Did YOUR cup of tea taste different this morning? Unusual impact of Storm ... trends now
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If you thought there was something a little odd about your cup of tea after you boiled the kettle this morning, then Storm Ciaran might be behind it.
The exceptionally low pressure that the 100mph system brought to southern England and Wales today has reduced the boiling point of water by about 2C.
This reduction from 100C to 98C means your kettle would have boiled slightly quicker - although this also may have changed the normal taste of your hot drink.
The unusual impact of the storm comes because the boiling point of a liquid is reached when the vapour pressure of the liquid matches the air pressure.
That means that a reduction in air pressure results in a lowering of the boiling point - and it also works the other way, with the boiling point rising as air pressure goes up.
Storm Ciaran became a 'weather bomb' overnight - a term describing a low pressure system whose central pressure falls by at least 24 millibars (mb) in 24 hours.
The phrase, which is also known as a 'bombogenesis' or 'explosive cyclogenesis', was attributed to Ciaran after it fell more than 30mb in the required time period.
Met Office senior operational meteorologist Marco Petagna tweeted this morning: 'One benefit of the very low pressure across the UK today…
'Your kettle should boil
