Have flights got more turbulent recently?

[CRJ77]

I'd really appreciate some perspective on this, particularly from people who fly between New York and London on a regular basis.

A few years ago, I had a really bad flight from NY to London - bad turbulence, pretty much all the way - and since then I've been much more anxious about turbulence. So I find it very hard to judge whether I experience it more or whether there's just more of it. Before this flight (which was in summer 2022) I had literally never noticed it much at all, now there seems to be some that bothers me a lot every flight.

Is it me or the planes?! Thanks.

There is more turbulence quite simply due to climate change. And it's apparently going to get worse

www.bbc.com/future/article/20240524-severe-turbulence-climate-change-singapore-airlines

Hmm… may be more UK holidays for me in the future then!

With the worse weather, and more air traffic turbulence is increasing and will continue to do. In not many years you will not experience a flight without turbulence.

Is there more air traffic though? I thought there was less since Covid because so many routes had been cancelled.

I knew about the climate change thing but have also seen pilots denying that is true (not climate change itself! But that there is a significant effect on levels of turbulence)

Why does "more air traffic" cause more turbulence?

Allen carr in his book to get rid of your fear of flying likened an airplane in turbulence ti a car driving over cobblestones. That has helped me enormously.

I think, from what I have read, that too much traffic means planes can’t manoeuvre as freely to avoid troublesome spots as before?

Private jets, flying at different altitude, presumably not so affected by traffic?

Planes have always used defined air corridors, and been required to maintain vertical and lateral seperation, so I still don't understand why more air traffic means more turbulence. (Not saying it doesn't, just saying I don't understand it. Add it to the list!)

Most likely a mixture of air turbulence increasing (see link to paper below) and you being much more aware of any turbulence after a bad experience (frequency bias).

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL103814

It's not more turbulence as such, it's more planes encountering turbulence.
Though there is a school of thought that climate change is increasing air turbulence across the globe.

I haven't noticed it getting worse but I only fly about once a year.