Richard P. Allan | Lightnews

Richard Allan

@rpallanuk.bsky.social

2K followers 1K following 210 posts

Professor of climate science at the University of Reading: http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/

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Environmental science 55%

Geography 19%

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Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 4d

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social 5 Feb 2026:
🌀 storms hit Portugal/Spain, Brazil, Madagascar
🌧️ floods & landslides across Colombia, Morocco, DR Congo
🏔️ avalanche in Italy
🥀 drought grips Kenya
❄️ coldwave affects Lithuania, USA
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...

Firefighters pull an inflatable boat as floodwaters from the Sado River cover the streets in Alcacer do Sal in southern Portugal during Storm Leonardo on February 4, 2026 [File: AFP]

Reposted by Anders Levermann

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 6d

2 new papers by Cooper, Armour & co use past climates, from the Last Glacial Maximum 21,000 yrs ago & the Pliocene 2.6-5.3 million yrs ago, to infer that the planet will warm about 3 degrees C for a doubling of CO2 as a best estimate for present day.

doi.org/10.1126/scia...

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Last Glacial Maximum pattern effects reduce climate sensitivity estimates

Ice sheet–driven temperature patterns amplified glacial cooling, implying less future warming than previously estimated.

doi.org

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 10d

Great news, the price of liquid death is dead low at the moment!

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/m...

Petrol prices drop to lowest level in almost five years

A litre of petrol at UK forecourts costs an average of 131.91p, the RAC said

www.independent.co.uk

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 10d

Very impressive. To answer the question, pretty well by the time you've finished your paper! 😇

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 11d

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social 29 Jan 2026:
🌀 storms hit Portugal, Spain & UK
💦 #floods & landslides Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Greece, Afghanistan, Indonesia
🌡️ #heatwave Australia
🥀 #drought Somalia
❄️ #snow Japan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria & USA
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...

Indonesian military personel and a rescue member carry water pump machine from the site of a landslide following heavy rains in Pasir Langu village, West Bandung regency, West Java province, Indonesia, January 27, 2026. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Rosie A. Fisher

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 12d

Artificially offsetting greenhouse gas warming using solar geoengineering to reflect away sunlight may be more costly than without if cut off suddenly, leading to “termination shock” of rapid warming: @iopp-environment.bsky.social study via @newscientist.com

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Economic assessment of SRM under socio-political and geophysical tipping dynamics

Economic assessment of SRM under socio-political and geophysical tipping dynamics, Estrada, Francisco, Bastien-Olvera, Bernardo A, Calderon-Bustamante, Oscar, Altamirano, Miguel A, Muñoz-Sánchez, Rodrigo, Moreno-Cruz, Juan, Botzen, Wouter

iopscience.iop.org

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 13d

10 key #climate science insights from 2025:
doi.org/10.1017/sus....

Guest post by @carbonbrief.org:
www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-1...

Figure 5. Impact of climate change on terrestrial water fluxes (A). Climate change directly and indirectly impacts groundwater resources:

Figure 2. The impacts of the exceptional marine heatwaves in 2023–2024 and the period of occurrence of the warmest sea surface temperature

Figure 1. Estimates of contributing factors to the anomalous global mean temperatures in 2023 and 2024

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 17d

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social 23 Jan 2026:
🌧️ #floods + landslides Mozambique/Malawi/SAfrica/Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Syria, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Peru
❄️ #avalanche & severe snow Switzerland/Austria, Russia
🔥 #wildfire Chile
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...

Onlookers inspect damage to the bridge crossing the Ga-Selati River, just outside Phalaborwa, on January 16, 2026, following heavy rains over much of the Limpopo Province, South Africa [Paul Botes/AFP]

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 24d

A warm & wet December 2025 in the UK but some longer term rainfall deficits in the north east & south east though the @ukceh.bsky.social hydrological outlook is normal following dry to wet transition: nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/sites/defaul...

Map of UK groundwater anomalies Dec 2025

Map of UK soil moisture anomalies Dec 2025

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 25d

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social:
⛈️Storms UK/France/Germany, Argentina/Brazil
🌧️Floods/Landslides Albania, Australia, Malaysia, DRCongo/Mozambique/SAfrica/Tanzania/Zambia
🔥Wildfire Argentina/Chile, SAfrica
🏔️Avalanche Austria, France, USA
🥀Drought Kenya
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...

Aeroplane being used for fire suppression in Chubut Province, Argentina, on January 8, 2026. Credit: Governor Ignacio Torres.

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Patrick McGuire @mcguirepatrick.bsky.social · 26d

This time, at the 2026 University of Reading Department of #Meteorology's Research Away-Day, we had a larger auditorium in the #PalmerBuilding (and hence more space) than during the same event in 2024. (click on thumbnail to see the composite photo). #ResearchAwayDay @uniofreading.bsky.social

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 26d

Emerging #drought hotspots across Europe, southern Africa, northern South America + western North America based on new approach considering growing season soil moisture available to plants - @natureportfolio.nature.com study by Emily Black @unirdg-met.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Figure 6 of Black et al. showing emerging drought hotspots in historical simulations and observations estimates and future projections

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · 28d

I’d wondered about burying trees to lock away carbon and assumed it’d be too slow but here’s a proposal to sink them in the Arctic Ocean (via @newscientist.com):
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Keep Caversham Tidy @cavershamtidy.bsky.social · Jan 10

As we head back out into the ice today, here’s a write up of last week’s litter pick by @henleystandard.bsky.social!
www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/home/70...

Gas canisters and frozen nappy found by roadside

A FROZEN nappy and nitrous oxide canisters were among items collected during Keep Caversham Tidy’s first litter pick of the year on Saturday morning. They were among 19 small bags and seven large bags...

www.henleystandard.co.uk

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Jan 8

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social:
❄️ #snow & storms affect Europe, Iran/Syria & USA
🌧️ #floods across France, Spain, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Palestine & USA
🔥 #wildfires in Australia, Chile
🥀 #drought over Somalia
🌩️ #lightning strikes S Africa
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...

Bamburgh Castle surrounded by snow in Bamburgh, England, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Jan 8

Ten New Insights in #Climate Science 2025 published @universitypress.cambridge.org Global Sustainability: doi.org/10.1017/sus....

Report @futureearth.bsky.social 10insightsclimate.science

10 New Insights in Climate Science

Essential research findings to support decision-making in a critical decade.

10insightsclimate.science

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Reading Meteorology @unirdg-met.bsky.social · Jan 7

The @uniofreading.bsky.social has been a leading advocate for #climate education to better prepare young people for changing careers & society, as explained by our head of school Andrew Charlton-Perez OBE in this @uk.theconversation.com article:
theconversation.com/climate-educ...

Climate education proposals will prepare young people in England for changing careers and society

Ensuring that all young people develop strong climate and nature literacy will be essential for both personal resilience and national prosperity.

theconversation.com

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Jan 6

The #uksnow has even reached RG1 (5/10)!

Looking out from University of Reading London Road campus

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Keep Caversham Tidy @cavershamtidy.bsky.social · Jan 3

Our 1st pick of 2026 began at -2C & ended with 19 small/7 large bags of litter including bonus help from the @henleystandard.bsky.social!

Join us this year for a new outdoors, sociable & free activity: www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/KCT

Keep Caversham Tidy volunteers stand gormlessly by their collected haul of litter

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · Jan 2

NEW – Analysis: UK renewables enjoy record year in 2025 – but gas power still rises

✍️ by @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org and Ho Woo Nam

Read here ➡️ buff.ly/YTa31NF

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Dec 19

Jump in SSTs 2023-24 from dual tropical Pacific warming centres & eastward-extended North Atlantic jet stream, boosted by a large global energy imbalance driven by rising grenhouse gases & falling aerosol that was exacerbated by preceding extended La Niña heat sequestration: doi.org/10.1038/s432...

Fig. 6 of Jiang et al. (2025) Nature Communications - The relationship between the interannual changes in Ocean Heat Content and the top of atmosphere energy budget.

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Dec 18

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social 18th Dec 2025:
🌧️ #floods & landslides in Bolivia, Morocco, Palestine, Malaysia & Vietnam
⛈️ storms hit Brazil & USA
🔥 #wildfire affects Chile
🏭 #smog over Bosnia & Herzegovina, N India
❄️ heavy #snow covers W Canada
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...

Tree downed by cyclonic winds crushes car in São Paulo, Brazil on December 11, 2025. Credit: Agencia Brasil

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Ken Rice @kenrice.bsky.social · Dec 18

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Massive disruption’: UK’s worst-case climate crisis scenarios revealed by scientists

Scientists say government must prepare for unlikely but ‘plausible’ 4C rise in temperature and a 2-metre rise in sea levels

www.theguardian.com

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Dec 17

Fascinating to see the stark contrasts in space and time over our small but diverse country! Climate whiplash literature will certainly be assessed in the current @ipcc.bsky.social cycle

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Dec 16

Latest @ukceh.bsky.social UK hydrological summary for November 2025 - very wet with shift from #drought to #flood concerns and consistent with an expected more variable and extreme water cycle in a warming #climate:
nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/sites/defaul...

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Dec 16

Emerging cold-fresh/warm-salty dipoles in the N Atlantic during 2014 with implications for ocean circulation - more analysis with my Dad in @tandfresearch.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1080/0705...

Animation of OSCAR estimated ocean currents just for fun ⬇️

Reposted by Richard P. Allan

Keep Caversham Tidy @cavershamtidy.bsky.social · Dec 13

We gathered for a festive feed to celebrate our 39 picks by 75 volunteers working a gruelling 942 volunteer-hours to collect 563 small bags + 375 big bags of litter from across Caversham in 2025. As usual Ken wins🥇for the most picks (35)! Thanks to @dofe.org volunteers for their help #litterpickers

Keep Caversham Tidy volunteers gather for a festive feed

Richard Allan @rpallanuk.bsky.social · Dec 12

Global #climate hazards @ukhsa.bsky.social 12th December 2025:
🌧️ #flooding & landslides across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Iraq, DR Congo, USA & Brazil
🔥 #wildfire in Australia
⛈️ winter storm hits Palestine
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~sgs02rpa/ex...