytime temperatures were also very suppressed, some places not rising above {{convert|-12|C|F}}.
''Mini Beast from the East''
Following a brief spell of warmer weather, a fresh cold snap nicknamed the "Mini Beast from the East" was forecast to bring another covering of snow on the weekend of 17 and 18 March. However, due to the onset of spring, and a higher sun position, it was forecast that the effect would be less severe than on the previous occasion, for the ground was warmer than before, and thus the snow would melt more quickly.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43420929|title='Mini Beast from the East' brings fresh snow warnings |date=2018-03-16 |publisher=BBC News|access-date=2018-03-18}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/16/uk-weather-mini-beast-east-set-grip-britain-met-office-extends/|title=UK weather: 'Mini Beast from the East' set to grip Britain as Met Office extends weekend snow and ice warnings|date=2018-03-16|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-03-18}}
Snow showers began to affect parts of Britain and Ireland on 17 March, with north-east England, the North Midlands, and parts of southern England experiencing the heaviest snowfall. The snow was accompanied by strong winds, forecast to be as high as {{cvt|70|mph|order=flip}}, and the Met Office issued an amber weather warning effective from the afternoon of 17 March.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43439807 |title=Snow and ice sweep across parts of UK |date=17 March 2018 |access-date=18 March 2018 |publisher=BBC News}} Snow showers continued to affect parts of the UK and Ireland on 18 March, with south-west England the most severely affected. The adverse weather conditions forced the cancellation of some sporting events, including the Reading Half Marathon, while Ireland's rugby union team, who had won the 2018 Six Nations Championship, cancelled their homecoming "due to heavy snowfall" with no new date confirmed.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43445768 |title=Travel warnings as snow and ice hit UK |date=18 March 2018 |access-date=18 March 2018 |publisher=BBC News}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Cold wave}}
{{Weather events in Ireland}}
{{Weather events in the United Kingdom}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Britain and Ireland cold wave, 2018}}
Category:2018 natural disasters
Category:Blizzards in the United Kingdom
Category:February 2018 in Europe
Category:February 2018 in the United Kingdom
Category:March 2018 in the United Kingdom
Category:February 2018 in Ireland
Category:March 2018 in Ireland
Category:Snow in the United Kingdom
Category:Weather events in Europe