Met office has verdict on why the North East has been so rainy

For the last half of January and well into February it seemed like we couldn’t catch a break from the awful weather, with rain battering us for 56 out of 58 days since the new year. The weather seems to have turned recently and the few sunny days we’ve had have almost made me forget what felt a never-ending winter. But why has there been so much rain and can we expect more?

Experts from the Met Office say a number of low-pressure systems from the Atlantic were to blame for the prolonged wet weather with Storms Goretti and Chandra being a result of this. We can thank the jet stream for the delivery of these low-pressure systems. Cold spells in North America have increased the contrast between cold arctic air and warmer air to the south, causing the jet stream to become more active than usual, bringing storm system directly to us in northwest Europe, resulting in the barrage of rain.

High pressure zones have been lingering over Scandinavia, causing low pressure patterns to become stuck over the UK, which is why we couldn’t catch a break from the rain. In the coming weeks, the jet stream is predicted to migrate northerly, hopefully meaning we can put the umbrellas away and start getting ready for the longer days and brighter nights.