Review of UK weather statistics fails to find major changes in UK climate
London, 16 April: The floods that affected northern England in the autumn of 2019 were nothing out of the ordinary. That’s according to a new review of the UK’s 2019 weather.
Author Paul Homewood says that although rainfall in the region was high, it has been exceeded several times in the past, right back to the 19th century.
“It’s easy for people to reach to blame climate change every time there is an extreme weather event”, says Homewood, “but we are seeing very little that we haven’t seen before”.
Homewood points out that the Met Office’s own data support his case.
“If you look at Met Office data extreme rainfall, extreme drought or storms, there is very little to write home about. Winters are a bit milder, and in Scotland a bit wetter, but that’s about it”.
Homewood’s third annual review of the UK’s weather has just been published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation.
Key findings
* After a rising trend between the 1980s and early 2000s, temperature trends have stabilised in the UK.
* Heatwaves are not becoming more intense, but extremely cold weather has become much less common.
* There is little in the way of long-term trends in rainfall in England and Wales.
* Sea-level rise around British coasts is not accelerating.
The UK’s Weather in 2019: More of the same, again (PDF)
