Winter Storm 'Isha' Hits UK and Ireland
Landing in Cologne While Traveling from Manchester to Dublin
Winter storm 'Isha,' which has struck across the United Kingdom and Ireland, has caused hundreds of flights to be canceled or diverted, leading to major disruptions in European air routes. As flights suffer severe damage from this unusual winter storm caused by global warming, concerns are rising that such transportation chaos may occur periodically in the future.
According to CNN on the 22nd (local time), due to the impact of storm Isha, aircraft attempting to land at Dublin Airport in Ireland the previous day experienced 36 diversions and 34 go-arounds (failed landings followed by re-takeoffs) due to strong winds shaking the aircraft, and more than 150 flights were canceled.
Some aircraft failed to land at Dublin Airport and ended up landing at unexpected locations. A Ryanair aircraft flying from Manchester, UK to Dublin was unable to land at Dublin Airport and, while avoiding the storm, searched for a landing site before finally landing at Cologne Airport in Germany. Some flights that failed to land at Dublin Airport also landed in Paris, France.
In the UK, over 100 flights were canceled, and numerous planes diverted to other airports to avoid the storm, causing widespread chaos. A flight from Manchester to London Stansted Airport even detoured as far as 1,450 km to Budapest, Hungary.
The damage caused by Isha is not limited to flights. Large-scale power outages, cancellations of rail and air services, and school closures occurred in the UK and Ireland. Two people died in accidents involving fallen trees while driving. With no time to recover from the damage, a new storm approached, prompting an Amber warning?the second level of weather alert?in northern England on the same day.
Winter storms in Western Europe, which are causing such extensive damage, are known to be intensifying due to global warming. Last year, the El Ni?o phenomenon appeared for the first time in three years, raising concerns about various abnormal weather events. El Ni?o is a phenomenon where sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific rise more than 0.5 degrees Celsius above average.
This winter, abnormal weather events such as large-scale Arctic cold waves moving south and storms have been occurring mainly in Western European regions including the UK, the Netherlands, and France. If global warming continues to worsen, periodic damage is expected to increase.
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