Planes flying across the North Atlantic could soon face much bumpier rides if the climate continues to change, new UK research suggests.
The results of the Reading University study, published in Nature Climate Change, indicate that by 2050 passengers will be thrown around more often, and with more force.
The research, conducted alongside Manoj Joshi from the University of East Anglia, focused on the North Atlantic corridor - which hosts more than 600 flights between Europe and the Americas daily.
A "supercomputer" was used to simulate likely changes to air currents above 10km in altitude, comparing an unchanged, "pre-industrial" climate with one that contained double the carbon dioxide - which could happen in 40 years if the current climate change trends continue.
The simulation suggested that the average strength of turbulence could go up by between 10 per cent and 40 per cent by mid-century, and affect double the airspace.