Weather Wise
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Depressions seem to be lining up in the North Atlantic, waiting to bring clouds and rain to Britain. But Spain and Portugal have been getting the worst of Europe's weather.
Look at all those Lows on the weather map all in a queue on the transatlantic ferry to Britain. Areas of low atmospheric pressure are formed when high- level winds take away more air than can quickly be replaced. The resulting partial vacuum leads to a reduction in the weight of air near the ground, and low-level winds flow inwards to restore the balance.
The result is high winds blowing anticlockwise around the centre of the depression (the Coriolis effect produces the direction) and a general rise in the flow of air - emptying at the top and filling at the bottom. Ascending air cools and forms wide areas of cloud and rain.
Spain and Portugal have been seeing the worst consequences of an occluded front, when cold air forces the rapid ascent of warm, leading to fast condensation and heavy rain. On Wednesday night, storms led to flash flooding that killed 27 people, with many more unaccounted for. These were the worst storms in living memory in the area - another entry in the catalogue of this year's extreme weather events.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments