New innovative research has found that for England and Wales there is a 1 in 3 chance of a new monthly rainfall record in at least one region each winter (Oct-Mar).
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/2017/high-risk-of-unprecedented-rainfall
Now that’s strange, because five years ago Julia Slingo was telling us that “melting Arctic sea ice” was leading to drier winters!
The reduction in Arctic sea ice caused by climate change is playing a role in the UK’s recent colder and drier winter weather, according to the Met Office.
Speaking to MPs on the influential environmental audit committee about the state of the warming Arctic, Julia Slingo, the chief scientist at the Met Office, said that decreasing amounts of ice in the far north was contributing to colder winters in the UK and northern Europe as well as to drought. But she stressed that it was one factor and not the “dominant driver” in the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/mar/14/met-office-arctic-sea-ice-loss-winter
Full post
see also: Why did the Met Office forecast a dry winter?