Europeans should be prepared for cold winters over the the next 20 to 40 years, according to the US-based Weather Services International:
“We have recently noticed a change in [weather] patterns back to what we had in the 1950s and 1960s in Europe... We’ve had three cold winters in a row in the UK,” WSI’s chief meteorologist Todd Crawford told Platts.
“We believe there is a strong likelihood that it’s going to hang around for the next 20 to 30 years.”
If true, the findings could have important implications for the European energy markets, where demand typically increases during winter because of higher heating and lighting requirements.
Peak electricity demand hit an all-time record in France at the beginning of December, and was near its historic record in the UK, amid temperatures that were more than 10 degrees Celsius below the seasonal norm.
Natural gas and gasoil demand also soared. Behind the freezing temperatures is the North Atlantic Oscillation, a climatic phenomenon that normally sends wind from western European countries to the east, keeping cold air from the Arctic at bay. But in December the current was flowing in the opposite direction, bringing cold Arctic air to western European regions and sending energy demand to fresh highs.
Read the entire article here.
PS
Those - e.g. in Germany, Denmark and Sweden - who dream about "green" energy soon replacing traditional fossile and nuclear energy should take note. With colder winters, a few thousand tax payer subsidized wind turbines will not be enough to keep us warm.
PS 2
And it looks like at least this winter is continuing to be cold in the US.
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