Solar variability helps explain cold winters

Monday 10 October 2011 - Adapted from a press release issued by the UK Met Office Watch a video of Professor Joanna Haigh explaining solar variability - Research led by the Met Office has shed new light on a link between decadal solar variability and winter climate in the UK, northern Europe and parts of America. The study, carried out with Imperial College London and the University of Oxford and published , shows that low UV output from the sun can contribute to cold winters over parts of the northern hemisphere, such as recently seen in the UK¹. Years of higher UV have the opposite effect. Adam Scaife, one of the Met Office scientists involved in the research, said that while some studies have observed a link between solar variability and winter climate, our research establishes this as more than just coincidence. He said: "We've been able to reproduce a consistent climate pattern, confirm how it works, and quantify it using a computer model based on the laws of physics. This isn't the sole driver of winter climate over our region, but it is a significant factor and understanding it is important for seasonal to decadal forecasting." New data from sensitive satellite equipment² shows UV variability over the 11-year solar cycle³ may be much larger than previously thought and has been key to the research. By using this information in the Met Office's climate model, researchers were able to reproduce the effects of solar variability apparent in observed climate records.