Will Hurricane Milton affect the UK's weather?
Hurricane Milton destroyed homes in St. Lucie County, Florida
- Published
Milton was the strongest Atlantic hurricane for five years, and the third to hit Florida this season, following Debby and Helene.
It brought up to 18in (450mm) of rainfall, several tornadoes, a significant storm surge and damaging winds of over 120mph (193km/h).
No longer a hurricane, Milton is continuing to weaken as it moves eastwards in the Atlantic, with winds and rain easing.
It is likely to pass well to the south of Bermuda on Saturday, and will then probably dissipate over the cooler waters of the mid-Atlantic.
Matt Taylor looks at how hurricanes can affect the UK's weather
How will it impact the UK?
At the moment, it looks very unlikely that the storm will make it across the Atlantic to directly affect the weather in the UK.
However, Milton is not the only storm in the Atlantic currently, as ex-Hurricane Leslie is further east, though also weakening and heading in a north-easterly direction.
Some of the extra moisture and energy from these storms may get wrapped up into our jet stream, potentially adding to developing low pressures moving towards our shores later next week.
However, the presence of hurricanes (or ex-hurricanes) in the Atlantic also tends to affect computer generated weather forecast data.
They can lead to higher than normal levels of uncertainty in the mid-range forecast, so keep an eye on our latest thoughts in the monthly outlook.
- Published9 October
- Published12 July 2019
