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Currently there is a snow storm coming from Europe over the UK. This is drastically dropping the temperature and making it snow lots.

Is the snow coming from moisture that has been brought over from Europe (as part of the storm), or is it coming from moisture that was already in the atmosphere above the UK?

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    $\begingroup$ Hi Richard, I took the liberty of editing your question title to better reflect what you're asking in the text. If you don't feel it's an improvement you can revert the edit. $\endgroup$
    – Pont
    Mar 2, 2018 at 7:21
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    $\begingroup$ @RichardParnaby-King - You need to do a moisture flux. Part of it may come from local sources part of it from remote sources $\endgroup$
    – user1066
    Mar 2, 2018 at 7:45
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    $\begingroup$ sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674927816300648 $\endgroup$
    – user1066
    Mar 2, 2018 at 7:52
  • $\begingroup$ @Imtherealsanic The question itself hasn't changed: I only edited the title to make it a fuller summary of the question body. That said, your answer doesn't really seem to address the question, which is specifically about the current weather system over the UK. $\endgroup$
    – Pont
    Mar 2, 2018 at 13:55
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    $\begingroup$ @Imtherealsanic the "downvote" is a serious tool to have in one's hands. You are just using it as a tool to downvote anyone for silly reasons. $\endgroup$
    – user1066
    Mar 4, 2018 at 0:58

1 Answer 1

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It comes from nearby bodies of water, such as the ocean.

Precipitation of any kind (in this case snow) comes from water that is evaporated from bodies of water like lakes or oceans nearby due to heat (usually not far from where it's going to precipitate). The evaporation forms clouds, which move a certain distance (depending on the cloud, cloud type, and atmosphere temperature and/or conditions) across the globe. Eventually, the vapor in the clouds condenses into rain after cooling enough to do so; thus, creating precipitation.

water cycle

Even though only half of the water cycle is explained in my first paragraph, the other half is not needed to answer the question. If you wish to learn more about the water cycle, please visit this link.

So to answer your question, a little bit of precipitation is from the atmosphere, but most of it is from water that has been evaporated from bodies of water nearby. And in the scenario you've mentioned, the moisture most likely came from the Atlantic Ocean.

So the real answer is kinda both :/

The moisture comes from nearby water bodies, and then it's transported to where it's going to precipitate. It is local and transported moisture.

Sources:

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