What is ‘Jet’? Deadly weather phenomenon that can cause Typhoon Eunice to die

The UK’s continued battle from Cyclone Eunice can still inflict a nasty sting in its tail, with the rare and potentially deadly ‘sting jet’ crafted to inflict bouts of pain. STRONGER wind IMMEDIATELY

Cyclone Eunice is ripping through the UK, with red weather warnings issued across parts of southern England and Wales.

Across the country, amber and yellow warnings are in place, with Britons told to cower and stay home.

In the worst-affected areas, winds are thought to reach up to 100 mph, which can be ‘life-threatening’. Tourism is severely disrupted.

The storm comes just two days after Cyclone Dudley hit the UK, causing damage and toppling trees.

The first storm made landfall in the British Isles early this morning, with debris likely to fly throughout the day.

On top of that, extreme conditions can also lead to something even rarer known as a jet.

What is a jet plane?

The jet is an area of ​​small, intense winds that form inside storms as they pass over the UK, Met Office speak.

Compared to the main storm, which is usually quite large, a relatively narrow jet – about 30 to 40 miles across and only likely to last for three or four hours.

The winds of a single jet can exceed 100 mph, as seen during the great 1987 storm with gusts of more than 130 mph that killed 22 people and caused £2 billion in damage.

How does a jet form?

Warm air rises and cold air sinks, a process that creates clouds and rain and areas of low pressure that can turn into storms.

Weather fronts, a feature of areas of low pressure, separate areas of warm and cold air – the interaction between them creates wet, windy weather.

Around the weather fronts, running parallel to them are cold and warm currents known as conveyor belts.

The warm conveyor rises and the cold conveyor falls, wrapping around the low-pressure area and building it up by leading warm, moist air into it.

Cold air from the refrigerant conveyor carries air from above into the atmosphere, sometimes cooled by rain and snow falling into it and evaporating.

The change from a liquid to a gas uses heat, which is removed from the conveyor, further cooled. Air, now even colder, falls along the conveyor at an increasingly rapid rate.

When the wind reaches the surface, it can create gusts much stronger than normal storms can. After a while, however, the refrigerant conveyor catches up with its own cold air, ending the sting and – hopefully – limiting the damage.