Spain and Portugal are suffering their driest climate for at least 1,200 years, according to research.
The Iberian Peninsula gets most of its rain in winter as wet, low-pressure systems blow in from the Atlantic. The Azores high, is a high-pressure system off the coast, that can block this wet weather.
Researchers found winters with "extremely large" Azores highs has drastically increased, going from one winter in ten before 1850 to one in four after 1980.
"The number of extremely large Azores highs in the last 100 years is really unprecedented when you look at the previous 1,000 years."
- Dr. Caroline Ummenhofer, part of the research team at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Scientists say the increase in frequent large Azores highs, is due to climate change, caused by carbon emissions from human activity.
These changes will push the wet weather northward, increasing the likelihood of downpours in the northern UK and Scandinavia.
