Sciency Thoughts: Atlantic Storm Ali kills two in Ireland.

Two people died in different parts of Ireland and several people were injured across Ireland and the UK as Atlantic Storm Ali swept in from the Atlantic on Wednesday 19 September 2018. In County Galway, in the Republic of Ireland, Swiss tourist Elvira Ferrari, 56, was killed when the caravan she was staying in was swept off a cliff by high winds, while in County Armagh Mathew Campbell, 24, was killed when a falling tree struck him and a companion, who was also injured. In Scotland several children were injured when they were struck by flying debris in Dumfries and Galloway, un un-named person was injered when blown over by high winds in Dundee, a Highland Main Line was derailed after striking branches fallen from a tree and a cruise ship slipped its moorings in Greenock, Inverclyde. Both incidents led to passengers and crew needing to be evacuated, though neither resulted in any casualties. In England a woman recieved serious injuries after her car was struck by a falling tree in Crewe, Cheshire.

The remains of a caravan swept off a cliff in County Galway on Wednesday 19 September 2018. Niall Carson/PA.

Niall Carson/PA

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/20/tributes-paid-to-swiss-tourist-killed-in-ireland-after-caravan-blown-off-cliff-during-storm-ali-7963939/?ito=cbshare
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Ocean storms form due to heating of air over the sea in tropical zones. As the air is heated the the air pressure drops and the air rises, causing new air to rush in from outside the forming storm zone. If this zone is sufficiently large, then it will be influenced by the Coriolis Effect, which loosely speaking means the winds closer to the equator will be faster than those further away, causing the storm to rotate, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Whilst the high winds associated these storms is extremely dangerous, the real danger from such storms is often the flooding. Each millibar drop in air pressure can lead to a 1 cm rise in sea level, and large storms can be accompanied by storm surges several meters high. This tends to be accompanied by high levels of rainfall, caused by water picked up by the storm while still at sea, which can lead to flooding, swollen rivers and landslides; which occur when waterlogged soils on hill slopes lose their cohesion and slump downwards, over whatever happens to be in their path.

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Sunday, 23 September 2018

Atlantic Storm Ali kills two in Ireland.