Using a coupled chemistry-climate model, we simulated the structural modulation of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) caused by the change in ultraviolet radiation (UV) associated with the 11-year solar cycle. In an enhanced UV run, the SAM signal in late winter extended to the upper stratosphere and persisted until the following autumn. In a reduced UV run, the signal was mostly confined to the troposphere and disappeared very quickly during the following summer. This greater persistence in an enhanced UV run is connected to the formation of an ozone anomaly in the polar lower stratosphere, produced by the modulation of the Brewer-Dobson circulation in late winter.