The extreme heatwave that has hit continental Europe in July is one of the main factors causing colder and stormier conditions in the UK and Ireland, according to the Met Office.
The heatwave named Cerberus, after the many headed beast that guards the gates of Hell in ancient mythology, has been triggered by a southern shift of the jet stream that has pushed high pressure across Europe. As a result, low pressure systems have been pushed over the UK and Ireland.
No sooner had the heat abated than another high came along, this one called Charon.
Again knowledge of Greek mythology was needed to identify the meaning. Charon was the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld.
He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and the dead.
They are pretty macabre names for some pretty devastating heat events!
