Articles | Volume 6, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-43-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-43-2025
Review article
 | 
09 Jan 2025
Review article |  | 09 Jan 2025

Western disturbances and climate variability: a review of recent developments

Kieran M. R. Hunt, Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Andrew G. Turner, A. P. Dimri, Ghulam Jeelani, Pooja, Rajib Chattopadhyay, Forest Cannon, T. Arulalan, M. S. Shekhar, T. P. Sabin, and Eliza Palazzi

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Western disturbances (WDs) are storms that predominantly affect north India and Pakistan during the winter months, where they play an important role in regional water security, but can also bring a range of natural hazards. In this review, we summarise recent literature across a range of topics: their structure and lifecycle, precipitation and impacts, interactions with large-scale weather patterns, representation in models, how well they are forecast, and their response to changes in climate.