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A polar vortex is expected to strike in the middle of March in the middle of March, causing severe weather in winter and major travel disruption in the US and Canada. Intense cold can also reach the UK and Europe.
This would be the second polar vortex collapse of 2025, which led to cold conditions and transport chaos in North America after the earlier incident.
What is polar vortex?
A polar vortex collapse occurs when strong, cold winds that usually rotate around the arctic or Antarctica, weaken and break down, causing the frigid air to spread in low latitudes towards the south.
This can lead to extreme winter season, including severe cold waves, heavy snowfall and icy conditions in areas that usually do not experience such acute cold.
How does the polar vortex collapse?
Polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air on the Earth’s poles, usually placed by strong winds. When the vortex is weakened or suddenly interrupted by stratospheric warming (SSW) – the temperature increases by 50 degrees within 48 hours – the air patterns change, breaking the vortex.
Therefore, instead of getting trapped near the poles, the frigid wind moves southwards, bringing cold temperatures to places such as North America, Europe and even Asia.
How, where and when the polar vortex will collapse?
Acccuweather’s leading meteorologist Paul Pastelok told Independent That when the polar vortex is interrupted – whether it is spread, displaced, or divided – it can occur, but not always, this polar jet affects stream.
Widespread snow, storm and bottom-freezing temperature were observed in areas across the US. If the upcoming vortex disintegration weakens jet stream, icy air from polar regions may push North America or Eurasia.
“We are predicting the displacement of the polar vortex on the polar side of Europe and Eastern Canada,” said Pastelok. “Time is uncertain for North America, but may see a change in patterns in early March in early March,” he said.
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