Anticyclone Hartmut (dubbed the ''Beast from the East'' ( ga, An Torathar ón Oirthear)) was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a
cold wave
A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...
to Great Britain and Ireland. Anticyclone Hartmut also brought widespread unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfall to large areas. The cold wave combined with
Storm Emma, part of the
2017–18 European windstorm season
The 2017–2018 European windstorm season was the third instance of seasonal European windstorm naming. France, Spain and Portugal took part in winter storm naming for the first time this season.
The season started on 12 September 2017 with th ...
, which made landfall in southwest England and the south of Ireland on 2 March.
In contrast to usual winter storms, Hartmut was not formed as a normal
low pressure area
In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
along the
jetstream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...
. The initial event was an
Arctic outbreak caused by a disordered
polar vortex
A circumpolar vortex, or simply polar vortex, is a large region of cold, rotating air that encircles both of Earth's polar regions. Polar vortices also exist on other rotating, low-obliquity planetary bodies. The term polar vortex can be used to ...
into
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
, transporting not only cold air from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
to Europe but also - due to the
lake effect - sending heavy snowfall into
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
This weather situation repeated itself on the weekend of 17 and 18 March, but was less severe than on the previous occasion, due to the onset of spring. This briefer cold snap was given the name "Mini Beast from the East".
Causes and effects
The Hartmut cold spell was caused by a large arctic airmass with anticyclonic structure, stretching from the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
to the British Isles covering large parts of Asia and almost all of Europe. The anticyclone, centred on Scandinavia, was the dominant high pressure area in the weather system and represented its European part.
North Asia
North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographical terms and is coextensive with the Asian part of Russia, and consists of three Russian regions east of the Ural Mountains: ...
was covered by other anticyclones that belong to that giant arctic airmass. The anticyclone brought cold easterly winds into Europe and the British Isles leading to snowfall and sub-zero temperatures as a result of freezing air from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
.
Ireland was predicted to experience its worst winter for at least 30 years.
In the United Kingdom the
Met Office
The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
issued a
red snow warning, meaning a potential risk to life.
![The Beast from the East hits Bramley (geograph 5701516)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/The_Beast_from_the_East_hits_Bramley_%28geograph_5701516%29.jpg)
The anticyclone was such an intense high pressure system that it evolved into an
anticyclonic storm
An anticyclonic storm is a storm with a high-pressure center, in which winds flow in the direction opposite to that of the flow above a region of low pressure. These storms can create powerful mesoanticylonic supercell storms that can generate ...
, and was named Hartmut. A gust of was registered in the
Øvre Dividal National Park
Øvre Dividal National Park ( no, Øvre Dividal nasjonalpark; sme, Dieváidvuovddi álbmotmeahcci) is a national park in Målselv Municipality in Troms county, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in N ...
in Norway, relatively near to the anticyclonic centre.
Other hurricane-force gusts delivered by Hartmut were registered across Europe, particularly over
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
and the British Isles. Such hurricane-force anticyclonic storms are not extremely rare, but occur less often than cyclonic storms of similar intensity.
Sixteen weather-related deaths include that of a seven-year-old girl in
Looe
Looe (; kw, Logh, ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census.
Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe ( kw, links= ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
on Thursday 1 March, when she was hit by a car that slid on ice into a bungalow. On Wednesday 28 February, Stephen Cavanagh, 60, died after trying to save his dog from a lake in
Welling
Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent.
...
,
South East London. Also on Wednesday, a 46-year-old man died in a crash and a 75-year-old woman was found dead underneath her car in
Farsley
Farsley is a town in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England to the west of Leeds city centre, east of Bradford. Farsley is situated between the two cities and near the town of Pudsey. Before April 1974, Farsley was pa ...
. A carer from
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
died on her way to work and a 52-year-old homeless man was found dead freezing inside his tent. On Tuesday, 27 February, four people died in two separate weather related crashes. A 20-year-old also died after slipping and falling whilst crossing a bridge in
Haddington,
East Lothian
East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In 1975, the histo ...
. This followed the death of a man trying to help another driver in the snowy conditions in
Bergh Apton
Bergh Apton (Ber-Guh App-ton) is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Norwich just south of the A146 between Yelverton and Thurton. According to the 2001 census it ha ...
,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
who suffered a heart attack. A 70-year-old also died after being rescued from icy cliffs in
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...
.
Storm Emma
Storm Emma brought chaos with heavy snow and strong winds to the South of Ireland, South West England and Southern Wales on 2–3 March 2018 with up to of snow in some elevated areas. High winds brought disruption to other parts of Great Britain and Ireland. It also brought rail disruption as several trains became stranded, full of passengers, for up to 14 hours. Daytime temperatures were also very suppressed, some places not getting above .
''Mini Beast from the East''
Following a brief spell of warmer weather, a fresh cold snap nicknamed the "Mini Beast from the East" was forecast to bring another covering of snow on the weekend of 17 and 18 March. However, due to the onset of spring, and a
higher sun position, it was forecast that the effect would be less severe than on the previous occasion, for the ground was warmer than before, and thus the snow would melt more quickly.
Snow showers began to affect parts of Britain and Ireland on 17 March, with north-east England, the North Midlands, and parts of southern England experiencing the heaviest snowfall. The snow was accompanied by strong winds, forecast to be as high as , and the Met Office issued an amber weather warning effective from the afternoon of 17 March. Snow showers continued to affect parts of the UK and Ireland on 18 March, with south-west England the most severely affected. The adverse weather conditions forced the cancellation of some sporting events, including the
Reading Half Marathon
The Reading Half Marathon (currently known as the Sage Reading Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a half marathon road running event held on the streets of the English town of Reading, first held in 1983. The race is normally held on a Su ...
, while Ireland's rugby union team, who had won the
2018 Six Nations Championship
The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations.
The championship wa ...
, cancelled their homecoming "due to heavy snowfall" with no new date confirmed.
See also
*
2018–19 European winter
*
2013–14 United Kingdom winter floods
The 2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods saw areas of Ireland and the United Kingdom inundated following severe storms. The south of England saw heavy rainfalls associated with these storms which caused widespread flooding, power cuts and m ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Britain and Ireland cold wave, 2018
Cold wave
A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...
Cold wave
A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...
2018 natural disasters
2018 meteorology
Blizzards
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
February 2018 events in Europe
March 2018 events in Europe
February 2018 events in the United Kingdom
March 2018 events in the United Kingdom
February 2018 events in Ireland
March 2018 events in Ireland
Snow in Ireland
Snow in the United Kingdom
Weather events in Europe
2018 cold wave