'Blocked' jetstream to blame for freak weather in Russia and Pakistan | Mail Online: "The jetstream is being held by the Rossby waves that normally produce its distinctive wave-like pattern.
These powerful spinning wind currents are caused by the Earth’s shape and rotation and push the jet stream from east to west at high altitudes.
Now scientists believe that Rossby waves are acting against the jetstream’s usual pattern, holding it in place, according to a report in New Scientist.
Since mid-July, when it would normally be moving eastwards the jetstream has been held in one place as strong Rossby waves push against it.
When the jet stream is held in one place it traps the weather systems that are caught between its meanders. Warm air is sucked north to the ‘peaks’ while cold air travels to the ‘troughs’.
Professor Mike Blackburn of the University of Reading believes that a blocked jetstream could be behind a heatwave in Japan which killed 60 and the sudden end to warm weather in the UK."
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