Weather in the United Kingdom in the first few days of 2024 looked similar to the last days of 2023: wet and windy. Just a week after a destructive storm blew through England and Wales, a potent low-pressure system tore through the British Isles.
Large parts of England and Wales saw high winds and rain on January 2, 2024. On the Isle of Wight, off England’s southern coast, winds whipped up to 151 kilometers (94 miles) per hour. And inland, at London’s Heathrow airport, winds gusted up to 111 kilometers (69 miles) per hour. The disturbance brought up to 40 millimeters of rain to areas of Wales and central and southern England on January 2, and the U.K.’s Environment Agency issued more than 250 flood warnings.
England’s Midlands were some of the worst-hit by the storm, including along the River Severn. The image above (right) shows water overtopping the banks of the Severn near Gloucester on January 3. Hundreds of properties located near the Severn in the West Midlands flooded during the storm, according to news reports. For comparison, the image on the left shows the same area on January 30, 2019. Both images were acquired by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 and are false color to emphasize the presence of water, which appears in shades of blue.
The storm, named Henk by the U.K. Met Office, uprooted trees, flooded major roads, and snarled rail lines causing travel delays across the U.K. Henk was the U.K.’s first named storm of 2024 and the eighth so far this season (which runs from September to August). According to the Met Office, 2023–24 has had the fastest start to a storm season since it began naming storms in 2015.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Emily Cassidy.
Hali ya hewa nchini Uingereza katika siku chache za kwanza za 2024 ilionekana sawa na siku za mwisho za 2023: mvua na upepo. Wiki moja tu baada ya dhoruba ya kimbunga kuvuma Uingereza na Wales, mfumo wenye nguvu wa shinikizo la chini ulivunja Visiwa vya Uingereza. Sehemu kubwa za Uingereza na Wales ziliona upepo mkali na mvua Januari 2, 2024. Katika kisiwa cha Wight, karibu na pwani ya kusini ya Uingereza, upepo ulipiga kwa kasi ya kilometa 151 kwa saa. Katika eneo la London Heathrow, upepo ulipiga kwa kasi ya kilomita 111 kwa saa. Mvua ya milimita 40 ilinyesha katika maeneo ya Wales na katikati na kusini mwa Uingereza mnamo Januari 2, na Shirika la Mazingira la Uingereza lilitoa onyo zaidi ya 250 la mafuriko. Eneo la Midlands la Uingereza lilikuwa mojawapo ya maeneo yaliyoathiriwa zaidi na dhoruba hiyo, kutia ndani eneo la Mto Severn. Picha ya juu inaonyesha maji ya maji ya Severn karibu na Gloucester mnamo Januari 3. Mamia ya nyumba zilizoko karibu na mto Severn katika eneo la West Midlands zilifurika wakati wa dhoruba hiyo, kulingana na ripoti za habari. Kwa kulinganisha, picha iliyo upande wa kushoto inaonyesha eneo hilo hilo mnamo Januari 30, 2019. Picha zote mbili zilitolewa na OLI (Operational Land Imager) kwenye Landsat 8 na ni rangi bandia ili kusisitiza uwepo wa maji, ambayo inaonekana katika vivuli vya bluu. Dhoruba hiyo, iliyoitwa Henk na Ofisi ya Hali ya Hewa ya Uingereza, ilivunja miti, kufurika barabara kuu, na kuharibu reli, na kusababisha ucheleweshaji wa kusafiri kote Uingereza. Kwa mujibu wa Ofisi ya Hali ya Hewa, mwaka wa 2023-24 ulikuwa na mwanzo wa haraka zaidi wa msimu wa dhoruba tangu kuanza kupewa majina ya dhoruba mwaka wa 2015. Picha za NASA Earth Observatory na Lauren Dauphin, kutumia Landsat data kutoka US Geological Survey. Hadithi ya Emily Cassidy.