Atmospheric circulation and surface temperature in Europe from the 18th century to 1995

The relationship between surface atmospheric circulation and temperature in Europe from the 1770s to 1995 is examined using correlation analysis. The atmospheric circulation is represented by six indices: the three leading pr incipal components (PCs) of an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of 20 European pressure series from 1822 to 1995, which represent the cent ral tendency of European pressure (EOF 1), a zonal circulation pattern (EOF 2) and a meridional pattern (EOF 3), a North Atlantic zonal index construc ted from Gibraltar and Reykjavik pressure series for 1821-1995; a Western E uropean zonal index constructed from Madrid, Barcelona, Lund and Trondheim for 1786-1995; and an index constructed from Paris and London, 1774-1995. E ight long temperature series from northwestern and central Europe were corr elated with these circulation indices. European temperatures in general had the highest correlations with the zonal circulation indices in winter, wit h almost 70% of the variability in the temperature records explained by var iations in the zonal index. The correlation coefficients between PC 3 (repr esenting meridional circulation) and temperatures were highest in spring an d autumn, particularly for Scandinavia. Running correlation series calculat ed over 25-year windows reveal significant non-stationarities in the relati onship between surface temperature and atmospheric circulation on decadal t ime scales, suggesting caution must be used in extrapolating current relati onships between circulation and temperature for future climate predictions based on downscaling or past palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Copyright (C) 2001 Royal Meteorological Society.