Tracking westerly wind directions over Europe since the middle Holocene

The variability of the northern westerlies has been considered as one of the key elements for modern and past climate evolution. Their multiscale behavior and underlying control mechanisms, however, are incompletely understood, owing to the complex dynamics of Atlantic sea-level pressures. Here, we present a multi-annually resolved record of the westerly drift over the past 6,500 years from northern Italy. In combination with more than 20 other westerly-sensitive records, our results depict the non-stationary westerly-affected regions over mainland Europe on multi-decadal to multi-centennial time scales, showing that the direction of the westerlies has changed with respect to the migrations of the North Atlantic centers of action since the middle Holocene. Our findings suggest the crucial role of the migrations of the North Atlantic dipole in modulating the westerly-affected domain over Europe, possibly modulated by Atlantic Ocean variability.

Automated summary

The variability of the northern westerlies has significant impacts on modern and past climate evolution. However, the multi-scale behavior and underlying control mechanisms of these westerlies are not fully understood due to the complex dynamics of Atlantic sea-level pressures. By studying the multi-annually resolved record of westerly drift over the past 6,500 years from northern Italy, combined with other westerly-sensitive records, it is found that the regions affected by the westerlies in mainland Europe are non-stationary on multi-decadal to multi-centennial time scales, and the direction of the westerlies has changed in relation to the migrations of the North Atlantic centers of action since the middle Holocene. The findings suggest that the migrations of the North Atlantic dipole play a crucial role in modulating the westerly-affected domain over Europe, possibly influenced by Atlantic Ocean variability.