AAP FACTCHECK – A wave of social media posts falsely claim a supposed HAARP research facility in Wales influenced the UK’s deadly Storm Bert.
The storm was a natural weather event, and there is no High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Wales.
There is a HAARP research facility in Alaska that uses high-frequency radio waves to study the atmosphere, but experts say it’s incapable of influencing weather systems.
Storm Bert battered the UK on the weekend and earlier this week with strong winds, heavy rainfall and snow, killing at least five people and causing widespread floods.
The false claim about the storm being influenced by a HAARP facility appears in a Facebook post featuring screenshots of a Google Maps location labelled “H.A.A.R.P Welsh Facility”.
“Storm Bert has been engineered – stay safe Wales,” the caption said.
The same post also featured a TikTok video that pans across a field of antennae as an off-screen voice said: “This is the UK’s HAARP facility in Capel Dewi, Aberystwyth, Wales.”
An Instagram post shared the same video – first posted on YouTube in 2014 – with the caption: “H.A.A.R.P. – Full Version – U Facility Report – 22/23 June 2014 – Capel Dewi, Wales, UK.”
Another Facebook post featuring screenshots of future radar projections on the AccuWeather app mentioned the floods and an alleged Welsh HAARP facility.
“I’m very suspicious of so much these days, I know there’s a HAARP facility in Aberystwyth,” the caption said.
However, the location of the alleged HAARP facility near Aberystwyth on Google Maps matches the coordinates of the National Environmental Research Council’s (NERC) former Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) Radar Facility at Capel Dewi.
That facility permanently ceased operations on April 2, 2024.
The National Centre for Atmospheric Science said when operational, the MST facility measured wind profiles and other atmospheric characteristics, such as turbulence, for use by researchers and European forecasters in weather prediction.
The “H.A.A.R.P Welsh Facility” label on Google Maps is not an official designation – it was added by users.
The only existing HAARP facility in the world is located at Gakona, Alaska, according to its operator, the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked claims about the Alaskan HAARP facility influencing weather.
Experts have said the facility’s energy output was negligible compared to the natural forces that drive severe weather events.
Storm Bert developed as a deep low-pressure system bringing heavy rainfall and strong winds to the UK’s south and west, the Met Office said.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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