With storm Ciara, the exceptional Jet Stream also brought an exceptional record: a Boeing 747-400 from Bristish Airways broke the record for the New York (United States) -London (United Kingdom) journey. The airliner took 4:56 hours to connect the two cities against around 6 hours in normal times.
Jet streams that are at high altitudes, very powerful at the moment are at the origin of this record. These currents are vents which are blowing from west to east which are quite powerful at the moment due to the storm Ciara which crossed the Atlantic.
These jets currents are permanent winds, and the strongest in the troposphere. Roughly horizontal, they can exceed 360 kilometers per hour which helps planes in the direction of crossing the Atlantic. This is why your flight to New York generally takes an hour longer to go there than to return.
The record winds set a new record for a New York to London flight that took 4 hours 56 minutes with a Boeing 747-400, explains the Air plus news site.
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