Worrying days ahead for meteorologists at the Met Office and around the world should the situation at the Japanese nuclear power stations deteriorate to the point a serious explosion occurs and nuclear material is sent into the high upper atmosphere and into the winds that circle the earth.
There are computer models available to Met Office scientists that can model where any dangerous radiation would drift in the strong winds high above the earth. At this time I must stress there is absolutely no risk to the Yorkshire area but the UK is ready to track any potential risk accurately. Do you remember back last year when we had the volcanic ash cloud episode from Iceland? The ash cloud was modelled across the UK and Europe by one of the Met Office super computers. A similar model would be used to forecast the projection of any potential ‘radiation cloud’ should the situation become worse in Japan and there is a serious leak into the high atmosphere above the Fukushima plant. Then if necessary warnings be given to the relevant populations around the world. Let’s hope they are never needed.
