Scientists at Reading University in the UK who studied clear-air turbulence says flight turbulence had increased and will continue as climate change affects the planet.

They say this is difficult for pilots to avoid.

The researchers found that severe turbulence had increased by 55% between 1979 and 2020 on a typically busy North Atlantic route.

Additionally, they put the increase down to changes in wind speed at high altitudes due to warmer air from carbon emissions.

According to the research, flight routes in the USA and North Atlantic saw the largest increases in turbulence.

Meanwhile, Europe, the Middle East, and the South Atlantic also saw significant increases in turbulence.

Professor Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading who co-authored the study said the increased turbulence was due to greater wind shear – or differences in wind speed – in the jet stream, a strong wind system blowing from west to east, about five to seven miles above the Earth’s surface.

He said it exists largely due to a difference in temperature between the world’s equator and poles.