Question: How far in the future can you predict a natural disaster ?

Angus Ferraro answered on 19 Jun 2013:

Thanks for the question! It depends on the disaster. Things like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are really hard to predict. Sometimes we might be able to detect rumblings and shiftings in the Earth days or sometimes weeks before eruptions and earthquakes, but sometimes they happen completely out of the blue and no one can prepare.

Some disasters like floods can be predicted in a different way. We can use simulations of the atmosphere to work out what the weather will be over the next few days. The Met Office issues flood warnings for areas that they think will get loads of rain.