:00:00. > :00:00.Weather World with Nick Miller, where the team travel to Plymouth to
:00:00. > :00:11.see how the ocean can help predict meteorological phenomena.
:00:12. > :00:17.This time on Weather World, we are going out to sea, about one hour in
:00:18. > :00:22.that direction on this boat, to find out how they measure whether at sea,
:00:23. > :00:27.and the state of the oceans, and why it is so important when it comes to
:00:28. > :00:33.changes in our global climate. Also on Weather World... He needs to get
:00:34. > :00:40.out. I know! Narrowly escapes. And dramatic rescues and extreme
:00:41. > :00:46.weather. Flood, fire, and destruction, as record heat sweeps
:00:47. > :00:49.the globe. Deadly lining in Europe. Sarah Keith-Lucas looks at the
:00:50. > :00:54.storms and signs behind them. They brought several violent lightning
:00:55. > :00:59.strikes to cities including Paris where there was at least one
:01:00. > :01:04.fatality and many other people were injured, including several children.
:01:05. > :01:09.Plus, inside of the wave factory, revealing the project to harness
:01:10. > :01:15.energy from stormy seas. My word, if this was a real-world situation, I
:01:16. > :01:20.would not be enjoying this one bit! And caught in a virtual storm, I'll
:01:21. > :01:34.have a go at steering a ship to safe water.
:01:35. > :01:40.Welcome to Weather World, I'm in Plymouth on the English south coast,
:01:41. > :01:43.about to set sail into the English Channel on this research vessel, the
:01:44. > :01:49.Plymouth Quest. Our mission is to get up close to
:01:50. > :01:53.whether equipment permanently out at sea, taking data about the weather
:01:54. > :01:58.and the water is floating in. It is unusually windy here today, it
:01:59. > :02:03.will be a rocky ride. I hope you're a good sailor, we are
:02:04. > :02:09.about to find out if I am! Morning! We are sailing in one of two
:02:10. > :02:13.research vessels operated by the Plymouth Marine laboratory, often in
:02:14. > :02:16.daily use taking scientists to the English Channel to take measurements
:02:17. > :02:20.from and maintain observing equipment permanently kept at sea.
:02:21. > :02:24.It is about a 60 minute voyage to reach the nearest of that equipment
:02:25. > :02:30.and as we leave the coast behind, the waves get bigger. We are well
:02:31. > :02:34.underway to our destination now, but already the boat is collecting
:02:35. > :02:39.important information about this water we are going through.
:02:40. > :02:42.I am in the fish hold, this was a fishing vessel, this is where the
:02:43. > :02:46.cat would be kept. Now, scientific equipment is in
:02:47. > :02:51.here. Water is being collected through this pipe, and pumped around
:02:52. > :02:55.here, to this equipment on the wall here.
:02:56. > :02:59.Firstly, water has the bubbles taken out, you don't want bubbles in the
:03:00. > :03:02.samples. Then we check how clear the water
:03:03. > :03:07.is, how much chlorophyll is in the water, and then this checks for
:03:08. > :03:11.dissolved oxygen. Finally, how much salt is in the sea
:03:12. > :03:15.water we are travelling through. All of that information is coming in,
:03:16. > :03:21.and we can now find out what it is telling us by going back upstairs.
:03:22. > :03:25.The great thing about that equipment is down there is that we can see in
:03:26. > :03:29.real time what it is telling us about the water we are moving
:03:30. > :03:33.through at the moment as things get choppier and choppier! John Siddle
:03:34. > :03:38.from the Met office is with us. This is what we are finding out from what
:03:39. > :03:43.is down below? Yes, you can see the temperature of the water, as we move
:03:44. > :03:48.through it, then visibility, oxygen and chlorophyll, they describe the
:03:49. > :03:52.cabbage -- chemistry and the biology of the system. How important is it
:03:53. > :03:56.to have this from your perspective in the Met office? It is critical
:03:57. > :04:01.for this information, for the research we do. We have a national
:04:02. > :04:06.partnership prediction, which delivers to the laboratory in the
:04:07. > :04:11.Met Office. We are trying to bring together the best scientists to give
:04:12. > :04:14.a really good set of predictions for the ocean environment. And
:04:15. > :04:19.predictions about the ocean environment, and what is going on
:04:20. > :04:23.above the sea, and above land in the air, that is so important when it
:04:24. > :04:27.comes to predicting what is happening with our climate and how
:04:28. > :04:30.it will change in future. This year has been incredible in
:04:31. > :04:37.terms of heat globally, setting new records. He needs to get out. I
:04:38. > :04:42.know! So close to tragedy... You can't get out. A US TV news crew in
:04:43. > :04:50.Oklahoma rescue a man from a wildfire. Getting, hurry up!, one!
:04:51. > :04:57.We've got to go! -- get in. -- come on. The flames chase them as they
:04:58. > :05:03.just escape in time. Out of town just in time... This is insane. Who
:05:04. > :05:06.can forget these terrifying apocalyptic scenes from the Canadian
:05:07. > :05:10.town of Fort McMurray in May, as residents flee for their lives,
:05:11. > :05:15.animals run from the forest. Burning embers fly through the air.
:05:16. > :05:20.This is what the fire left behind. Some homes reduced to a mass of
:05:21. > :05:26.melted metal and concrete. Despite destruction in some parts of the
:05:27. > :05:31.town, officials said that, in all, almost 90% of buildings survive. In
:05:32. > :05:37.August, last-minute escapes from the homes destroyed. This time in
:05:38. > :05:42.California, east of Los Angeles. In India, pre-monsoon drought hit hard,
:05:43. > :05:46.and the country recorded new national record high temperatures of
:05:47. > :05:49.51 degrees, in Rajasthan, back in May.
:05:50. > :05:56.In Iraq, the air conditioning salesman tried to keep cool in
:05:57. > :06:01.temperatures that soared to 54 degrees in Kuwait in July.
:06:02. > :06:06.Fire, drought heat waves, not unusual but against a backdrop of
:06:07. > :06:10.record global heat so far this year. Over the last century, these years
:06:11. > :06:16.have set new records. So far, 2016 is ahead of all others.
:06:17. > :06:21.After an hour at sea, we've reached our destination. The sea has got
:06:22. > :06:28.rougher but we have made it and come to see this. This is a whether buoy.
:06:29. > :06:37.This is one of yours, what is it doing out there? This is our weather
:06:38. > :06:40.station, and it is measuring not only meteorological parameters but
:06:41. > :06:46.oceanographic parameters on this buoy. Above water, we look at wind
:06:47. > :06:51.speed and direction. Ed temperature and humidity, we are looking at
:06:52. > :06:57.intensity of sunlight, light from the sun -- air temperature.
:06:58. > :07:00.And below, we look at sea surface temperature, salinity, chlorophyll,
:07:01. > :07:06.that gives an indication as to the plant life in the water, that is the
:07:07. > :07:10.base of the food chain. Dissolved oxygen, and clarity of the water,
:07:11. > :07:17.visibility. We had a plan to go on there today, but it is bopping about
:07:18. > :07:21.and is too rough, but you do go one? Yes, for various reasons. Mainly
:07:22. > :07:26.routine maintenance, to make sure everything is performing as it
:07:27. > :07:31.should, collaborations on sensors, and we do find that we have growth
:07:32. > :07:36.on the censors. If we lift the cage out of the water routinely -- so we
:07:37. > :07:38.lift the cage out of the water routinely.
:07:39. > :07:43.You can find something like this in every ocean in the world? Yes, with
:07:44. > :07:47.weather forecasting, Ocean forecasting, predictions are key. To
:07:48. > :07:53.measure what is going on. Global measurements are important to
:07:54. > :07:57.balance global models and forecasts. Buoy systems like this are found all
:07:58. > :08:01.over the world. James, it is excellent to see this, you take a
:08:02. > :08:12.boat trip wherever you are, so keep an eye out for one of these. We are
:08:13. > :08:16.able, with this equipment, to look at this.
:08:17. > :08:20.bottom of these chips, of the bottom of these chips, of the
:08:21. > :08:25.rosette sampler, they spring back on themselves to fill the bottle. We
:08:26. > :08:30.trigger them at different depths, we can take a water sample at 40
:08:31. > :08:35.metres, bring it back on deck, and take a water sample to look out
:08:36. > :08:41.nutrients, plankton, temperatures, for example. -- lookout. It tells
:08:42. > :08:47.you about the state of the ocean? Yes, what the ecosystem is doing,
:08:48. > :08:52.and what physics that govern it are going on. Let's have a look at it in
:08:53. > :08:59.action. What is happening here is that Jim, on the left, he has taken
:09:00. > :09:04.the top of the bottles, and Gary, now on the left, is taking off the
:09:05. > :09:11.bottom. Effectively, we have empty chiefs. There it goes... Going over
:09:12. > :09:16.the side, and then it is gone. When the rosette gets to a particular
:09:17. > :09:21.depth, we can fire each of those bottles, so there are 12 bottles on
:09:22. > :09:25.there at the moment. We can fire each of them individually at a
:09:26. > :09:30.particular depth, take it as a water sample, it will come back on deck.
:09:31. > :09:33.There are taps that we fill, with sample bottles. We can take them
:09:34. > :09:38.back to the laboratory for analysis. Does it have to be calm to do this?
:09:39. > :09:42.Generally, yes, it's quite a dangerous operation. The waves crash
:09:43. > :09:47.over the ship, and if the boat is moving around quite a bit, once you
:09:48. > :09:53.have filled it with water, we have several tonnes of water there. It
:09:54. > :09:58.can be very hazardous. We can see it again... With the sampling done, it
:09:59. > :10:01.is time to head back to the harbour. Mission complete.
:10:02. > :10:06.But there's more to come from Plymouth, this time on land, later.
:10:07. > :10:09.Now, some of your Weather Watcher pictures, starting with these
:10:10. > :10:13.amazing images of a water spout from the south coast in July.
:10:14. > :10:19.It is a tornado that forms over the sea. The same weather system also
:10:20. > :10:21.produced final clouds inland, these can sometimes go on to become
:10:22. > :10:26.tornadoes. But, when it comes to tornadoes,
:10:27. > :10:30.nowhere does them more powerfully than the USA.
:10:31. > :10:35.Earlier in the summer, Dan Hollie Webb storm chasing there.
:10:36. > :10:39.We are in Kansas, this is tornado number three. Look at the dust it is
:10:40. > :10:43.kicking up, while! The United States are familiar with
:10:44. > :10:47.tornadoes. We are quite a way away, quite safe.
:10:48. > :10:49.In an average year, 1000 twisters on average touchdown across the
:10:50. > :10:52.country. While they are stunning to look at,
:10:53. > :10:56.they can be destructive. I spent most of the year forecasting
:10:57. > :11:01.the weather in East Anglia, but for four weeks in May or June, I can be
:11:02. > :11:07.found storm chasing with friends on the great plains of the USA.
:11:08. > :11:11.People chase for different reasons. Some are therefore scientific
:11:12. > :11:16.investigations, to collect data to understand tornadoes better. Others
:11:17. > :11:19.work for local media, or the National Weather Service, reporting
:11:20. > :11:22.back vital information about a tornado to help the public stay safe
:11:23. > :11:27.and informed. There are many others like me with a
:11:28. > :11:30.strong interest in the weather, and are there to experience first-hand
:11:31. > :11:37.the true power were of mother nature. This year, we covered nearly
:11:38. > :11:41.6000 miles of road in just 14 days. Our first Chase Day took us to
:11:42. > :11:45.Kansas, with a stunning super cell near the town of Leota.
:11:46. > :11:50.It produced two brief tornadoes, there and gone in ten seconds.
:11:51. > :11:54.Three days later, Dodge city Kansas narrowly avoided being hit by
:11:55. > :11:58.several tornadoes produced by the same super cell.
:11:59. > :12:02.Still to come on Weather World... What do I do? Swim! Caught in the
:12:03. > :12:10.storm, flash floods and dramatic rescues. My car is under. We are
:12:11. > :12:14.back on dry land after a rocky ride out to that whether buoy on the
:12:15. > :12:17.Plymouth Quest, at the hands of a skipper who knew what to do in rough
:12:18. > :12:21.weather. And to navigate a ship in rough
:12:22. > :12:24.weather is, you don't have to start at sea but here on land, at Plymouth
:12:25. > :12:31.University. Through here... This looks like the
:12:32. > :12:33.bridge of a ship, and it is incredibly realistic.
:12:34. > :12:37.Looking out onto Plymouth Sound, where we were on the Plymouth Quest
:12:38. > :12:41.boat. But this is actually a navigation
:12:42. > :12:45.simulation, Tom Crichton is operating it now.
:12:46. > :12:50.What is it, and what are you doing? At Plymouth University we use this
:12:51. > :12:57.simulator to teach and educate seafarers on the navigation and
:12:58. > :13:00.Maritime cause. We do basic navigation, collision avoidance, and
:13:01. > :13:05.advanced techniques. Relatively calm conditions but this
:13:06. > :13:10.can all change. At the click of a mouse! Let me show you. You take
:13:11. > :13:14.control. I will do that... There we go. BC is getting rougher, white
:13:15. > :13:19.tops on the waves, they are getting bigger.
:13:20. > :13:24.-- the sea. What is incredible, although this is a fixed simulator,
:13:25. > :13:28.it is not moving around as you would imagine if you were on a flight
:13:29. > :13:34.simulator. You feel like you want to sway a little to compensate for the
:13:35. > :13:38.movement of this. Do you ever get people feeling queasy? Certainly.
:13:39. > :13:45.Interestingly, because it is not a physical movement to back-up DC
:13:46. > :13:50.motion, it is often the experience to see people who feel queasy
:13:51. > :13:53.because the body does not get the corresponding movement of rain
:13:54. > :13:57.expects. Does it get rougher? It does, I will
:13:58. > :14:05.show you. Tom, give me all you've got! OK, be careful what you wish
:14:06. > :14:12.for is the motto of that! My word, this has changed! 'S huge waves are
:14:13. > :14:17.rolling around. I want to stay away from that lighthouse in front of
:14:18. > :14:25.me... I feel very lucky that, to operate this, I'm very happy this is
:14:26. > :14:28.a simulation and not a real-world simulation.
:14:29. > :14:33.My word, if it was a real-world situation, I would not be enjoying
:14:34. > :14:38.this one bit. Now, from simulating storms at sea,
:14:39. > :14:40.to the real-life impact on the coast.
:14:41. > :14:46.Australia in June, a storm combined with high tides that is the New
:14:47. > :14:50.South Wales coastline with 12 metre high waves, leaving some beach near
:14:51. > :14:54.collapse. In August, Scotland's windiest
:14:55. > :14:59.summer day since 1988 saw this oil rig that had been on tone from
:15:00. > :15:01.Norway to Malta blown ashore on the Isle of Lewis instead.
:15:02. > :15:05.-- on tow. Later in the month, several people
:15:06. > :15:08.died after getting into difficulty in or near stormy seas around the
:15:09. > :15:13.British Isles. Storms that bring intense rain
:15:14. > :15:17.inland producer affects hard to predict, and with little warning.
:15:18. > :15:21.In the Macedonian capital, in August, these were the scenes.
:15:22. > :15:24.A flash flood killed more than 20 people.
:15:25. > :15:28.More than one months worth of rain fell in 24-hour is.
:15:29. > :15:33.Tubular and seems in Nairobi, Kenya, in April when a baby is rescued from
:15:34. > :15:38.a building that collapsed in flooding, but ten other people were
:15:39. > :15:45.killed -- GP Lynne scenes. These scenes from China's province
:15:46. > :15:48.in July showed the devastation that flooding can bring.
:15:49. > :15:54.Seasonal rains in China where extreme, killing hundreds of people.
:15:55. > :15:59.Some of the rescues and narrow escapes are caught on camera. What
:16:00. > :16:02.do I do? In April on live television, this reporter pulled a
:16:03. > :16:07.man to safety in Texas. In Maryland in August, onlookers
:16:08. > :16:10.formed a human chain to rescue a woman whose car was being swept away
:16:11. > :16:15.by rising flood water. West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee
:16:16. > :16:18.and Oklahoma are just some of the other states in the USA who have
:16:19. > :16:23.seen deadly flash flooding in recent months.
:16:24. > :16:27.Then this, in Louisiana in August, rescues came across a car. There is
:16:28. > :16:30.someone still in it, sinking in the car.
:16:31. > :16:35.Her story is a lucky one. Pulled to safety with seconds to
:16:36. > :16:41.spare. With more than 100,000 homes affected by flooding, it has been
:16:42. > :16:45.labelled the USA's worst natural disaster since hurricane Sandy in
:16:46. > :16:50.2012. In India, Pakistan and here in Nepal
:16:51. > :16:53.in July, from heat to flood, the monsoon brings essential rain but
:16:54. > :16:57.flooding and lightning storms kill thousands.
:16:58. > :17:02.Deadly lightning hits Europe as a pro you to the floods that inundated
:17:03. > :17:04.the French capital of Paris in June -- pro nude.
:17:05. > :17:10.Sarah Keith-Lucas has more on the storms and signs of lightning.
:17:11. > :17:15.Here I am, on top of the recent BBC broadcasting above the headquarters
:17:16. > :17:20.of the BBC weather Centre. Today, no thunder clouds in the sky
:17:21. > :17:23.but just if you months ago, we had intense storms across central and
:17:24. > :17:28.northern parts of Europe. -- a few. They brought violent
:17:29. > :17:32.mining strikes to cities such as Paris, where there was at least one
:17:33. > :17:39.fertility, and many others injured, including several children.
:17:40. > :17:43.This bank in Paris turned into a temporary first aid centre for
:17:44. > :17:47.emergency services. For adults and eight children took
:17:48. > :17:51.shelter under a tree in the park. In Poland, a man descending a
:17:52. > :17:54.mountain was killed, and in Germany, more than 30 people were taken to
:17:55. > :17:56.hospital when lightning struck at the end of a children's football
:17:57. > :18:01.match. We have no way of recording how many
:18:02. > :18:06.lightning strikes reach the ground, but we can record the total number
:18:07. > :18:09.of lightning flashes. In this instance, over 17,000 flashes of
:18:10. > :18:12.lightning occurred in just one hour across northern Europe.
:18:13. > :18:16.Let's look at the science of how thunderstorms form.
:18:17. > :18:21.They are more common over the summer months when we have longer days,
:18:22. > :18:26.more sunshine and no more energy in the atmosphere.
:18:27. > :18:29.Initially, air close to the ground surface is one.
:18:30. > :18:33.Comedy air rises and to as long as it is warmer than the heirs
:18:34. > :18:37.surrounding it. As it rises, it cools, condenses,
:18:38. > :18:41.and forms into a cloud. If conditions are right, cloud
:18:42. > :18:47.continues to build, and build into Reiki Muller nimbus cloud, typically
:18:48. > :18:50.up to a height of 20,000 -- 20 5000 feet.
:18:51. > :18:54.These clouds give us under and lightning. Within that cloud, we get
:18:55. > :18:59.our draft and downdraught of air. The updraughts carry water droplets
:19:00. > :19:03.high into the top of the cloud where it is very cold.
:19:04. > :19:06.They freeze into ice crystals or hail.
:19:07. > :19:10.As we zoom into the cloud, those ice particles move around and bump into
:19:11. > :19:14.one another. The lighter and positively charged
:19:15. > :19:18.particles are carried to the top of the cloud, while the heavier and
:19:19. > :19:22.negatively charged hail collector at the base. The negative charge at the
:19:23. > :19:27.base of the cloud is attracted to the positive charge, within the
:19:28. > :19:31.cloud, within nearby clouds, and with positively charged ground
:19:32. > :19:36.surface below. When the attraction is great enough,
:19:37. > :19:39.they meet and discharge. So, lightning is a huge electrical
:19:40. > :19:42.spark, caused by the movement of negative charge from one place to
:19:43. > :19:48.the other. As ever in the heats and expands,
:19:49. > :19:51.due to the lining, it creates the accompanying rumble of thunder.
:19:52. > :19:55.-- lightning. Joining me to tell us more about
:19:56. > :19:57.these thunderstorms is Chloe more from the Royal meteorological
:19:58. > :20:03.Society. Welcome. We heard one person died in
:20:04. > :20:07.France, several others were injured in Germany, is that unusual?
:20:08. > :20:11.That episode occurred at the weekend, meaning many other people
:20:12. > :20:15.were outdoors and at risk of being struck by lightning.
:20:16. > :20:18.In Germany, and usually it was a bolt from the blue lightning, so
:20:19. > :20:22.there were clear skies and no ominous clouds.
:20:23. > :20:25.The lightning had travelled 25 miles from its source, so people were
:20:26. > :20:29.surprised. That's why there were so many
:20:30. > :20:34.injuries. So if you do find yourself stuck in a thunderstorm, do you have
:20:35. > :20:38.any advice as to how to reduce your risk of being struck? In wide-open
:20:39. > :20:43.spaces, seek shelter, whether it is inside of a building or vehicle.
:20:44. > :20:48.If you can't, make yourself low on the ground, tuck your head in, and
:20:49. > :20:52.reduce your height. Thank you for joining us. As summer rolls into
:20:53. > :20:56.autumn in the northern hemisphere, we should get out of this season of
:20:57. > :21:02.intense thunderstorms. But in the southern hemisphere,
:21:03. > :21:04.thunderstorm season is about to begin.
:21:05. > :21:09.Severe weather is of course best avoided, but what if you can harness
:21:10. > :21:12.the power of a storm and turn it to your advantage?
:21:13. > :21:16.That is exactly what they can do here. Welcome to Plymouth
:21:17. > :21:21.University's Coast laboratory and wave generator.
:21:22. > :21:26.They make waves here. These paddles can produce any sort of waveform and
:21:27. > :21:32.generate NEC state, recreating conditions at sea. But in this
:21:33. > :21:35.accurate scaled-down environment they can run controlled experiments
:21:36. > :21:38.to understand the interaction between DC and our coasts.
:21:39. > :21:47.A new invention is being tested here now, the wave cat. It would float
:21:48. > :21:53.off the coast with waste going over its arms, collecting data, and
:21:54. > :21:57.generating electricity. The professor of this laboratory
:21:58. > :22:04.says that by producing energy, wave cat can work as a coastal defence
:22:05. > :22:08.against stormy seas. To see this kind of device in operation, there
:22:09. > :22:12.would be a number arranged together. We would have a wave farm of energy
:22:13. > :22:18.devices operating together along the coastline. By extracting the energy
:22:19. > :22:23.to generate electricity, they are taking energy out of the wave
:22:24. > :22:26.climate. To do that, it means that there is less of the wave energy
:22:27. > :22:33.interacting with the coastline. Bigger storms are often treated
:22:34. > :22:38.negatively in discussion. But, clearly what we are seeing here, is
:22:39. > :22:41.something that is an opportunity. Yes, the opportunity in more
:22:42. > :22:47.energetic sea states and storms, there is more energy in the ocean
:22:48. > :22:52.than can be extracted. If we design devices to extract under those
:22:53. > :22:56.conditions, to convert the electricity, we can bring in a new
:22:57. > :23:00.renewable energy source. Talking of renewable energy, they've made it.
:23:01. > :23:04.Solar impulse touches down in Abu Dhabi in July. After taking off
:23:05. > :23:09.there in March last year. The first around the world solar
:23:10. > :23:15.powered flight is finally complete after a 17 stage journey covering
:23:16. > :23:18.four continents. Setting 19 official aviation
:23:19. > :23:27.records. The pilots from Switzerland
:23:28. > :23:31.experienced the climax of a project aimed at promoting renewable energy.
:23:32. > :23:36.When roads become rivers, what are you going to do? Wake boarding,
:23:37. > :23:41.obviously! One-man's answer to the travel chaos caused by flooding in
:23:42. > :23:43.Moscow in August. That's it for this time on Weather
:23:44. > :23:50.World. We are back in December. Until then,
:23:51. > :23:51.whether you're weather is at sea or on land, keep checking your weather
:23:52. > :24:28.forecast. Friday was a glorious data across
:24:29. > :24:34.much of the country, warm sunshine and lots of dry weather too. It --
:24:35. > :24:36.day across. On Saturday, we will see some
:24:37. > :24:38.outbreaks of rain across