As Nigel arrives: Hurricanes in the UK and Ireland?

With talk of Hurricane Nigel arriving to the UK and Ireland this weekend, is it actually possible to get hurricanes here?

In short, no. Hurricanes undergo a process called extratropical transition, where they lose their tropical characteristics, moving out of tropical waters.

Waters surrounding the UK and Ireland are simply not warm enough to sustain tropical storms, and would need to be above the threshold temperature of 26°C.

That being said, we can still receive the remnants of these extratropical storms, or ex-hurricanes, with these retaining their original name, as is the case this weekend with ex-Hurricane Nigel.

Back in 2017 we also had the remnants of ex-hurricane Ophelia, ex-tropical storm Gabrielle in 2019 and ex-hurricane Zeta in 2020, to name a few.

We don't always receive the same weather that the US do, but our weather in the British Isles does often come from the west, due to our prevailing westerly winds.

When our winds are from this direction it's a maritime airmass, often bringing unsettled weather off of the Atlantic.

The jet stream plays an active role in carrying weather systems across the Atlantic, like a conveyor belt. Its position can mean these systems may arrive directly to us if it’s directly overhead, or get deflected to the north or south.

As the climate changes and the Earth and its oceans warm, it's not entirely impossible that the northward distance that hurricanes may be able to travel and retain tropical status, could extend.

As it stands however, the British Isles cannot receive any storms of tropical status. We'll be on the lookout this summer for any remnants of extratropical systems that may affect us, tracking them via our interactive WeatherRadar.