It’s called a sudden stratospheric warming event — and, unlike the name might suggest, the rare phenomenon could spell a burst of bitterly cold weather for Australia and New Zealand over coming weeks.
If so, it could be the southern hemisphere’s own version of the icy “beast from the east” that paralysed Europe in 2018, reported the New Zealand Herald.
A sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event kicks off when the temperature of the stratosphere — that’s 30km to 50km above ground — over the South Pole climbs by more than 25C. Meteorologists from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) think it’s likely this is about to happen next week.
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