We show that the winter time series of the Ras Umm Sidd coral oxygen isotop
e record from the northern Red Sea (approximately 28 degreesN) is linked to
the Arctic Oscillation phenomenon, the Northern Hemisphere's dominant mode
of atmospheric variability. Until now, the detection of this mode, which i
s most prominent in winter, in proxy climate records was difficult due to t
he lack of a clear seasonality in most paleoclimatic archives. The results
suggest that northern Red Sea corals can provide information about the low-
frequency variability of the Northern Hemisphere winter circulation during
the pre-instrumental period.