Why Royal Navy aircraft left blue-and-white paint

Why did the Royal Navy retire the blue-top and white-underside aircraft paint scheme before the Sea Harrier era?

Cold War operating environments changed, making a scheme suited to blue Atlantic sea and sky less useful around northern waters and Norway.

The earlier blue-and-white scheme suited operations where aircraft were viewed against open Atlantic sea below and sky above. Cold War emphasis shifted toward the North Atlantic and Norwegian approaches, where different weather, light, and backgrounds made the older camouflage logic less compelling.