Households are being urged to keep at least six essential food items in supply this winter, amid fears that the El Niño weather phenomenon could bring freezing temperatures and snow to the UK.
Climate experts have warned that a polar vortex could bring colder weather and even snow to the UK this winter, as El Niño leads to a colder season. El Niño has been a key driver of hot weather this year, with the warming of the sea’s surface having a dramatic knock-on effect on global weather systems, creating much warmer than average conditions. It is thought to have been one of the reasons behind the UK’s five record-breaking heatwaves this summer.
El Niño and the polar vortex
While nothing is certain yet, the El Niño weather front drives changes in high and low pressure patterns. The strength of a polar vortex – the area of cold air which normally spins over the North and South poles – is vulnerable to disruption from jet streams of air. When disrupted, it can send freezing air, creating a cold snap and snow, into the US and Europe.
According to USA Today, El Niño can interact with the polar vortex. It reports: “The polar vortex above the Arctic is linked to the jet stream. Both can be impacted by El Niño, and bring about changes in our weather patterns, said Darryn Waugh, a professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
“El Niño drives changes in the high- and low-pressure patterns in the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere where weather happens, said Amy Butler, a physicist at NOAA's Chemical Sciences Laboratory.”
Met Office warning
The Met Office says that it is not a guarantee that a hot summer leads to a cold winter and that this belief in a direct and regular causality is a myth. However, the El Niño phenomenon could this year be the reason the UK is plunged into a cold snap this coming winter, though it is not yet a certainty.
In its latest weather blog published this week, the forecaster said: "Through the latter part of the winter, following a peak in El Niño, the stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) can become weaker, leading to an increased chance of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events unfurling, increasing the potential for cold weather."
"However, significant as El Niño is, it is important to emphasise that it alone does not determine precise weather patterns and other outcomes remain possible."
Six essential items
Direct Energy says that, if facing the risk of snow, households should stock up on non-perishable snacks and supplies in the event that you aren’t able to get to your local supermarket, or you are affected by a power outage, so you don’t go hungry while waiting for the bad weather to pass.
According to the energy firm, households should make sure they have these six key items ahead of a snowstorm: bottled water; bread; milk; tinned goods, especially warming foods like soups and stews; snack foods, such as crisps, crackers and cookies in sealed packages; cereal and granola; dried pasta and jars of sauce.
In its online advice on preparing for a snowstorm, the firm said: “After heavy snowfall or blizzard conditions, you could find yourself snowed in for days.
"Getting cut off from your local grocery store could be made worse by a prolonged power outage, which would leave you with just a few hours to enjoy the remaining contents of your fridge safely. But if you stock your pantry with filling shelf-stable foods, you won't go hungry while waiting for the snow to be cleared.”
