Publication Date December 10, 2015 | Financial Times

Scientists link UK storm to man-made global warming

United Kingdom
Rescue services in Carlisle during the floods caused by Storm Desmond. Photo: Financial Times
Rescue services in Carlisle during the floods caused by Storm Desmond. Photo: Financial Times

The exceptional rainfall that wreaked havoc across northern England and Scotland as Storm Desmond tore through the UK last weekend can be linked to man-made global warming, scientists have claimed. Climate change increased the chance of such record rains by about 40 per cent, according to data compiled by an international team of researchers from institutions including Oxford university and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute...The researchers looking at Storm Desmond, in which more than 13 inches of rain was reported in one part of Cumbria within 24 hours, came to their conclusions using statistical analyses of the historical temperature record and thousands of simulations of possible weather, as well as a regional climate model