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In Pictures: Stormy ‘weather bomb’ hits UK

The country is bracing for storm force winds, snow and mountainous seas as a low pressure system moves in.

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(***)Red sky at morning, shepherd(***)s warning(***) goes the old saying. A red glow over central London heralds a change in the weather across the UK, with the most extreme conditions likely across northwestern areas. [Getty]
By Richard Angwin
Published On 10 Dec 2014

The UK is starting to experience a period of severe weather, with northwestern areas likely to bear the brunt of the developing storm.

The storm itself has been termed a ‘weather bomb’, making it sound extremely dangerous. If fact, such terms are rarely used by UK meteorologists, but the media seem to have picked up on the term on this occasion.

The ‘bomb’ derives from the meteorological term, ‘explosive cyclogenesis’. This occurs when cold, dry air from the stratosphere feeds into a developing area of low pressure.

Other factors, such as the position of the jet stream blowing across the Atlantic, combine to produce a rapid and extreme deepening of the low pressure centre.

Gulls wheel in the strengthening wind as (***)explosive cyclogenesis(***) takes place to the west of the UK. [Getty]
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The explosive development took place around the Davis Strait on the western side of Greenland. [Getty]
The low pressure centre was situated between the UK and Iceland at 06GMT on Wednesday. [Getty]
Much of the northern half of the UK is under a (***)yellow(***) weather warning. [Getty]
Western Scotland and the far north of Northern Ireland are under an (***)amber(***) warning for winds of 130kph. Up until 09GMT on Wednesday, the strongest reported wind was 112kph on the island of Islay, in the Inner Hebrides. [Getty]
Because the strong winds extend across much of the Atlantic, waves have a long, uninterrupted track, known as a fetch, over which to develop. Wave heights are predicted to reach 18 metrews offshore. [Getty]
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Cold air is driving southeastwards behind a cold front and it is expected to turn colder with the risk of snow over high ground bringing blizzard conditions. [Getty]