Britain bakes in long heatwave

Weird ‘wind drought’ means Britain’s turbines are at a standstill

New Scientist,

26 November, 2014

Britain is experiencing a “wind drought” that has slowed or halted the blades on turbines around the country.

July’s wind energy output so far is down 40 per cent when compared to the same period last year – despite more wind turbines having been installed in the interim, according to new figures.

“We’ve been typically doing between 2 to 3 gigawatts of wind [generation],” says Rob Gross of Imperial College London, which complied the data, “At a windier time of the year we might be doing 9 or 10.”

An unusually prolonged period of high pressure is to blame for the drought, says Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the UK Met Office.

The jet stream has remained further north, meaning an area of dense, high pressure air over the UK hasn’t budged.

“It’s like a lid, it keeps everything still,” says Madge. “From the forecast looking out over the next couple of weeks, there doesn’t seem to be any significant change on the way.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the National Grid said: ““Between 4th June and 15th July wind generation was around 30% lower compared to the same period last year. Electricity demand is low and we’re comfortable with the level of spare generation we have available. ”

“As we continue to transition to a low carbon energy system, managing the intermittency of renewable power is an important role in balancing supply and demand. However we have planned for these changes and ready to play our part”.

Windless future

 

The price of natural gas, which is being burned more to compensate for the lack of wind, has ticked up slightly.

Ireland is facing similar problems with a lack of wind while falling water levels in rivers have also curtailed hydroelectric power generation in July.

Climate change might mean that less wind is available for energy production in general during the coming decades. One projection, published in Nature Geoscience in December, suggested that wind power would decrease in the northern hemisphere but increase in the southern hemisphere.

This might mean a loss of as much as 18 per cent of wind over the central US by the year 2100, according to the study.

It’s essential that the UK plans for windless periods in the future, says Gross. He points out that in recent weeks Great Britain has benefited from relatively high solar energy output. Solar provided nearly 10 per cent of Britain’s electricity in the week ending 1 July, for example

Yellow and unpleasant land - 

Britain’s scorched earth seen 

in shock satellite images

SHOCKING satellite images of England taken just two months apart show how this summer’s heatwave has transformed our green and pleasant land into something resembling a desert.

 

Baking Britain cracks in hot 

weather

Baking Britain cracks as the hot weather continues.

UK weather: Forecasters warn HEATWAVE could last until August as temperatures SOAR to 30C

SIZZLING temperatures in Britain are set to continue until the start of August following weeks of heatwave conditions, forecasters have warned.

the Express,

19 July, 2018

There could still be weeks left of soaring temperatures in the UK with chances of the mercury hitting "record-breaking" highs. 

Temperatures have remained higher than usual in July with a 20.9C average so far. 

A Met Office spokesman said: “If the rest of the summer is average, 2018 will certainly rank in the top 10 warmest summers on record and if we continue to see above average temperatures, it could well be record breaking.”

A chart from The Weather Channel shows temperatures pick up on Saturday and hit above 30C for London and the south east by Sunday – with temperatures remaining high into the last week of July. 

UK weather forecast: Temperatures to reach 30C as heatwave continues (Image: WXCHARTS)

Exacta Weather forecaster James Madden also said: “Despite some changeable weather this week things will heat up again this weekend as a substantial area of high pressure builds across the country.