What would happen if Earth began rotating in the opposite direction?
Prevailing winds would switch direction, with profound consequences on the climate – especially in the midlatitudes. Earth’s rotation has a significant effect on weather patterns because it results in the Coriolis force. Wind flows from high pressure to low pressure, but the Coriolis force deflects this wind to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This is why wind flow around low and highpressure systems circulates in opposing directions in each hemisphere. If Earth began rotating in the opposite direction, the Coriolis force would deflect the wind the other way around.
The jet stream, which helps develop and steer low pressure from the North Atlantic to northern Europe, would change direction. Northern Europe’s prevailing winds would become easterly. The UK would have a more continental climate, similar to Newfoundland, which is at the same latitude. With less of an Atlantic influence, it would be drier and sunnier. Summers would be pleasant; winters would be brutal, with average temperatures below -10
degrees Celsius.