Abstract
The broad scale meteorological features are examined and it is shown that the drought is related to a variety of factors, including unusual coldness in the North Pacific ocean and over Canada in the winter half-year, upper winds stronger than usual in the Central Pacific, and the quasi-biennial oscillation. Feedback mechanisms involving Atlantic sea temperatures and the drought itself helped to maintain the atmospheric mode. The additional evaporation from a reservoir in Southern England due to extra sunshine, high summer temperature, etc., is estimated. Lastly, by using a Meteorological Office general circulation numerical model, it is shown that a large area of dry ground may inhibit rainfall: the dryness of the ground over Western Europe in the 1976 summer may have had this effect.
This article is based on reference 12 : Figures etc. are reproduced therefrom by kind permission of the Royal Society.
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© 1981 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
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Ratcliffe, R.A.S. (1981). Meteorological Aspects of the 1975–76 Drought in Western Europe. In: Berger, A. (eds) Climatic Variations and Variability: Facts and Theories. NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series, vol 72. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8514-8_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8514-8_22
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