Looks like our dreams of a white Christmas won’t be coming true after all.
According to the Met Office, snow will ‘virtually disappear’ from most of the UK by the end of the century. Thanks to climate change and increasing global emissions, snowy winters may soon cease to exist. The new research suggests that by 2040, most of southern England will no longer see sub-zero temperatures, and by the 2060s, only high ground and northern Scotland will reach these conditions.
Dr Lizzie Kendon from the Met Office said “We’re saying that by the end of the century much of the lying snow will have disappeared entirely except over the highest ground. The overarching picture is warmer, wetter winters; hotter, drier summers. But within that, we get this shift towards more extreme events, so more frequent and intense extremes, and heavier rainfall when it occurs.”
The coldest day in the UK over the last thirty years averaged at around -4°C. If emissions continue to rise at the current rate, the global temperature will likely increase by 4°C, making the average coldest day 0°C. Studies also show that the average hottest day in London could reach a whopping 40°C! The Met Office emphasized that temperatures will vary from year to year with some periods colder or hotter than the trend.
While this may sound like good news, these changes are a direct result of harmful carbon emissions and climate change. Dr Kendon said “It’s really frightening. It’s a big change, and we’re talking about in the course of our lifetime. It’s a wake-up call really as to what we’re talking about here.” Unless global emissions reduce drastically in the near future, it looks like sledging and snowball fights will soon become a thing of the past.