As you enjoy the sunshine, spare a thought for Iceland. It is having the greyest, wettest summer since 1914, preceded by rain every single day in May.
According to Icelandic meteorologist Trausti Jonsson, the UK heatwave is to blame for Iceland’s struggling ice-cream vendors, outdoor pools and campsites. “The people of Reykjavík are paying for the sunshine in England and southern Scandinavia,” he said, thanks to high pressure over western Europe changing the jet stream and pushing clouds over the north of the continent.
But is our sunny luck really causing Iceland’s damp squib? “It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario,” says the Met Office’s Alex Deakin. “Is the high pressure causing the jet stream, or is the jet stream causing the high pressure?”
The location of the jet stream (a group of strong winds above the Earth’s surface, which helps to steer weather around the world) is the main driver of heatwaves. To necessitate Icelanders getting the sun cream out, it needs to move north. If it moves closer to Britain, it could bring sun to the country, but they won’t get much heat.
No other countries have the strong meteorological relationship that the UK does with Iceland. “Often our weather is the opposite to what’s happening in Iceland,” says Deakin. “The geography is such that the width of the jet stream is either going to be across Iceland or the UK.”
Both countries are in exposed positions in a huge ocean, whereas the rest of Europe is influenced by the large land mass.
Are any other countries affected by our heatwave? “Iceland has borne the brunt of it in this scenario,” says Deakin. With high pressure across the UK and north-west Europe, low-pressure systems can appear across the Mediterranean, which lead to thunderstorms, such as those recently across Greece.”
At some point, for the sake of our lawns, we may want the jet stream back. Will that happen any time soon? “It looks very unlikely. This fine and sunny weather will continue for most of next week.” Sorry, Iceland.
