A duo of large tropical cyclones is poised to unleash heavy rainfall in the United Kingdom, with meteorologists monitoring the potential convergence of the two systems in a rare ‘Fujiwhara’ event.
Hurricane Humberto and tropical storm Imelda are expected to impact the western Atlantic region, including the Caribbean and the western U.S. coast. Humberto, currently located south of Bermuda, has intensified into a powerful category 4 hurricane in recent days.
Following closely behind, Imelda has developed into a second storm, with forecasts indicating it will strengthen into a hurricane as it tracks north from the Bahamas. Both storms are projected to move north initially before veering eastward and traversing the Atlantic Ocean.
Anticipating significant swells and hazardous conditions for parts of Florida and Georgia, meteorologists are now assessing the potential implications of these weather systems for the UK and Europe. By midweek, the storms are expected to veer eastward into the Atlantic, possibly getting caught in the jet stream and carried northeast towards the British Isles.
While the storms are anticipated to lose some intensity, they still pose a risk of disruptive weather patterns for the UK. Prior to their arrival, a frontal system is forecasted to affect the UK on Wednesday, with a yellow rain warning in place for parts of western Scotland from Wednesday evening until early Friday.
Subsequently, the intensity of rainfall is likely to increase as Hurricane Humberto remnants make landfall over the weekend, potentially bringing strong winds and large waves that could prompt additional weather alerts from forecasters. In contrast, Tropical Storm Imelda is expected to linger at sea for at least a week, with uncertainties regarding its trajectory towards the UK.
Meteorologists suggest the arrival of these storms could mark the UK’s first named storm of the season, although the exact interaction between them is challenging to predict. When two storms develop in close proximity, they can influence each other’s paths and strengths in unpredictable ways, sometimes merging, diverging, or orbiting each other in a circular motion.
According to AccuWeather’s Lead Hurricane Expert, Alex DaSilva, the stronger Humberto is likely to redirect Imelda away from the U.S. coastline. The potential scenario of the storms merging into a rare ‘Fujiwhara’ event, where two smaller storms combine into a larger one, remains uncertain.
BBC forecasters anticipate that while Humberto will move eastward quicker, some of its residual energy and moisture may integrate into Storm Imelda.