Britain is sizzling in an unseasonable heatwave which has somehow made it ice cream weather in February – but don’t blame climate change just yet.
Instead, forecasters believe, this week’s record-breaking high of 19.1C in Gogerddan, in Cardiganshire, Wales, might have been influenced by the ‘Foehn Effect’.
The high temperature (the warmest Welsh day in February since 1990) may have been influenced by the Foehn Effect, a dry and warm down-slope wind that occurs to the lee of hills or mountains.
The Met Office says that the Foehn Effect is ‘a change from wet and cold conditions one side of a mountain, to warmer and drier conditions on the other (leeward) side.’
The effect is complex, caused by condensation, turbulent mixing of different air currents and warming by the sun.
The Met Office says, ‘Foehn winds (sometimes written “Föhn”) are common in mountainous regions, regularly impacting the lives of their residents and influencing weather conditions for hundreds of kilometres downwind.
‘Their notoriety has led to recognition by a multitude of names including: the Chinook or “snow eater” of the North American Rocky Mountains; the Zonda of the South American Andes; and the Helm wind of the English Pennines.’
A spokesman for the Met Office said: ‘It’s been unusually mild in many areas of the country and this is the fourth day in a row we’ve hit 18C.
‘Monday and Tuesday will be equally as warm, if not with a greater chance of 18C or 19C.’
After that, however, temperatures should be back to normal.
‘Monday and Tuesday will be the last of the very mild days with temperatures coming back to average levels after that,’ the spokesman added.
Temperatures across Wales reached 18C in many places on Sunday, though it is unlikely to break the UK record for February, when the mercury soared to 19.7C (67.46F) in Greenwich in 1998.
The previous Welsh record was 18.6C set in the south Wales village of Velindre 29 years ago.
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