Headline
Did climate change have an impact on Storm Desmond?
United Kingdom
Carlisle Civic Centre in the floodwater, December 2015. Image: Rose and Trev Clough
The exceptional rainfall in Cumbria over the past few days saw the fall of numerous records and has led many to ask whether it is linked to climate change...A gauge at Honister Pass recorded 341.4mm of rainfall in the 24-hours up to 1800 GMT on 5 December 2015, making for a new UK record for any 24-hour period...A new 48-hour record...was also set, when 405mm was recorded at Thirlmere in Cumbria in just 38 hrs...Ocean temperatures in the West Atlantic are currently well above normal and may well have contributed to the very high levels of moisture in the air masses which unleashed rainfall on the Cumbrian fells
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