It could be the end of preparing for a balmy European summer only to be met with rain and freezing temperatures. After years of mystery surrounding the Gulf Stream, researchers have finally worked out how it affects European weather. The key, they say, is a corridor of warm air that rises up from the Gulf Stream into the atmosphere.

Shoshiro Minobe of Hokkaido University in Japan describes the North Atlantic warm current – which is famous for bringing tropical waters to European shores – as a poorly understood "black box".

"It is widely accepted that its heat transport is important for the climate, especially for warm climate in Europe," he explains. "However, it is not known how the Gulf Stream actually influences the atmosphere."

Minobe and colleagues now say they have identified the key influence – a corridor of warm air that rises from the Gulf Stream up to 11 kilometres above the ocean's surface.

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