Can someone explain this to me.

news.independent.co.uk...
This article states how Livingstone predicts an extreamly cold winter ahead, but the thing I never heard before is this:

When pressure is low over Iceland and high over the Azores, westerly winds sweep across the Atlantic and give Britain a warm and wet winter. But if Iceland's pressure rises and that of the Azores dips, we catch cold air from the Continent.

Pressure? I know how the NAO and the gulf stream work, but i've never heard about atmosphic pressure affecting the winds.
Also, does the NAO affect this pressure?

Cheers.

please, come on anybody.

Low pressure zones rotate counterclockwise. High pressure zones rotate clockwise. The low over Iceland pulls the warm winds toward Britain, a high pressure will pull cold air down from the north. That's the best I can do.

Pressure? I know how the NAO and the gulf stream work, but i've never heard about atmosphic pressure affecting the winds.

Dude, think about it...

If I had two rooms with a tunnel in between them, with a door in the middle.

Now, one room has high pressure air and the other has low pressure air.

If I open the door in the tunnel, the high pressure air is going to rush into the lower pressure area.

What do you think that means? The corridor will be windy......

I will try and explain this in english lol. The greater the pressure differential in a given distance the greater the winds. You are basically squeezing air between the pressure points. Its like having a sprayer on a garden hose instead of having the end wide open. What happens if you turn the water on full blast and just hold the hose? Water streams out 5 or 6 feet. Now put your thumb on the end and cover half the opening. The water starts the spray. You are now trying to force the same amount of water through a smaller opening. The water has to move through quicker to allow the flow to continue.

Its the same type of thing that allows the Santa Ana winds to work and how downtown metro areas get really windy when the wind is squeezed between the buildings.

This is about the easiest way I can explain it. The greater the pressure difference the stronger the winds. It doesn't have to be just the NAO. Watch the next time a strong winter storm moves through. Check the pressure in the low and then compare it to the high pressure that moves in behind. The low might be 29.20" and the high 30.75". Thats a significant difference and the closer the low is to the high the stronger the winds will be wrapping around the back side of that low.

Here is a visual....
www.comet.ucar.edu...

Check that link. That is a map of the infamous Storm of the Century. See all those green lines? Those represent lines of equal pressure. There are alot of lines between that low on the coast which is as deep as a hurricane and that significant high over North Dakota. The clockwise circulation of that high combined with the counterclockwise circulation of that massive low is squeezing alot of air between those points. Result... superstorm.

Clear as mud?

Thanks for explaining.