meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

, haar or sea fret is a cold sea fog. It occurs most often on the east coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

between April and September, when warm air passes over the cold

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. The term is also known as ''harr'', ''hare'', ''harl'', ''har'' and ''hoar''.

Causes

Haar is typically formed over the sea and is blown to the land by the wind. This commonly occurs when warmer moist air moves over the relatively cooler North Sea causing the moisture in the air to condense, forming haar. Sea breezes and easterly winds then bring the haar into the east coast of Scotland and North-East England where it can continue for several miles inland. This can be common in the UK summer when heating of the land creates a sea breeze, bringing haar in from the sea and as a result can significantly reduce temperatures compared to those just a few miles inland.

Nomenclature

The term ''haar'' is used along certain lands bordering the

, primarily eastern

and the north-east of England. Variants of the term in Scots and northern English include ''har'', ''hare'', ''harl'', ''harr'' and ''hoar''. In

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

it is commonly referred to as a ''sea roke''. Its origin is related to

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

, referring to a biting cold wind,Michiel de Vaan (2014–2018), Addenda EWN: haren or Frisian , meaning 'damp'. It has also been suggested to be a borrowing of the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

work , meaning 'hoar, hoary'.

References

{{climate-stub Environment of Scotland Fog Scottish coast Climate of Scotland North Sea Scots language Scottish words and phrases