<p>The anthropogenic changes in the thermal and zonal flow structure over Eastern Atlantic and Western Europe have been investigated using an ensemble of CMIP3 and CMIP5 models. The ensemble mean change in the zonal wind at 500 hPa over eastern Atlantic and Western Europe (EAWE) is characterized by an eastward extension of the belt of zonal winds. Due to the thermal wind relation this is connected to changes in the tropospheric temperature profile characterized by a warming in the subtropical upper troposphere and a relative surface cooling in the mid-latitudes. The subtropical upper tropospheric warming is related to the downward branch of the mean meridional circulation, whereas the mid-latitude lower tropospheric relative cooling is caused by ocean processes that cool the surface. Differences in the simulated change of the zonal wind over the eastern Atlantic and Western Europe by the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models can to a large extend be related to differences in the upper tropospheric subtropical warming and the mid-latitude lower tropospheric relative cooling. Because of the large control of sea surface temperatures (SST) on the tropospheric temperature profile, the simulated change of the zonal wind over the EAWE region by the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models can also to a large extend be related to the meridional SST gradient.</p>