Day: October 10, 2026

Europe’s Great Drought of 1975–76: The Summer That Turned Rivers to Dust and Forced Millions to Queue at Standpipes

The 1975–1976 European drought (often called the Great Drought of 1976, especially in the UK) was one of the most severe and widespread droughts in western and central Europe in the 20th century.

The drought ended abruptly with heavy rains from September 1976 onward in many areas, though recovery of groundwater and some ecosystems took longer.

The 1975- 1976 European drought (peaking in summer 1976) resulted from a combination of large- scale atmospheric circulation anomalies, preceding dry conditions, and reinforcing feedback. It was not caused by a single factor but by interacting meteorological and oceanic influences that produced persistent high pressure and diverted moist Atlantic air away from western and central Europe.

A group of villagers, including men, women, and children, stands in a line holding buckets in a dry, cracked landscape with a setting sun in the background.
AI generated by Grok

The 1975–1976 European drought (often called the Great Drought of 1976, especially in the UK) was one of the most severe and widespread droughts in western and central Europe in the 20th century.

It lasted roughly from autumn and late 1975 through summer 1976 (peaking around July- August 1976), with effects lingering into early 1977 in some hydrological records. It primarily affected the UK, France, parts of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and broader central and northern Europe; the Mediterranean and northwest Norway were largely spared.

Causes and meteorological context

It developed from a prolonged period of below- average rainfall starting in mid- 1975 (or earlier in some areas), combined with a mild, dry winter of 1975- 76 that limited groundwater and reservoir recharge, followed by an exceptionally hot, dry spring and summer in 1976.

Persistent high- pressure systems (blocking anticyclones, including a northward- shifted Azores High) diverted Atlantic moisture away from western Europe.

Contributing factors included jet- stream shifts northward, unusual sea- surface temperature patterns (e.g., cooler North Pacific and Canada in winter), feedback from dry soils and Atlantic temperatures, and possible teleconnections (an El Niño event began in early 1976).

In the UK, the 16- month period from May 1975 to August 1976 was among the driest on record (driest for England and Wales since at least the early 1700s in some analyses); rainfall deficits exceeded 40- 60% in places, with some areas seeing consecutive rain- free months.

Extreme heat compounded it: in the UK, temperatures reached ≥32.2°C for 15 consecutive days (23 June- 7 July 1976), and highs over 25°C occurred daily for weeks.

Key impacts

Water resources: Severe depletion of rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater (especially chalk aquifers in southern and eastern England). Many rivers reached historic low flows (some UK minima not approached since); springs dried up; saline intrusion occurred in coastal and estuarine areas. In the UK, hosepipe bans, standpipes (shared outdoor taps), and rota cuts affected over a million people by August 1976; the Drought Act 1976 was passed. France and other areas saw supply restrictions and emergency deliveries (trucks and helicopters in places). Hydropower output fell sharply (e.g., ~30% drop in France early on); inland navigation on rivers like the Rhine was heavily disrupted.

Agriculture: Major crop failures and livestock stress. Cereals, potatoes, vegetables, and grass and hay yields dropped sharply (e.g., spring barley down up to 50% on sandy UK soils; potato shortages drove prices up dramatically). Fodder shortages led to early slaughter of livestock and reduced milk production (notably in France, UK, Denmark). Food prices rose; some countries restricted exports of straw and fodder. Economic losses included an estimated 0.5% hit to French GDP growth and billions of francs in commercial losses.

Environment and ecology: Widespread wildfires (e.g., ~90,000- 105,000 ha burned in France, far above average; elevated fire numbers in southern England and northern Germany and Denmark). Fish kills from high temperatures, low oxygen, and pollution concentration; drying of ponds and streams; algal blooms; impacts on wetlands and forests (drought stress, disease). Land subsidence damaged properties in parts of southern and eastern England.

Other: Higher excess mortality linked to the heat (estimates around 6,000 in France, though not fully recognized at the time); tourism and industry disruptions in some regions.

The drought ended abruptly with heavy rains from September 1976 onward in many areas, though recovery of groundwater and some ecosystems took longer.

It remains a benchmark event for UK and northwest European drought and heatwave studies, with ongoing research into its rarity, synoptic drivers, and how climate change may alter the likelihood of similar extremes.

Detailed contemporary reviews (e.g., UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology reports) document it as the most severe multi- month event in the instrumental record for much of the UK.

A group of people, including children and adults, stands beside a water tap in a drought-affected area with dry, cracked ground. A sign indicates water restrictions due to the 1975-76 drought.
AI generated by Meta

The 1975- 1976 European drought (peaking in summer 1976) resulted from a combination of large- scale atmospheric circulation anomalies, preceding dry conditions, and reinforcing feedback. It was not caused by a single factor but by interacting meteorological and oceanic influences that produced persistent high pressure and diverted moist Atlantic air away from western and central Europe.

Primary atmospheric drivers

  • Persistent blocking anticyclones: Strong, long- lived high- pressure systems (notably a northward-shifted Azores High) dominated from late 1975 through summer 1976. These blocked or steered rain-bearing low- pressure systems (depressions) northward or away from the region. High- pressure ridges near the British Isles and across western Europe were exceptionally frequent and intense.⁠
  • Northward displacement of the jet stream: From the winter of 1974- 75 onward, the main Atlantic jet stream shifted well north of its usual position (north of the Hebrides in 1975, near Iceland by 1976). This directed cyclonic activity and storms farther north, leaving much of western Europe under drier, more stable conditions.⁠

Contributing and reinforcing factors

  • Antecedent dryness: Rainfall was already below average in much of 1975 (especially from May onward in places), and the winter of 1975- 76 was mild and unusually dry. This limited groundwater and reservoir recharge, so soils and water stores entered spring and summer already depleted. The period May 1975- August 1976 ranks among the driest on record for England and Wales.⁠
  • Ocean and remote influences: Unusual coldness in the North Pacific Ocean and over Canada during the winter half-year, stronger- than- usual upper winds in the central Pacific, and the phase of the quasi- biennial oscillation were linked to the broader circulation pattern. Feedback involving North Atlantic sea- surface temperatures helped sustain the anomalous atmospheric mode. An El Niño event began in early 1976 and may have played a teleconnection role.⁠
  • Land- atmosphere feedback: Once soils dried out extensively, reduced evaporation (latent heat) and increased sensible heating further suppressed cloud formation and rainfall, helping maintain the dry, hot conditions through the summer of 1976. Modeling at the time supported that large areas of dry ground can inhibit precipitation.

Contemporary analyses (e.g., by Met Office scientists such as R.A.S. Ratcliffe) concluded that the drought arose from the interaction of these anomalies rather than any single cause, and that it appeared to be a rare extreme event rather than clear evidence of a long- term climatic shift at the time. The pattern finally broke in late August- September 1976 with a return of more normal Atlantic flow and heavy rains.

In short, the drought was driven by a prolonged, anomalous northward shift in the jet stream and persistent blocking highs that starved the region of rain, amplified by prior dryness and soil- moisture feedback.

A vibrant outdoor swimming pool scene filled with families and children enjoying a sunny day. In the foreground, a man is holding a young girl with a colorful float, while a woman sits next to them. Other adults and children are swimming and lounging around the pool, and the background features a pool house with a sign in German and an assortment of colorful beach umbrellas.
Summer of ’76 feeling
AI generated by Meta

Key data and statistics for the 1975- 1976 European drought (primarily affecting the UK, France, and parts of central and northern Europe; duration roughly November 1975- early 1977, peaking July- August 1976).

Rainfall and duration

  • Overall scale (Europe): Climatological drought (SPI-6) peaked around 27 July 1976, affecting ~61% of Europe (~4.5 million km²). Hydrological drought peaked around 1 July 1976, covering ~71% of temperate Europe (~5.3 million km²). Approximate duration: November 1975–February 1977.⁠
  • UK (England & Wales): The 16-month period May 1975–August 1976 recorded only 756 mm of rainfall– assessed as the worst on record. This was ~61% of the 1916- 1950 average.
    • May- August 1976: 140 mm vs. long-term average of 278 mm (~50% of average).
    • June- August 1976: ~35% of average for England & Wales.
    • Return period estimates for the 16- month drought: often >1 in 250 years (some analyses suggested ~1 in 1,000 years, with large uncertainty).
    • Regional examples (as % of 1916- 1950 average to end of August 1976): Southwest and Welsh areas ~61% over 16 months; Thames, Southern and Wessex ~59%.
  • France: Spring 1976 had a ~46% precipitation deficit overall (second- driest spring in records from 1959 onward in some analyses). Deficits often >50- 60% north of a Bordeaux, Metz, La Rochelle and Mulhouse line (return periods estimated 60- 120 and more years in ultra- oceanic regions like Brittany, Normandy, Pays de la Loire).
  • Example: Évreux (April- June) received 21 mm vs. usual ~150 mm. Mediterranean areas were often near or above normal.

Temperature and heat

  • UK: Temperatures ≥32.2°C recorded somewhere in Britain for 15 consecutive days (23 June- 7 July 1976). Mean daily maximum temperatures June- August 1976 were ~3.0°C above average over most of England and Wales. Sunshine totals >130% of average in many areas. One of the warmest and driest summers on record.⁠
  • Extreme heatwave conditions combined with the drought, amplifying evaporation and soil moisture deficits. Potential evaporation was often 110- 130% of average in England and Wales.

Hydrological impacts (rivers, groundwater, reservoirs)

  • River flows (UK): Minimum flows in late summer 1976 remain among the lowest (or the lowest) on record across much of England and Wales; many have not been approached since. Daily outflows from England & Wales were at record lows through most of spring and all of summer 1976. Some rivers dried up in sections; chalk streams were particularly affected. Flow augmentation (pumping groundwater into rivers) was used in places (e.g., River Lambourn, Candover Stream).⁠
  • Groundwater: Near or at natural base levels by late summer and early autumn 1976 in many aquifers (especially Chalk in south and east England). Winter 1975- 76 recharge was near zero in large areas — the primary driver of the severity. Springs ceased over wide areas. Recovery lagged the meteorological end of the drought (into late 1976- early 1977).
  • Reservoirs: Many in England and Wales were half-full or less by early 1976; some approached critical levels (e.g., London ~90 days’ supply left by late August; Leeds ~80 days). Standpipes and rota cuts affected hundreds of thousands to over a million consumers in the worst- hit areas (e.g., parts of Devon, Yorkshire, South Wales). Drought orders covered roughly one- third of the country by mid- June.

Agricultural and economic impacts

  • UK: Spring barley yields on sandy soils in the east and southeast down by as much as 50% in 1975. Acute potato shortages (estimated deficit ~2 million tonnes); prices soared (e.g., open- market potatoes reached ~£170/tonne vs. contract prices ~£45). Grass and hay shortages forced early livestock sales and reduced milk yields. Farmers’ losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of pounds (one contemporary figure cited ~£500 million).
  • France: Crop losses significant for spring cereals, maize, potatoes, and especially fodder and pasture (deficits of 50- 60% reported). Potato prices rose sharply (e.g., tomatoes doubled in a week in mid- June reports). Agricultural production volume down ~1.8% overall (vegetables more). Commercial losses estimated >4 billion francs; ~0.5% reduction in GDP growth. Government aid of 2.2 billion francs (partly funded by a temporary “drought tax” of 4- 8% on higher incomes).
  • Broader Europe: Widespread fodder shortages, early livestock slaughter, and reduced milk production (notably France, UK, Denmark). Food price rises for potatoes, vegetables, etc.

Other impacts

  • Wildfires: France: ~90,000–105,000 hectares burned (vs. long-term annual average ~32,000 ha). Elevated fire numbers in southern England (up to 40 times previous years in some reports) and parts of northern Germany and Denmark.
  • Ecology: Fish kills (elevated temperatures, low oxygen, pollution concentration); drying of ponds and stream sections; algal blooms; saline intrusion in some coastal and estuarine areas; impacts on wetlands and forests.
  • Water supply and society: Hosepipe bans widespread; standpipes (often 1 per ~20 houses in affected districts); night- time cut- offs in places (e.g., up to 17 hours in parts of South Wales). Industry restrictions and reuse measures in some areas. Land subsidence damaged properties in parts of southern and eastern England.

The drought ended abruptly with heavy rains from September 1976 (one of the wettest Septembers and Octobers in long UK records in some analyses), though groundwater and some ecological recovery took longer.

It remains a benchmark extreme event in UK and northwest European hydrological records.

Data are drawn primarily from contemporary UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and National Hydrological Monitoring Programme reviews, Met Office analyses, and French meteorological and agricultural reports.

Fiji Pre COP31 Climate Conference Panic: “is anyone listening?”

Greens are starting to worry they have lost their audience.

You can understand the distress of the Climate Cargo Cult. They’re putting their hearts into the money dance, dancing their feet off, but no bales of cash are showing up.

The Trump Administration thinks the climate crisis is fraud, and climate believer administrations like the governments of Australia, Canada and Europe don’t have any cash to spare.

A satirical cartoon depicting a pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji, featuring a frantic speaker emphasizing the urgency of climate change, while attendees appear disinterested or asleep. The background shows rising sea levels threatening Tuvalu, along with humorous annotations about the meeting's ineffectiveness.
AI generated by Meta

From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Greens are starting to worry they have lost their audience.

Talanoa: Is anyone listening? Global leaders need to learn and act on climate change in the Pacific 

By Prof. Jioji Ravulo

Pacific people have raised the alarm on climate change for decades, as rising seas pull them away from their homes, weather patterns become more extreme, and traditional food sources come under threat. 

But is anyone listening? 

…

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) made a landmark ruling in July 2025, holding countries legally responsible for the harms they are causing related to climate change.  

…

he International Court of Justice (ICJ) made a landmark ruling in July 2025, holding countries legally responsible for the harms they are causing related to climate change.  

…

For climate action activists and leaders in the Pacific, the ruling was an opportunity to focus climate change to a human rights and justice approach. Placing Pacific people and their lived and living experience in the centre of the narrative should be privileged, and key to accountability.

…

Additional funds are needed by governments to support these transitions. However, Pacific people risk abandoning centuries of connection to the vanua, including ancestors that are buried and won’t be relocated.

…Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/talanoa-climate-change-pacific-is-anyone-listening-cop31/107220240

You can understand the distress of the Climate Cargo Cult. They’re putting their hearts into the money dance, dancing their feet off, but no bales of cash are showing up.

So, they’re going to try to bombard us with more heart rending “stories”, to try to summon back the cash – but the timing couldn’t be worse. The Trump Administration thinks the climate crisis is fraud, and climate believer administrations like the governments of Australia, Canada and Europe don’t have any cash to spare.

I wonder how people like Professor Jioji Ravulo will explain to climate activists that the magic isn’t working anymore?

How bad a flop will COP31 prove to be?

How many climate activists will jump ship and join the United Nations new Artificial Intelligence COP?

I don’t think the climate movement will completely disappear. Those cargo cults which appeared when Pacific Islanders saw the US military airdropping supplies during WW2, some of them are still active, still holding out hope the magic food and money rain will one day return. But nobody cares about a bunch of powerless true believers.

My prediction is COP31 is the turning point we’ve all been waiting for – after COP31, the power of the green movement will be broken, and they will rapidly lose any remaining ability to mess up our lives with climate narratives.

Rare Atomic Pair Reveals Where Earth’s Nitrogen Really Goes

Scientists have developed a new way to track microbial nitrogen removal using the rare pairing of two heavy nitrogen- 15 atoms in N₂ gas molecules.

Clumped isotope theory (or clumped- isotope geochemistry) studies the tendency of rare, heavy isotopes to bond preferentially with one another within molecules, rather than being randomly distributed among the more common light isotopes.

Illustration depicting the nitrogen cycle on Earth, highlighting the role of rare isotopic pair 15N, terrestrial pathways, aquatic pathways, and microbial processes in nitrogen conversion.

Scientists have developed a new way to track microbial nitrogen removal using the rare pairing of two heavy nitrogen-15 atoms in N₂ gas molecules.

The article (by Harrison Tasoff of UC Santa Barbara, in collaboration with Holly Ober of UCLA) covers research published in Science on October 8, 2026. Biogeochemists from UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, and other institutions showed that this rare isotopic “clumping” acts as a natural fingerprint for how much nitrogen microbes convert back into gas.

The problem

Nitrogen is essential for life (proteins, DNA), but excess nitrogen compounds in water, from fertilizer runoff, wastewater, etc., can degrade water quality, fuel harmful algal blooms, and create oxygen- depleted “dead zones”.

Microbes help by converting usable nitrogen compounds into N₂ gas that escapes to the atmosphere (via processes like denitrification). Measuring this removal has been difficult because large amounts of atmospheric N₂ dissolve in water and mask the microbial signal.

The clue from two atoms

N₂ consists of two nitrogen atoms. Most are the common isotope nitrogen- 14; a small fraction is the heavier nitrogen-15. Extremely rarely, both atoms in a molecule are nitrogen- 15 (¹⁵N¹⁵N).

  • In atmospheric nitrogen, these two heavy atoms pair up more often than random chance would predict (an anomalous “clumped isotope” signature from high-atmosphere photochemistry).
  • Microbially produced N₂ has the isotopes paired nearly at random (due to enzyme kinetics).

When microbial N₂ mixes with atmospheric N₂, it dilutes the excess of heavy- heavy pairs. Measuring the relative abundance of this rare molecule therefore reveals how much of the gas came from microbes.

How they measured it

The team used UCLA’s large Panorama high- resolution mass spectrometer, which can separate molecules with tiny mass differences that ordinary instruments cannot resolve.

They analyzed samples from diverse environments: Texas groundwater, lakes in Antarctica and Minnesota, Southern California coastal basins, the Bay of Bengal, and deep- sea sediments off Alaska. Microbial mats at methane seeps, for example, emerged as hotspots for nitrogen conversion.

Lead author Jiarui Liu (who did the work as a postdoc at UCLA and UCSB’s Marine Science Institute) and co- authors including Edward Young (UCLA), David Valentine (UCSB), and Alan Seltzer (University College Dublin) emphasize that while the technique currently requires specialized equipment and is not yet for routine field use, it offers a powerful new geochemical tool for understanding Earth’s nitrogen cycle.

Underwater scene showcasing textured rocks covered with yellow and grayish biofilm or algae against a dark background.
Analysis revealed that the microbial mats at methane seeps, like this one off the coast of Southern California, can be hotspots for converting nitrogen compounds into nitrogen gas. Credit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/ Submersible Alvin

Clumped isotope theory (or clumped- isotope geochemistry) studies the tendency of rare, heavy isotopes to bond preferentially with one another within molecules, rather than being randomly distributed among the more common light isotopes.

Core idea

Ordinary stable- isotope geochemistry measureOrdinary stable-isotope geochemistry measures bulk ratios such as

15N/14N (δ15N)

13C/12C (δ13C)

18O/16O (δ18O)

Clumped- isotope geochemistry goes one step further: it quantifies how often two (or more) rare isotopes occur together in the same molecule, the “clumps.”

Examples of clumped isotopExamples of clumped isotopologues:

In nitrogen gas (N₂): 15N15N (mass- 30)

In CO₂ or carbonate: 13C18O16O (mass- 47)

In methane: 13CH₃D or 12CH₂D₂

Stochastic (random) baseline

If isotopes combined purely by chance, the abundance of a doubly substituted molecule would simply be the product of the individual isotope abundances.

For N₂, the expected stochastic fraction of 15N15N is roughly (15N abundance)2.

Why clumping occurs

Bonds between two heavy isotopes have slightly lower zero-point vibrational energy than bonds between light isotopes or mixed pairs. Thermodynamics therefore favor “clumping” of heavy isotopes because it lowers the molecule’s total energy.

This preference is temperature- dependent:

  • At low temperatures, the energy difference matters more → more clumping (higher enrichment relative to stochastic).
  • At high temperatures, thermal energy overwhelms the small energy difference → the distribution approaches pure randomness.

The deviation from randomness is reported as a Δ value (in per mil, ‰):

Δi=(RsampleRstochastic−1)×1000Δi​=(Rstochastic​Rsample​​−1)×1000

where R is the ratio of the clumped isotopologue to a reference isotopologue.
Δ = 0 ‰ means a purely stochastic distribution. Positive Δ means excess clumping.

Key applications

  1. Paleothermometry (most famous use)
    In carbonate minerals, the amount of 131C–18O clumping (Δ₄₇) records the temperature at which the mineral formed, independent of the isotopic composition of the water. This has revolutionized paleoclimate reconstruction.
  2. Tracing processes (as in the nitrogen paper)
    Atmospheric N₂ has a large excess of 15N15N (Δ₃₀ ≈ +19 ‰) produced by photochemical and ion-molecule reactions high in the atmosphere.
    Microbial processes (denitrification, anammox) produce N₂ with near- stochastic pairing (Δ₃₀ ≈ 0 ‰).
    Mixing of the two sources dilutes the atmospheric excess, allowing scientists to quantify how much N₂ came from microbes.

Other controls on clumping include kinetic isotope effects, mixing of reservoirs with different bulk compositions, diffusion, and certain photochemical or biological fractionations.

Measurement

Because the clumped species are extremely rare (parts per million or less), high -resolution isotope- ratio mass spectrometers (or specialized laser techniques) are required to resolve them from interferences of nearly identical mass.

In short, clumped- isotope theory turns the internal arrangement of isotopes within molecules into a powerful tracer of temperature, reaction pathways, and mixing, information that bulk isotope ratios alone cannot provide.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Natural 15N15N abundances constrain fixed nitrogen loss

Editor’s summary

Nitrogen gas (N₂) is produced naturally by either photochemical reactions in the atmosphere or microbial processes in the biosphere, but the magnitudes of those sources are poorly quantified. Liu et al. showed that the abundance of the rare 1515N1515N isotopologue can be used to determine the amount of biogenic N₂ production in aquatic environments, thereby allowing physical and biological N₂ sources to be distinguished. This approach, applied to a wide spectrum of surface and ground water bodies, will help to better constrain the global nitrogen cycle.
—Jesse Smith

Abstract

Nitrogen regulates primary productivity across much of the biosphere, yet fixed nitrogen loss remains poorly constrained because existing methods rely on indirect proxies or ex situ experiments.

In this study, the authors show that natural abundances of the rare 15N15N isotopologue of dinitrogen (N₂) provide a direct tracer of biological N₂ production across diverse aquatic environments.

  • N₂ produced by denitrification and anammox has a near- stochastic 15N15N distribution (≈ 0 ‰).
  • Atmospheric N₂ carries a distinct 15N15N excess of ~19 ‰.

This large contrast allows the two sources to be quantitatively distinguished.

Across aquifers, stratified lakes, coastal basins, oxygen minimum zones, and marine sediments, 15N15N measurements reveal widespread nitrogen loss that was previously obscured by physical gas accumulation and nitrogen fixation.

Natural 15N15N abundances therefore provide a general framework for directly constraining fixed nitrogen loss across the aquatic nitrogen cycle.

This is the peer- reviewed paper underlying the popular- science articles.

The full text is behind the Science paywall, but the abstract and editor’s summary capture the core advance:

using the clumped- isotope signature of N₂ (Δ₃₀) as a natural tracer for microbial nitrogen removal.

Journal: Science ,Vol. 394, Issue 6820, pp. 207- 211, 8 October 2026

DOI: 10.1126/science.aei0940

Provided: University of California – Santa Barbara

Authors: Jiarui Liu, David L. Valentine, Annie Bourbonnais, Dale T. Andersen, Daniele Bianchi, Grace Brown, M. Bayani Cardenas, Daniel Fillion, Claudia Frey, Kelsey M. Gosselin, Aoshuang Ji, Franklin S. Kinnaman, Denis Lacelle, Moritz F. Lehman, Katelyn McPa , James Mullahoo, Victoria J. Orph, André Pellerin, Elen Reji, Elizabeth D. Swanner, Tina Treude, Alan M. Seltzer, and Edward D. Young

Climate Fact-Check September 2026

Editor’s note: This compilation serves as a fact check on the most widespread false claims made about climate change by the media in September 2026.

Summer 2026 NOT hottest evah! – ‘Climate Change’ NOT gobbling up apples or making wildfires more frequent & intense – Sea Levels NOT rising faster than ever – Flash flooding NOT due to ‘climate change’

Text overlay reading 'Climate Fact Check: September 2026 Edition' against a backdrop of a scenic canyon landscape.

From ClimateRealism

Guest Post by: The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, The Heartland Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Energy & Environmental Legal Institute, and the International Climate Science Coalition, and Truth in Energy and Climate.

Editor’s note: This compilation serves as a fact check on the most widespread false claims made about climate change by the media in September 2026.

Summer 2026 NOT hottest evah! – ‘Climate Change’ NOT gobbling up apples or making wildfires more frequent & intense – Sea Levels NOT rising faster than ever – Flash flooding NOT due to ‘climate change’

Infographic discussing claims by UN Secretary-General António Guterres about rising sea levels, featuring a tweet by him and a graph comparing past and present sea level rise rates.
Links: Post by Secretary-General António Guterres, sea level rise studies, 1920s-1940s rates.

Article discussing the flash flooding incident in the Grand Canyon on August 29, 2026, highlighting claims about climate change and providing a fact-check on the geological history related to flooding.
Links: CNN report, Grand Canyon history.

Article discussing claims about the summer of 2026 being the hottest on record, highlighting NOAA data and clarifying that it was the warmest but not the hottest.
Map showing average temperature ranks by climate district in the United States for May 2026, with areas color-coded based on temperature rank intensity.
Links: CNN post, CBS post, USA Today post, NOAA data, NOAA press release, U.S. climate divisions recording records, TOB adjustment, homogenization issues, blending urban warming.

Article titled 'No, NPR, climate change is not challenging New York's apple growers' discussing the impact of late frosts and other factors on apple production.
Links: NPR affiliate post, USDA data.

Infographic fact-checking claims about climate change and wildfires, highlighting a Senate statement by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and providing satellite data showing no increase in global wildfire area since 2002.
Links: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse clip, satellite record, fuel buildup research, 1910 “Big Burn.”

An article titled 'September 25th: Wrong, TIME, nor'easters aren't proof of climate change' discussing a claim by TIME on the impact of climate change on nor'easters and providing a fact-check.
Links: TIME Magazine article, IPCC wind speed confidence.

Until next month, enjoy these and other great climate fact checks at:

ClimateRealism.com

ClimateDepot.com

Wattsupwiththat.com

Read the original PDF, here.

Beast from the East Showdown: 2018 Still Reigns Supreme Over 2021’s Sequel and 2024’s Empty Hype

The “Beast from the East” was a major cold wave and severe winter weather event that affected the UK, Ireland, and much of continental Europe in late February and early March 2018.

Infographic comparing the winter weather events of 2018, 2021, and 2024, highlighting the chaos of 2018, the unoriginal sequel of 2021, and the disappointment of 2024.
AI generated by Grok

The “Beast from the East” was a major cold wave and severe winter weather event that affected the UK, Ireland, and much of continental Europe in late February and early March 2018.

It is also known by the official meteorological designation Anticyclone Hartmut. The nickname “Beast from the East” (used by media and the public) referred to the bitterly cold easterly/northeasterly winds that transported Arctic and Siberian air masses across Europe.

Causes

The event was triggered by a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) in the Arctic around 10-12 February 2018. This disrupted the polar vortex, leading to a high- pressure blocking anticyclone over Scandinavia. The resulting flow pattern reversed the usual mild westerly winds, drawing in very cold continental air from Siberia and Russia.

As this cold, dry air moved over the relatively warmer North Sea, it produced widespread lake- effect (or sea-effect) snow showers, especially across eastern and northern parts of the UK and Ireland.

Around 1- 2 March, it collided with Storm Emma (a low- pressure system moving north from the Atlantic/continent), intensifying snowfall, winds, and disruption, particularly in southern and western areas.

Impacts

  • Temperatures: Widely sub- zero by day; overnight lows around –10°C to –12°C in rural UK areas (feels- like temperatures lower due to strong winds). Some of the coldest late- February and early- March conditions in decades. A record low March maximum of –4.7°C was set in parts of Wales.
  • Snow: Widespread accumulations of 5- 20 cm, with 40- 50 and more cm in higher or exposed areas (e.g., parts of Scotland, northern England, south Wales, and southwest England). Blizzards and deep drifts occurred in places.
  • Disruption: Hundreds of schools closed; major travel chaos on roads, rail (some trains stranded for hours), and airports (flights cancelled); power cuts; some communities isolated.
  • Water supplies: Rapid thaw after the freeze caused widespread pipe bursts; over 200,000 customers in England and Wales lost supply for more than four hours (tens of thousands for longer).
  • Casualties: At least 10- 17 weather- related deaths in the UK (including road accidents, falls, and exposure); dozens more across Europe (especially Poland and other eastern and central countries).
  • Economic: Significant costs (estimates around £1 billion and more in the UK); impacts on retail, deliveries, energy demand, and construction.

A weaker follow- up cold spell around 17- 18 March was nicknamed the “Mini Beast from the East”.

The event highlighted vulnerabilities in infrastructure (especially water networks after the thaw) and linked extreme mid- latitude cold outbreaks to polar vortex disruptions, which some researchers connect to broader Arctic changes. It remains one of the most memorable UK winter weather events of recent decades.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Here’s a clear comparison of the 2018 “Beast from the East” with the main comparable 2021 event and the situation in 2024.

Overview of the Events

Aspect2018 (Beast from the East / Anticyclone Hartmut)2021 (Storm Darcy / “Beast from the East 2”)2024
DatesLate February – early March (main phase ~24 Feb–4 and 5 Mar; mini follow- up mid- March)7- 13 February (peak around 7- 11 Feb)No single major equivalent event. Notable cold and snow periods in January and especially mid- late November
Primary CauseMajor Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) disrupting the polar vortex → strong high pressure over Scandinavia → Siberian and Arctic easterly flow. Combined with Storm EmmaEasterly flow of cold air from eastern Europe (Ukraine and Black Sea region) and Storm Darcy (named by Dutch Met Service). Linked to an earlier SSW but air mass not as extremeVarious cold snaps (Arctic and continental air at times). Media often speculated about SSW-driven “Beast” returns, but none fully developed into a major prolonged easterly outbreak
Air MassVery cold polar continental (Siberian origin); one of the coldest late- winter outbreaks in recent decadesCold easterly, but milder and origin slightly less extreme than 2018 (Met Office noted it was not as bitingly cold)Variable; some Arctic outbreaks but generally less sustained extreme continental cold
TemperaturesWidely sub- zero by day; overnight lows often –10°C to –12°C or lower (feels- like much colder with wind). Some March records setDaytime near or below freezing in many areas; overnight extremes to –23°C at Braemar (UK’s lowest since 1995). Eastern Scotland –10°C to –15°C+January: lows around –14°C in Scotland (coldest January night since 2019 in places). November: significant cold (e.g., –12.6°C, coldest November night in ~15 years in some spots)
SnowfallWidespread 5–20 cm; 40–50 and more cm (locally higher) in higher/exposed areas (Scotland, N England, S Wales, SW England). Blizzards and driftsSignificant in eastern and SE England (10- 20 and more cm) and eastern Scotland (20- 38 cm at places like Aboyne). More regionally focusedNovember 2024: notable event with 8–15 cm in Midlands, up to ~28 cm in places (e.g., Loch Glascarnoch or Crymych); described as most significant November snow since 2010. January had more limited accumulations
Disruption & ImpactsNationwide: schools closed, major road, rail and airport chaos (trains stranded for hours), power cuts, communities isolated. Post- thaw water supply failures (200,000 and more affected). ~10- 17 UK deaths; dozens more across Europe. Economic cost ~£1bn and more.Significant but more regional (especially east and SE England and Scotland): roads closed, travel disruption, some school and COVID vaccine centre closures, power cuts in places. Fewer fatalities reported; less prolonged national chaosLocalized and moderate disruption from snow and ice (schools closed in places, travel issues), but nowhere near 2018 scale. No widespread “Beast”- level infrastructure crisis
Duration & IntensityLongest and most intense of the three, multi- week cold with two phasesAbout a week of severe conditions; coldest spell since 2018 but shorter and less extreme overallNo comparable multi-day national freeze and more heavy snow event

Key Takeaways

  • 2018 remains the standout event, the original and most severe “Beast from the East”. It combined extreme cold from a true Siberian air mass, widespread heavy snow (enhanced by sea- effect showers and Storm Emma), and major nationwide impacts including infrastructure failures after the thaw.
  • 2021 was a genuine “Beast from the East 2” (media and some forecasters used the name). It produced the coldest conditions since 2018 (with a notable absolute low temperature record for the period) and disruptive snow, especially in the east. However, the air mass was not quite as cold, the event was shorter, and impacts were more regional rather than nationwide.
  • 2024 had no true equivalent. Cold snaps and snow occurred (notably a significant November event), and media frequently hyped potential “Beast from the East” returns based on forecast charts and possible SSW activity. None matched the intensity, duration, or disruption of 2018 or even 2021. The term is often applied loosely by the media to any cold easterly spell.

In short: 2018 > 2021 >> 2024 in terms of severity and national impact for these types of easterly cold outbreaks.

The Met Office and meteorologists generally reserve strong “Beast from the East” comparisons for events involving prolonged polar continental air with significant snow and sub- zero conditions across large parts of the UK.