Cold war nuclear bomb tests changed rainfall patterns over the UK

nuclear explosion

The MIKE shot in the Pacific was the first thermonuclear test, in November 1952

Everett Collection Historical/Alamy

Electric charge released by radiation from cold war nuclear bomb tests may have changed rainfall patterns thousands of kilometres away, in the UK.

Rain is formed in warm clouds when small droplets of condensation collide and merge to form larger and larger droplets, until these fall down as rain drops. Electric charge in the atmosphere, including that formed during the radioactive decay of strontium-90 and other radioactive material used in nuclear weapons, can increase the likelihood that these small droplets will collide …

source: newscientist.com