BY PAUL SIMONS
“NE’ER cast a clout till May be out” goes the old saying, meaning: “May can be surprisingly nippy, so don’t take off your woolly clothes until the end of the month”.
The strange thing is that the daylight hours in May are long and the sun climbs high in the sky, so you might imagine it should feel like summer. But the seas around the UK are still very cold, northerly winds can whistle down from the Arctic, and at night the land rapidly loses heat under cloudless skies and lets frost take hold.
Perhaps the best region in the UK to enjoy May weather is the West Coast of Scotland. There this is the driest and sunniest month on average, with the bonus that the midge season has not begun yet.
The westerly airflows that sweep off the Atlantic and often drench this region tend to be slack in May; instead, the region is sheltered by the Highlands from cold easterlies blowing off the Continent. The air also tends to be very dry, although that carries the threat of wildfires; last week fire took hold in the Loch Ard Forest in the Trossachs.
Last May was even more spectacular: western Scotland was roasted in a heatwave with temperatures soaring to 22C (72F) in Glasgow, leaving many Mediterranean holiday resorts in the shade.
Link to Weather Eye source
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BY PAUL SIMONS
ON THIS day in 1965 Britain took an early step towards going metric. Long before we joined the Common Market, and under pressure from British industry, the president of the Board of Trade, Douglas Jay, told Parliament that we should adopt the metric system. But 40 years later we are still in a mess, juggling metric and imperial units in shopping, sport, weather forecasts and almost everything else in daily life.
In fact, the first proposal to make Britain metric was advanced by a select committee in 1862. But Britain was suspicious of metrication — it was, after all, born out of the French Revolution.
Temperature scales, though, were different because fahrenheit and celsius were invented long before the metric system. Daniel Fahrenheit — who was born on this day in 1686 — developed his temperature scale in 1709 and based it on the temperature of a healthy man, a reading recognised today as 98.6 degrees. He then made 180 degrees between the freezing and boiling points of waters. But when the simpler 100-degree scale of Anders Celsius was invented in 1742, it rapidly gained popularity throughout Europe.
Fahrenheit still clings on in Britain, however, even though converting between the two temperature scales is clumsy and makes our weather page more complicated.
Link to Weather Eye source
ON THIS day in 1965 Britain took an early step towards going metric. Long before we joined the Common Market, and under pressure from British industry, the president of the Board of Trade, Douglas Jay, told Parliament that we should adopt the metric system. But 40 years later we are still in a mess, juggling metric and imperial units in shopping, sport, weather forecasts and almost everything else in daily life.
In fact, the first proposal to make Britain metric was advanced by a select committee in 1862. But Britain was suspicious of metrication — it was, after all, born out of the French Revolution.
Temperature scales, though, were different because fahrenheit and celsius were invented long before the metric system. Daniel Fahrenheit — who was born on this day in 1686 — developed his temperature scale in 1709 and based it on the temperature of a healthy man, a reading recognised today as 98.6 degrees. He then made 180 degrees between the freezing and boiling points of waters. But when the simpler 100-degree scale of Anders Celsius was invented in 1742, it rapidly gained popularity throughout Europe.
Fahrenheit still clings on in Britain, however, even though converting between the two temperature scales is clumsy and makes our weather page more complicated.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
YOU may be fortunate over the next several weeks to see something quite magical after sunset — threads of glowing silvery-blue clouds stretched across the night sky.
These are rare “night-shining” or noctilucent clouds. They are the highest clouds in the world, about 80km (50 miles) high in the layer of atmosphere called the mesosphere. This is the coldest place on Earth, where temperatures can plunge to minus 130C (-200F), and where it is about a million times drier than the Sahara.
So how do noctilucent clouds form in such a dry environment? The tiny amount of water vapour that is floating about in the mesosphere is turned into ice crystals by the incredible cold.
The ice crystals also need to form around specks of dust, which might come from the smoke particles left by meteors (shooting stars) burning up in the mesosphere.
Strangely, the first sightings of noctilucent clouds were made only in the 1880s, and largely occurred in polar regions. But in the past 20 years they have become more frequent, spread further from the poles and turned noticeably brighter. These may be telltale signs of global warming, because, paradoxically, the mesosphere is turning colder as the lower atmosphere heats up.
The best time to see noctilucent clouds is after the Sun has dipped well below the horizon; they are seen mostly in the northern sky and in very clear conditions.
Link to Weather Eye source
YOU may be fortunate over the next several weeks to see something quite magical after sunset — threads of glowing silvery-blue clouds stretched across the night sky.
These are rare “night-shining” or noctilucent clouds. They are the highest clouds in the world, about 80km (50 miles) high in the layer of atmosphere called the mesosphere. This is the coldest place on Earth, where temperatures can plunge to minus 130C (-200F), and where it is about a million times drier than the Sahara.
So how do noctilucent clouds form in such a dry environment? The tiny amount of water vapour that is floating about in the mesosphere is turned into ice crystals by the incredible cold.
The ice crystals also need to form around specks of dust, which might come from the smoke particles left by meteors (shooting stars) burning up in the mesosphere.
Strangely, the first sightings of noctilucent clouds were made only in the 1880s, and largely occurred in polar regions. But in the past 20 years they have become more frequent, spread further from the poles and turned noticeably brighter. These may be telltale signs of global warming, because, paradoxically, the mesosphere is turning colder as the lower atmosphere heats up.
The best time to see noctilucent clouds is after the Sun has dipped well below the horizon; they are seen mostly in the northern sky and in very clear conditions.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THE monsoon has arrived in the Andaman Islands of the Indian Ocean, slightly later than normal, and is due to hit India early next month.
The Indian monsoon is the largest and most regular weather system in the world, and its driving force was figured out more than 300 years ago by Edmund Halley, best known for his comet studies.
In 1676, when Halley was 20 years old, he quit Oxford University for a voyage to the South Atlantic to study the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. During the voyage Halley wondered why the strong trade winds of the tropics seemed to die away around the Equator, a region that sailors called the doldrums.
Halley realised that the Sun heated the Earth’s surface more at the Equator, making warm air rise and creating the doldrum’s slack winds. Eventually that air from the Equator fell to Earth far away and returned as the trade winds.
The Sun also heats the Indian subcontinent in summer, making hot air rise up over the land. But the surrounding sea takes much longer to heat up, and its cooler, moister air is sucked inland as a monsoon wind that sets off huge rainfalls.
A small-scale version of that wind also happens at the seaside. As the coast heats up during the day it sucks in cool air off the sea and creates a refreshing sea breeze.
Link to Weather Eye source
THE monsoon has arrived in the Andaman Islands of the Indian Ocean, slightly later than normal, and is due to hit India early next month.
The Indian monsoon is the largest and most regular weather system in the world, and its driving force was figured out more than 300 years ago by Edmund Halley, best known for his comet studies.
In 1676, when Halley was 20 years old, he quit Oxford University for a voyage to the South Atlantic to study the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. During the voyage Halley wondered why the strong trade winds of the tropics seemed to die away around the Equator, a region that sailors called the doldrums.
Halley realised that the Sun heated the Earth’s surface more at the Equator, making warm air rise and creating the doldrum’s slack winds. Eventually that air from the Equator fell to Earth far away and returned as the trade winds.
The Sun also heats the Indian subcontinent in summer, making hot air rise up over the land. But the surrounding sea takes much longer to heat up, and its cooler, moister air is sucked inland as a monsoon wind that sets off huge rainfalls.
A small-scale version of that wind also happens at the seaside. As the coast heats up during the day it sucks in cool air off the sea and creates a refreshing sea breeze.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
BRITAIN is one of the windiest places on Earth. In a global survey of wind speeds, some of the highest average wind speeds, over 33kph (21mph), were found in parts of north and west Scotland, northwest and southwest England. These areas are regularly battered by depressions sweeping off the Atlantic and have enormous potential for generating electricity by wind power.
Researchers at Stanford University took data from around the world and calculated average wind speeds at 80m (262ft) above the ground, the height needed for wind turbines to work.
They found that there are enough windy places to make five times the entire world energy needs from wind power alone. Of course, it would be uneconomic or highly contentious to site wind turbines at every suitable location, especially in areas of natural beauty. Nonetheless, the potential for wind power remains enormous.
Apart from the UK, the world’s other windiest regions are sited along the European coast of the North Sea, the southern tip of South America and Tasmania. But the strongest winds of all are found in North America, around the Great Lakes and along the coastlines of the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The US has the windiest location at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, which also holds the world record for the highest wind speed: 372kph (231mph) logged during a storm on April 13, 1934.
Link to Weather Eye source
BRITAIN is one of the windiest places on Earth. In a global survey of wind speeds, some of the highest average wind speeds, over 33kph (21mph), were found in parts of north and west Scotland, northwest and southwest England. These areas are regularly battered by depressions sweeping off the Atlantic and have enormous potential for generating electricity by wind power.
Researchers at Stanford University took data from around the world and calculated average wind speeds at 80m (262ft) above the ground, the height needed for wind turbines to work.
They found that there are enough windy places to make five times the entire world energy needs from wind power alone. Of course, it would be uneconomic or highly contentious to site wind turbines at every suitable location, especially in areas of natural beauty. Nonetheless, the potential for wind power remains enormous.
Apart from the UK, the world’s other windiest regions are sited along the European coast of the North Sea, the southern tip of South America and Tasmania. But the strongest winds of all are found in North America, around the Great Lakes and along the coastlines of the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The US has the windiest location at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, which also holds the world record for the highest wind speed: 372kph (231mph) logged during a storm on April 13, 1934.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
ON THIS date 30 years ago, the weather delivered a shock — it snowed across a large part of Scotland and England.
Conditions had been miserably cold through much of May 1975, and when June arrived a northerly blast of Arctic air brought a biting frost across Scotland. Early on June 2 the thermometer at Gleneagles, Perthshire, sank to –3.3C (26F) — a temperature more likely in the depths of winter than early summer. The cold air swept into England and snow fell as far south as East Anglia and London, with sleet reaching Portsmouth.
Although the snow quickly melted in the South, it settled on the ground further north.
Famously, snow stopped play at a county cricket match between Derbyshire and Lancashire in Buxton, where snow reached an inch deep. It did not help Derbyshire — after the snow thawed they suffered one of their biggest defeats.
Snow also delayed play between Essex and Kent at Colchester, accompanied by midday temperatures of 2C (36F), and John Arlott reported snow at a cricket match at Lord’s.
The cold snap lasted a while, with snow lying on the ground for four days in parts of Scotland. But on June 6 the British weather lived up to its fickle reputation, when a heatwave sent temperatures soaring in northeast Scotland to 25C (77F).
A gloriously hot summer across Britain followed.
Link to Weather Eye source
ON THIS date 30 years ago, the weather delivered a shock — it snowed across a large part of Scotland and England.
Conditions had been miserably cold through much of May 1975, and when June arrived a northerly blast of Arctic air brought a biting frost across Scotland. Early on June 2 the thermometer at Gleneagles, Perthshire, sank to –3.3C (26F) — a temperature more likely in the depths of winter than early summer. The cold air swept into England and snow fell as far south as East Anglia and London, with sleet reaching Portsmouth.
Although the snow quickly melted in the South, it settled on the ground further north.
Famously, snow stopped play at a county cricket match between Derbyshire and Lancashire in Buxton, where snow reached an inch deep. It did not help Derbyshire — after the snow thawed they suffered one of their biggest defeats.
Snow also delayed play between Essex and Kent at Colchester, accompanied by midday temperatures of 2C (36F), and John Arlott reported snow at a cricket match at Lord’s.
The cold snap lasted a while, with snow lying on the ground for four days in parts of Scotland. But on June 6 the British weather lived up to its fickle reputation, when a heatwave sent temperatures soaring in northeast Scotland to 25C (77F).
A gloriously hot summer across Britain followed.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
JUNE has got off to a rather soggy start for much of the country, which may be no bad thing, as the old folklore saying goes: “June damp and warm/ Does the farmer no harm”.
The outlook is for more wet weather, at least in the next week or so, which will be welcome for both farmers and gardeners in southern Britain. May was yet another relatively dry month in southern England, where many areas have had a run of seven months of below-average rainfall.
However, the threat of drought eased slightly for much of East Anglia after a full month’s rains, while flooding posed more of a threat in northwest England and most of Scotland, where May, like the rest of spring, were thoroughly wet.
Most long-range forecasts for the next few weeks predict a further divide in rainfall across the country — the North West takes the brunt of showers while the South has more sporadic outbursts of wet weather.
The good news is that it should be relatively warm, with temperatures slightly above average and a hint of heatwaves towards the end of June and early July, with the South East basking in the highest temperatures.
One clear picture emerging is that the Mediterranean is growing much warmer than normal, pointing to another very hot summer there.
Link to Weather Eye source
JUNE has got off to a rather soggy start for much of the country, which may be no bad thing, as the old folklore saying goes: “June damp and warm/ Does the farmer no harm”.
The outlook is for more wet weather, at least in the next week or so, which will be welcome for both farmers and gardeners in southern Britain. May was yet another relatively dry month in southern England, where many areas have had a run of seven months of below-average rainfall.
However, the threat of drought eased slightly for much of East Anglia after a full month’s rains, while flooding posed more of a threat in northwest England and most of Scotland, where May, like the rest of spring, were thoroughly wet.
Most long-range forecasts for the next few weeks predict a further divide in rainfall across the country — the North West takes the brunt of showers while the South has more sporadic outbursts of wet weather.
The good news is that it should be relatively warm, with temperatures slightly above average and a hint of heatwaves towards the end of June and early July, with the South East basking in the highest temperatures.
One clear picture emerging is that the Mediterranean is growing much warmer than normal, pointing to another very hot summer there.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
CONDITIONS for the Epsom Derby today promise to be mild and fine, but the race has had some extraordinary weather over its long history.
The race was run in a snowstorm in 1839 and flurries of sleet and snow returned in 1867. Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor to the race, and in 1863 described torrential rain turning Epsom into a sea of mud.
But Derby Day in 1911 was truly terrifying. The day had been very hot and muggy before a ferocious thunderstorm broke out in the late afternoon as racegoers were leaving the course. Cascades of rain and hail crashed down as the sky erupted with a barrage of lightning and ear-splitting thunder. One of the racecourse marquees was hit by lightning, felling eight people inside; outside, a group of twelve trying to shelter by a wall were thrown to the ground and two killed when they were struck by another bolt of lightning. In one bizarre incident, a ball of fire was seen inside a horse-drawn carriage just before the passengers were hurled out, leaving one person dead.
Thunderstorms raged all across London and the suburbs for much of the evening, causing landslides on railways and flooding streets; 15 people were killed and dozens injured, many of them sheltering under trees. It was one of the worst thunderstorms known in London and the Home Counties.
Link to Weather Eye source
CONDITIONS for the Epsom Derby today promise to be mild and fine, but the race has had some extraordinary weather over its long history.
The race was run in a snowstorm in 1839 and flurries of sleet and snow returned in 1867. Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor to the race, and in 1863 described torrential rain turning Epsom into a sea of mud.
But Derby Day in 1911 was truly terrifying. The day had been very hot and muggy before a ferocious thunderstorm broke out in the late afternoon as racegoers were leaving the course. Cascades of rain and hail crashed down as the sky erupted with a barrage of lightning and ear-splitting thunder. One of the racecourse marquees was hit by lightning, felling eight people inside; outside, a group of twelve trying to shelter by a wall were thrown to the ground and two killed when they were struck by another bolt of lightning. In one bizarre incident, a ball of fire was seen inside a horse-drawn carriage just before the passengers were hurled out, leaving one person dead.
Thunderstorms raged all across London and the suburbs for much of the evening, causing landslides on railways and flooding streets; 15 people were killed and dozens injured, many of them sheltering under trees. It was one of the worst thunderstorms known in London and the Home Counties.
Link to Weather Eye source
That is an amazing snippet of info Highcliffe.
Yes Steve it is very interesting, it's good that the Times have an article like this which is interesting to read 
Yes indeed, I shall be paying closer attention to weather eye in the future
BY PAUL SIMONS
A WEIRD event happened during a village cricket match at Davington near Faversham, Kent, on May 22. It was a warm, sunny afternoon — indeed, Gravesend nearby recorded 18C (64F), the highest UK temperature of the day.
But at about 6.30pm, the players were astonished when a huge piece of ice suddenly fell from the sky on to the pitch. The Davington cricket club member and groundsman Graham Owen said that the ice exploded on the ground.
“There was an enormous ‘whoosh’, like a slushy snowball had exploded, and then slush just spread across the ground about 10ft square,” he said. “We looked around in amazement but couldn’t see any aircraft or anything else it could have come from.”
No one was hurt by the impact, although it missed the umpire by only about 10ft, and the shattered remains of the ice quickly melted away.
The falling object was no hailstone because it was far too large and there were no thunderclouds in the sky. It could have been explained by a leaking pipe or a build-up of ice on an aircraft, had any been seen at the time.
Several similar strange incidents of falling ice plagued Italy and Spain a few years ago, when balls of ice weighing up to 750g (1lb 10oz) fell out of the sky. Analysis of these missiles ruled out aircraft, hailstones or even comets, and their origin still remains a mystery.
Link to Weather Eye source
A WEIRD event happened during a village cricket match at Davington near Faversham, Kent, on May 22. It was a warm, sunny afternoon — indeed, Gravesend nearby recorded 18C (64F), the highest UK temperature of the day.
But at about 6.30pm, the players were astonished when a huge piece of ice suddenly fell from the sky on to the pitch. The Davington cricket club member and groundsman Graham Owen said that the ice exploded on the ground.
“There was an enormous ‘whoosh’, like a slushy snowball had exploded, and then slush just spread across the ground about 10ft square,” he said. “We looked around in amazement but couldn’t see any aircraft or anything else it could have come from.”
No one was hurt by the impact, although it missed the umpire by only about 10ft, and the shattered remains of the ice quickly melted away.
The falling object was no hailstone because it was far too large and there were no thunderclouds in the sky. It could have been explained by a leaking pipe or a build-up of ice on an aircraft, had any been seen at the time.
Several similar strange incidents of falling ice plagued Italy and Spain a few years ago, when balls of ice weighing up to 750g (1lb 10oz) fell out of the sky. Analysis of these missiles ruled out aircraft, hailstones or even comets, and their origin still remains a mystery.
Link to Weather Eye source
It's off the exhaust systems on UFOs...Asgard scoutships I'd imagine?
BY PAUL SIMONS
THERE has been a big change in the weather. After several weeks of unsettled, often wet and windy, conditions, a block of high pressure has anchored itself directly over the UK and brought tranquillity, at least for the next few days.
In fact, the anticyclone this week is remarkably regular. Around June 5 each year, high pressure often arrives in the UK, but quite why this weather pattern is so regular is difficult to say. Perhaps it is connected in some way to the Indian monsoon, an exquisitely timed event that usually arrives at the southern tip of southern India this week.
However, there is a tinge of disappointment with the arrival of the anticyclone. You might imagine that high pressure in June would bring glorious sunshine and warm weather. But this particular anticyclone has trapped a sizeable amount of moisture and produced a thick blanket of dreary low-level cloud. As the airflow in an anticyclone is fairly stagnant, we can expect the cloud to hang around for some time. However, as the weather system shifts position, sunshine will break through, especially in the south of the country, and temperatures will rise.
There is a danger, though, that if the anticyclone shifts too far towards Ireland it will allow a northerly air flow to be dragged down the east side of the UK, bringing cooler temperatures.
Link to Weather Eye source
THERE has been a big change in the weather. After several weeks of unsettled, often wet and windy, conditions, a block of high pressure has anchored itself directly over the UK and brought tranquillity, at least for the next few days.
In fact, the anticyclone this week is remarkably regular. Around June 5 each year, high pressure often arrives in the UK, but quite why this weather pattern is so regular is difficult to say. Perhaps it is connected in some way to the Indian monsoon, an exquisitely timed event that usually arrives at the southern tip of southern India this week.
However, there is a tinge of disappointment with the arrival of the anticyclone. You might imagine that high pressure in June would bring glorious sunshine and warm weather. But this particular anticyclone has trapped a sizeable amount of moisture and produced a thick blanket of dreary low-level cloud. As the airflow in an anticyclone is fairly stagnant, we can expect the cloud to hang around for some time. However, as the weather system shifts position, sunshine will break through, especially in the south of the country, and temperatures will rise.
There is a danger, though, that if the anticyclone shifts too far towards Ireland it will allow a northerly air flow to be dragged down the east side of the UK, bringing cooler temperatures.
Link to Weather Eye source
Nicely explained away there Pete. 
BY PAUL SIMONS
GARDENERS had a rude shock on Monday night when frosts appeared in many places across the UK. A northerly air flow, light winds and clear skies produced a chilly night and the frost: Benson, near Oxford, recorded -0.3C (31.5F), its coldest June temperature since 1962.
However, this was far from being the UK’s coldest temperature in June. On June 9, 1955, a record low of -5.6C (21.9F) was logged at Dalwhinnie, Scottish Highlands, in what was a thoroughly chilly, cloudy month.
The record low June temperature was equalled twice more, on June 1 and 3, 1962, at Santon Downham, Norfolk. That first week of June had some very sharp frosts in many places, but the weather perked up and a week later a small heatwave was under way.
It is easy to forget that June often springs some surprisingly cool spells. Only four years ago, in 2001, June began on a frosty note: Redhill Airfield recorded -1.8C on the 9th, and snow fell on the mountains of Scotland as Arctic air swept south.
Places such as Benson, Santon Downham and Redhill Airfield are particularly prone to frost because they lie in sheltered ground where pools of cold air collect on calm, clear nights. These are known as frost hollows, and can be so cold that they can set back the plant-growing season by many weeks.
Link to Weather Eye source
GARDENERS had a rude shock on Monday night when frosts appeared in many places across the UK. A northerly air flow, light winds and clear skies produced a chilly night and the frost: Benson, near Oxford, recorded -0.3C (31.5F), its coldest June temperature since 1962.
However, this was far from being the UK’s coldest temperature in June. On June 9, 1955, a record low of -5.6C (21.9F) was logged at Dalwhinnie, Scottish Highlands, in what was a thoroughly chilly, cloudy month.
The record low June temperature was equalled twice more, on June 1 and 3, 1962, at Santon Downham, Norfolk. That first week of June had some very sharp frosts in many places, but the weather perked up and a week later a small heatwave was under way.
It is easy to forget that June often springs some surprisingly cool spells. Only four years ago, in 2001, June began on a frosty note: Redhill Airfield recorded -1.8C on the 9th, and snow fell on the mountains of Scotland as Arctic air swept south.
Places such as Benson, Santon Downham and Redhill Airfield are particularly prone to frost because they lie in sheltered ground where pools of cold air collect on calm, clear nights. These are known as frost hollows, and can be so cold that they can set back the plant-growing season by many weeks.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
SOMETHING quite dramatic happened over Britain this week. The sea-level pressure rose to 1039mb on Wednesday, a very high reading, although not the highest — the UK record for June is 1043mb, in 1959. The high reading came from a strong anticyclone over Britain, which gave glorious sunshine in clear blue skies.
However, high pressure is causing nervousness in southern England. After the exceptionally dry winter and spring, reservoirs in this region are uncomfortably low, and groundwater levels in some areas are at their lowest June level since 1976. The problem now is that any rains will not soak deep enough into the ground to fill the aquifers. Heavy summer rains tend to wash straight off the ground, with the danger of flashfloods, such as the Boscastle disaster last August.
Another concern is that a dry ground helps to heat the air above and encourage heatwaves. The record temperatures of August 2003 came from hot air drifting over from Europe and being re-heated on the very dry ground on this side of the Channel.
With France, Spain and Portugal now growing hot and very dry, a long spell of anticyclones this summer could set off another heatwave.
Link to Weather Eye source
SOMETHING quite dramatic happened over Britain this week. The sea-level pressure rose to 1039mb on Wednesday, a very high reading, although not the highest — the UK record for June is 1043mb, in 1959. The high reading came from a strong anticyclone over Britain, which gave glorious sunshine in clear blue skies.
However, high pressure is causing nervousness in southern England. After the exceptionally dry winter and spring, reservoirs in this region are uncomfortably low, and groundwater levels in some areas are at their lowest June level since 1976. The problem now is that any rains will not soak deep enough into the ground to fill the aquifers. Heavy summer rains tend to wash straight off the ground, with the danger of flashfloods, such as the Boscastle disaster last August.
Another concern is that a dry ground helps to heat the air above and encourage heatwaves. The record temperatures of August 2003 came from hot air drifting over from Europe and being re-heated on the very dry ground on this side of the Channel.
With France, Spain and Portugal now growing hot and very dry, a long spell of anticyclones this summer could set off another heatwave.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
SKIERS might be interested in a trip to the Alps this weekend after some unusual recent snowfalls.
Nearly 40cm (16in) fell over parts of the Austrian and German Alps last week, leaving motorists stranded on blocked roads before snowploughs could reach them. A fresh snowfall on Germany’s high point, Zugspitze, raised the snow pack to 310cm (122in); some high-altitude ski resorts, especially on glaciers, are open and enjoying the snowfalls.
The cold winds that brought snow to the mountains were felt also in the lowlands, with temperatures in Vienna plummeting to a chilly 7C (44F). In fact, the cold blast sent shivers across much of Eastern Europe. In Croatia, a few inches of snow fell on the southern mountain of Biokovo, where temperatures fell to -3C (27F), and fresh snow blanketed the mountains of southern Serbia.
Even Italy caught the rough weather. Heavy rain and strong winds flooded some of Rome’s streets, uprooting trees and forcing several roads to be closed.
This wintry outbreak was linked to our fine weather last week. A stubborn block of high pressure bathed the UK in glorious sunshine, but a few miles high in the sky, the jet stream wind was forced around the anti-cyclone like a river flowing around a boulder. After passing the UK, it plunged south over the eastern Mediterranean, opening the way for bitterly cold air to flood down from the north.
Link to Weather Eye source
SKIERS might be interested in a trip to the Alps this weekend after some unusual recent snowfalls.
Nearly 40cm (16in) fell over parts of the Austrian and German Alps last week, leaving motorists stranded on blocked roads before snowploughs could reach them. A fresh snowfall on Germany’s high point, Zugspitze, raised the snow pack to 310cm (122in); some high-altitude ski resorts, especially on glaciers, are open and enjoying the snowfalls.
The cold winds that brought snow to the mountains were felt also in the lowlands, with temperatures in Vienna plummeting to a chilly 7C (44F). In fact, the cold blast sent shivers across much of Eastern Europe. In Croatia, a few inches of snow fell on the southern mountain of Biokovo, where temperatures fell to -3C (27F), and fresh snow blanketed the mountains of southern Serbia.
Even Italy caught the rough weather. Heavy rain and strong winds flooded some of Rome’s streets, uprooting trees and forcing several roads to be closed.
This wintry outbreak was linked to our fine weather last week. A stubborn block of high pressure bathed the UK in glorious sunshine, but a few miles high in the sky, the jet stream wind was forced around the anti-cyclone like a river flowing around a boulder. After passing the UK, it plunged south over the eastern Mediterranean, opening the way for bitterly cold air to flood down from the north.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
A REMARKABLE eyewitness account of a whirlwind was posted on the website www.ukweatherworld.co.uk on Thursday.
“Quite suddenly the wind picked up . . . then a quite deafening roar/deep whistle was apparent,” wrote the respondent from the Brecon area in Wales. “The vortex stretched up about 30m (100ft) towards blue sky, and lifted up masses of dirt.”
This type of whirlwind is called, fittingly, a dust devil. Although they are common in hot deserts, dust devils can be seen also in Britain on a hot summer’s day. They are created by warm air rising from a hot ground — unlike tornados, which come down from clouds. As the warm air rushes upwards, it corkscrews into a vortex and, as this tightens, the whirling air spins faster, rather like the way ice-skaters pull their arms in next to their bodies to spin faster. A dust devil can reach wind speeds of 90mph — comparable to a fair-sized tornado — charging along the ground haphazardly, sucking up loose objects and sometimes causing considerable damage.
At Royal Ascot three years ago, a dust devil tore through the racecourse, throwing a gazebo, chairs, picnics and ladies’ hats some 100ft high into the air as people ran for cover. In 1999 a dust devil smashed through an antiques fair in Sussex. No one was injured, but many of the antiques were damaged.
Link to Weather Eye source
A REMARKABLE eyewitness account of a whirlwind was posted on the website www.ukweatherworld.co.uk on Thursday.
“Quite suddenly the wind picked up . . . then a quite deafening roar/deep whistle was apparent,” wrote the respondent from the Brecon area in Wales. “The vortex stretched up about 30m (100ft) towards blue sky, and lifted up masses of dirt.”
This type of whirlwind is called, fittingly, a dust devil. Although they are common in hot deserts, dust devils can be seen also in Britain on a hot summer’s day. They are created by warm air rising from a hot ground — unlike tornados, which come down from clouds. As the warm air rushes upwards, it corkscrews into a vortex and, as this tightens, the whirling air spins faster, rather like the way ice-skaters pull their arms in next to their bodies to spin faster. A dust devil can reach wind speeds of 90mph — comparable to a fair-sized tornado — charging along the ground haphazardly, sucking up loose objects and sometimes causing considerable damage.
At Royal Ascot three years ago, a dust devil tore through the racecourse, throwing a gazebo, chairs, picnics and ladies’ hats some 100ft high into the air as people ran for cover. In 1999 a dust devil smashed through an antiques fair in Sussex. No one was injured, but many of the antiques were damaged.
Link to Weather Eye source
And here's Uksys' account that Paul Simon looked at
http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/foru...=21608&posts=17
http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/foru...=21608&posts=17
BY PAUL SIMONS
TODAY is the start of the Royal Ascot meeting, to be held in York this year, and traditionally a day of warm weather and big hats. But 50 years ago the first day of Ascot, on July 14, 1955, was devastated by the weather.
For days beforehand the South East had sweltered in a heatwave, and several big thunderstorms broke out. The first day at Ascot was stiflingly hot and muggy before the sky turned menacing with ink-black clouds. Suddenly, the heavens opened and torrential rain sent the crowds running for cover. As the rain crashed down, a bolt of lightning shot over the grandstand and struck a metal fence close to a crowd packed inside a tea tent. The Times reported that people were knocked over and some were even lifted off their feet by the lightning strike.
Afterwards, the scene looked like a battlefield, with people unconscious on the ground and others wandering around dazed. “It was like being stabbed,” one man said; another felt a shock tear through his arm as he was thrown down.
Dozens of casualties were taken to the local hospital, which was rapidly overwhelmed. Two people died and forty-four suffered burns and shock. That same day, seven people were killed by lightning across England — it was one of the highest numbers of thunderstorm casualties recorded on a single day in the UK.
Link to Weather Eye source
TODAY is the start of the Royal Ascot meeting, to be held in York this year, and traditionally a day of warm weather and big hats. But 50 years ago the first day of Ascot, on July 14, 1955, was devastated by the weather.
For days beforehand the South East had sweltered in a heatwave, and several big thunderstorms broke out. The first day at Ascot was stiflingly hot and muggy before the sky turned menacing with ink-black clouds. Suddenly, the heavens opened and torrential rain sent the crowds running for cover. As the rain crashed down, a bolt of lightning shot over the grandstand and struck a metal fence close to a crowd packed inside a tea tent. The Times reported that people were knocked over and some were even lifted off their feet by the lightning strike.
Afterwards, the scene looked like a battlefield, with people unconscious on the ground and others wandering around dazed. “It was like being stabbed,” one man said; another felt a shock tear through his arm as he was thrown down.
Dozens of casualties were taken to the local hospital, which was rapidly overwhelmed. Two people died and forty-four suffered burns and shock. That same day, seven people were killed by lightning across England — it was one of the highest numbers of thunderstorm casualties recorded on a single day in the UK.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THE transfer of Royal Ascot to York has highlighted a striking North-South divide in Britain’s weather. While the South faces a drought this summer, the North has been soaked for many months. And June is following a similar pattern: Northeast England has had more than its average rainfall, while the South East continues to be drier than normal.
For race officials at York this is a nerve-racking time. Unlike the well-drained gravels at Ascot, the course at York sits on muddy silt and can change rapidly into a sticky mess if there is heavy rain. On the other hand, if the track turns too brown it may need to be watered — possibly compounding the effect of any downpour afterwards.
The first omens were not good, as a depression north of Scotland dragged rains across Yorkshire. After a brief respite, another depression is sweeping in today, this time from the south west. It promises to drench the whole country and the rain may arrive at York in time for the races.
But despite the risks of rain, when the sunshine does break through, the temperature at York will rise sharply. The racecourse lies in the Vale of York, which is particularly warm in the summer, and by the end of the week it should feel decidedly hot.
Link to Weather Eye source
THE transfer of Royal Ascot to York has highlighted a striking North-South divide in Britain’s weather. While the South faces a drought this summer, the North has been soaked for many months. And June is following a similar pattern: Northeast England has had more than its average rainfall, while the South East continues to be drier than normal.
For race officials at York this is a nerve-racking time. Unlike the well-drained gravels at Ascot, the course at York sits on muddy silt and can change rapidly into a sticky mess if there is heavy rain. On the other hand, if the track turns too brown it may need to be watered — possibly compounding the effect of any downpour afterwards.
The first omens were not good, as a depression north of Scotland dragged rains across Yorkshire. After a brief respite, another depression is sweeping in today, this time from the south west. It promises to drench the whole country and the rain may arrive at York in time for the races.
But despite the risks of rain, when the sunshine does break through, the temperature at York will rise sharply. The racecourse lies in the Vale of York, which is particularly warm in the summer, and by the end of the week it should feel decidedly hot.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
“A GREAT and terrible flood of water came with such vehemence that it drove to the ground eight houses”. This description of flash flooding in Helmsley, Yorkshire, came not from last Sunday’s disaster, but a similar incident there on October 20, 1754.
That flood demolished several houses and bridges, washed away cattle and killed 13 people. “James Holdforth, he and his whole family drowned, except his wife, who being sick in her bed, was carried down the stream half a mile, and at last washed off into a field, where she was found the next morning very little hurt,” ran another account of the event.
The Yorkshire hills have a long history of flash floods. On July 23, 1777, a thunderstorm at Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, sent raging waters down through the town, sweeping away bridges, mills and houses, and killing several people. Holmfirth was hit again on February 5, 1852, when, after a fortnight of heavy rain, the banks of a dam broke and water surged down, killing 81 people.
Some people have blamed the recent Helmsley floods on climate change, but these parts were disaster-struck long before global warming became an issue.
The high ground of Yorkshire encourages thunderstorms by giving an added lift to humid air, often leading to big rainfalls that drain into steep river valleys, turning rivers into dangerous torrents.
Link to Weather Eye source
“A GREAT and terrible flood of water came with such vehemence that it drove to the ground eight houses”. This description of flash flooding in Helmsley, Yorkshire, came not from last Sunday’s disaster, but a similar incident there on October 20, 1754.
That flood demolished several houses and bridges, washed away cattle and killed 13 people. “James Holdforth, he and his whole family drowned, except his wife, who being sick in her bed, was carried down the stream half a mile, and at last washed off into a field, where she was found the next morning very little hurt,” ran another account of the event.
The Yorkshire hills have a long history of flash floods. On July 23, 1777, a thunderstorm at Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, sent raging waters down through the town, sweeping away bridges, mills and houses, and killing several people. Holmfirth was hit again on February 5, 1852, when, after a fortnight of heavy rain, the banks of a dam broke and water surged down, killing 81 people.
Some people have blamed the recent Helmsley floods on climate change, but these parts were disaster-struck long before global warming became an issue.
The high ground of Yorkshire encourages thunderstorms by giving an added lift to humid air, often leading to big rainfalls that drain into steep river valleys, turning rivers into dangerous torrents.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
WITH so much mayhem from yesterday’s weather it might be hard to imagine any good things to say about lightning and thunderstorms. But, surprisingly, they are crucial for the wellbeing of the planet.
The Earth is like a battery with two terminals — its surface and the ionosphere about 80km (50 miles) up, with a voltage of around 300,000 volts between them. Thunderstorms drive electrical current upwards and charge the lower reaches of the ionosphere.
That charge then spreads around the globe in the ionosphere and eventually leaks back to the Earth’s surface where the weather is fair, helping to maintain the global electric circuit.
Lightning helps to fertilise soil. The air we breathe is mostly nitrogen gas, which plants cannot use. But the tremendous heat of lightning — it can reach 30,000C (54,000F), five times hotter than the surface of the Sun — breaks down the air and makes nitrogen oxides.
This natural fertiliser washes down with rain into the ground, and lightning is estimated to produce up to 15 million tonnes of the nitrogen fertiliser worldwide each year.
Lightning also sets fire to enormous swaths of forests and grassland each year, and even although this appears to be disastrous, the fires turn vegetation into mineral-rich ash which also fertilises the soil.
In dense forests the fires also open up the ground for new vegetation to sprout up and regenerate the woodland.
Link to Weather Eye source
WITH so much mayhem from yesterday’s weather it might be hard to imagine any good things to say about lightning and thunderstorms. But, surprisingly, they are crucial for the wellbeing of the planet.
The Earth is like a battery with two terminals — its surface and the ionosphere about 80km (50 miles) up, with a voltage of around 300,000 volts between them. Thunderstorms drive electrical current upwards and charge the lower reaches of the ionosphere.
That charge then spreads around the globe in the ionosphere and eventually leaks back to the Earth’s surface where the weather is fair, helping to maintain the global electric circuit.
Lightning helps to fertilise soil. The air we breathe is mostly nitrogen gas, which plants cannot use. But the tremendous heat of lightning — it can reach 30,000C (54,000F), five times hotter than the surface of the Sun — breaks down the air and makes nitrogen oxides.
This natural fertiliser washes down with rain into the ground, and lightning is estimated to produce up to 15 million tonnes of the nitrogen fertiliser worldwide each year.
Lightning also sets fire to enormous swaths of forests and grassland each year, and even although this appears to be disastrous, the fires turn vegetation into mineral-rich ash which also fertilises the soil.
In dense forests the fires also open up the ground for new vegetation to sprout up and regenerate the woodland.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
WHAT would June be like without a mudbath at the Glastonbury Festival and a washout at Wimbledon?
Friday’s downpours were nothing new. Ever since Marc Bolan arrived in a velvet-covered Mini at the first Glastonbury shindig in 1970, rain has been a frequent visitor there, with spectacular downpours in 1982, 1985, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. However, Southwest England averages 12 wet days in June, so the chances of escaping with a dry run are pretty slim.
The same is true of Wimbledon, although Southeast England averages just 11 days of rain in June. A whole day’s play has been washed out 30 times since Wimbledon moved to its present site in 1922. Or, put more bleakly, a completely dry championship happens only about once every twenty years.
We can expect more violent downpours as our climate grows warmer, but then heavy summer rains are not a new phenomenon.
As the medieval historian Matthew of Paris wrote in 1248 of medieval fairs: “For owing to the changeable gusts of wind assailing them, as is usual at that time of the year, they were cold and wet, and also suffered from hunger and thirst; their feet were soiled by the mud, and their goods rotted by the showers of rain.”
Link to Weather Eye source
WHAT would June be like without a mudbath at the Glastonbury Festival and a washout at Wimbledon?
Friday’s downpours were nothing new. Ever since Marc Bolan arrived in a velvet-covered Mini at the first Glastonbury shindig in 1970, rain has been a frequent visitor there, with spectacular downpours in 1982, 1985, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. However, Southwest England averages 12 wet days in June, so the chances of escaping with a dry run are pretty slim.
The same is true of Wimbledon, although Southeast England averages just 11 days of rain in June. A whole day’s play has been washed out 30 times since Wimbledon moved to its present site in 1922. Or, put more bleakly, a completely dry championship happens only about once every twenty years.
We can expect more violent downpours as our climate grows warmer, but then heavy summer rains are not a new phenomenon.
As the medieval historian Matthew of Paris wrote in 1248 of medieval fairs: “For owing to the changeable gusts of wind assailing them, as is usual at that time of the year, they were cold and wet, and also suffered from hunger and thirst; their feet were soiled by the mud, and their goods rotted by the showers of rain.”
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
GHOSTLY silver-blue clouds have been appearing in the twilight sky over many parts of Britain this past fortnight or so.
These are noctilucent, or night-shining clouds, and are the highest clouds in the sky, lying about 80km (50 miles) high in the cold, dry air of the mesosphere where temperatures can plunge to –130C (-200F).
The clouds were reported first in 1885, two years after the eruption of Krakatoa, when dust from the volcano set off sensational sunsets around the world. Since then sightings have increased, especially since the 1960s. And whereas they used to be seen largely over the poles, now increasing numbers are being sighted further away, over the UK and beyond, and have brightened considerably over the past 20 years.
This sharply increased activity has led to nagging suspicions that climate change is to blame. As the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface has grown warmer, the mesosphere has turned colder, and intensely cold temperatures are needed to form noctilucent clouds. Also, methane may help to form these clouds, and levels of methane pollution have been rising from farming, rubbish tips, vehicles and much else. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, so it is helping to raise world temperatures.
In fact, the exquisite sight of noctilucent clouds over the night skies of Britain may be giving us a very visible warning sign of global warming in action.
Link to Weather Eye source
GHOSTLY silver-blue clouds have been appearing in the twilight sky over many parts of Britain this past fortnight or so.
These are noctilucent, or night-shining clouds, and are the highest clouds in the sky, lying about 80km (50 miles) high in the cold, dry air of the mesosphere where temperatures can plunge to –130C (-200F).
The clouds were reported first in 1885, two years after the eruption of Krakatoa, when dust from the volcano set off sensational sunsets around the world. Since then sightings have increased, especially since the 1960s. And whereas they used to be seen largely over the poles, now increasing numbers are being sighted further away, over the UK and beyond, and have brightened considerably over the past 20 years.
This sharply increased activity has led to nagging suspicions that climate change is to blame. As the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface has grown warmer, the mesosphere has turned colder, and intensely cold temperatures are needed to form noctilucent clouds. Also, methane may help to form these clouds, and levels of methane pollution have been rising from farming, rubbish tips, vehicles and much else. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, so it is helping to raise world temperatures.
In fact, the exquisite sight of noctilucent clouds over the night skies of Britain may be giving us a very visible warning sign of global warming in action.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
IF YOU suffer from astraphobia, fear of lightning, then the Hebrides are probably the best place to be in Britain in the summer — you stand a greater chance of winning the lottery than being hit by lightning there. The islands average only about 0.001 lightning strikes per square kilometre, the lowest summer lightning activity in Britain. This is because the islands rarely get warm enough to kick off cumulonimbus clouds, and they are usually too remote to import thunderstorms from the mainland.
The worst region for lightning in the summer is East Anglia, where the hot ground stokes up thunderstorms or imports them from Europe over the Channel. The lightning capital of Britain is just outside Thetford, Norfolk, scoring an impressive 1,903 strikes on average each summer.
In winter the pattern of thunderstorms is almost a mirror image of the summer, although less frequent. The greatest activity is in western Scotland and northwest Ireland, where warm, unstable air sweeping off the Atlantic can be lifted up over the ground and trigger thunderstorms. The warm sea of the Channel also sets off storms along the South Coast.
Across the whole year, thunderstorm numbers are greatest in the East and South East and least in the North and North West. Thunder occurs in London and Birmingham about 15 days a year, whereas Glasgow averages about 8 days.
Link to Weather Eye source
IF YOU suffer from astraphobia, fear of lightning, then the Hebrides are probably the best place to be in Britain in the summer — you stand a greater chance of winning the lottery than being hit by lightning there. The islands average only about 0.001 lightning strikes per square kilometre, the lowest summer lightning activity in Britain. This is because the islands rarely get warm enough to kick off cumulonimbus clouds, and they are usually too remote to import thunderstorms from the mainland.
The worst region for lightning in the summer is East Anglia, where the hot ground stokes up thunderstorms or imports them from Europe over the Channel. The lightning capital of Britain is just outside Thetford, Norfolk, scoring an impressive 1,903 strikes on average each summer.
In winter the pattern of thunderstorms is almost a mirror image of the summer, although less frequent. The greatest activity is in western Scotland and northwest Ireland, where warm, unstable air sweeping off the Atlantic can be lifted up over the ground and trigger thunderstorms. The warm sea of the Channel also sets off storms along the South Coast.
Across the whole year, thunderstorm numbers are greatest in the East and South East and least in the North and North West. Thunder occurs in London and Birmingham about 15 days a year, whereas Glasgow averages about 8 days.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
SOUTHEAST England was dry every month from November to early September, rivers ran almost dry and the summer turned extremely hot.
That may sound like a long-range forecast for this year, but it was a description of the weather leading up to the Great Fire of London in 1666 — a reminder that droughts and heatwaves in Britain are nothing new.
Samuel Pepys noted a drought as early as March 18, 1666: “So walked to Westminster, very fine fair dry weather, but all cry out for lack of rain.” The summer grew increasingly hot and even several thunderstorms seemed to have little effect on cooling temperatures. “It proved the hottest night that ever I was in in my life, and thundered and lightened all night long and rained hard,” wrote Pepys on July 7.
Even Scotland was baked dry that summer, while in Oxford the rivers ran almost dry, “to the great impoverishment of boatmen”. John Evelyn recorded in his diary how the drought helped to lead to the final calamity: “This season, after so long and extraordinarie a drowth in August and September, as if preparatory for the dreadfull fire.”
The drought left London’s timber buildings tinder dry, and when fire broke out in Pudding Lane on September 2, it was whipped up on hot, dry easterly winds, eventually burning down about 13,200 houses; about four fifths of the city.
Link to Weather Eye source
SOUTHEAST England was dry every month from November to early September, rivers ran almost dry and the summer turned extremely hot.
That may sound like a long-range forecast for this year, but it was a description of the weather leading up to the Great Fire of London in 1666 — a reminder that droughts and heatwaves in Britain are nothing new.
Samuel Pepys noted a drought as early as March 18, 1666: “So walked to Westminster, very fine fair dry weather, but all cry out for lack of rain.” The summer grew increasingly hot and even several thunderstorms seemed to have little effect on cooling temperatures. “It proved the hottest night that ever I was in in my life, and thundered and lightened all night long and rained hard,” wrote Pepys on July 7.
Even Scotland was baked dry that summer, while in Oxford the rivers ran almost dry, “to the great impoverishment of boatmen”. John Evelyn recorded in his diary how the drought helped to lead to the final calamity: “This season, after so long and extraordinarie a drowth in August and September, as if preparatory for the dreadfull fire.”
The drought left London’s timber buildings tinder dry, and when fire broke out in Pudding Lane on September 2, it was whipped up on hot, dry easterly winds, eventually burning down about 13,200 houses; about four fifths of the city.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THE Loch Ness Discovery Centre, which opened in Edinburgh in April, helps to explain sightings of the world’s most famous monster, and among the various theories of floating logs and prehistoric animals, there are also some interesting weather possibilities.
The waters of the loch are so deep that they settle out into a warm layer near the surface and a colder layer deep below. Winds blowing over the loch can churn up the warmer layer so vigorously that they set off huge underwater waves up to about 40m (130ft) tall in the cold layer. These waves, in turn, can set off strange movements across the loch’s surface that might be mistaken for a large creature moving around, and perhaps even give misleading sonar readings in the waters below.
Another intriguing possibility is a type of whirlwind known as a water devil, a small column of air that whirls off warm waters on a hot day. From a distance a water devil can look uncannily like a monster’s neck and head poking up from the water and can buzz around topsy-turvy, darting in one direction then pausing before whizzing off in another. For added monster appeal, it can create a great commotion of water spray and even monster-like roaring or gurgling noises.
Of course, none of these theories rules out there being a real Loch Ness monster.
Link to Weather Eye source
THE Loch Ness Discovery Centre, which opened in Edinburgh in April, helps to explain sightings of the world’s most famous monster, and among the various theories of floating logs and prehistoric animals, there are also some interesting weather possibilities.
The waters of the loch are so deep that they settle out into a warm layer near the surface and a colder layer deep below. Winds blowing over the loch can churn up the warmer layer so vigorously that they set off huge underwater waves up to about 40m (130ft) tall in the cold layer. These waves, in turn, can set off strange movements across the loch’s surface that might be mistaken for a large creature moving around, and perhaps even give misleading sonar readings in the waters below.
Another intriguing possibility is a type of whirlwind known as a water devil, a small column of air that whirls off warm waters on a hot day. From a distance a water devil can look uncannily like a monster’s neck and head poking up from the water and can buzz around topsy-turvy, darting in one direction then pausing before whizzing off in another. For added monster appeal, it can create a great commotion of water spray and even monster-like roaring or gurgling noises.
Of course, none of these theories rules out there being a real Loch Ness monster.
Link to Weather Eye source
I always find it amazing, that for every phenomina, there usually a logical explanation
Quite an interesting article.
Quite an interesting article.
I like the last sentence... So that's all bases covered!
BY PAUL SIMONS
AFRICA may be about to enjoy a deluge of investment but that will not break the long drought that has afflicted much of the continent this year Millions are at risk from famine in the countries bordering the Sahara such as Mali, Mauritania and Chad, where drought has come on the heels of the plague of locusts last year. The rainy season stopped early in Niger, devastating crops and leading to the biggest shortfall in grain the country has faced for more than 20 years. At least three million people expected to suffer severe hunger over the next few months.
Drought is affecting areas of Ethiopia; parts of Kenya are struggling with a five-year drought that threatens to wipe out the grazing lands for most of the nation’s livestock. Crop failure from drought extends across swaths of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, leaving more than eight million people hungry.
Vast areas of Africa are now experiencing changing patterns of rainfall as the weather over the past 25 years has become more unpredictable and more extreme. Rainy seasons are coming at the wrong times, with insufficient rains or in such punishing downpours that they set off floods.
Climate change could be to blame for these extremes, and the future is expected to get only worse. In a continent where most farming relies on rainwater, the effects of global warming are disastrous.
Link to Weather Eye source
AFRICA may be about to enjoy a deluge of investment but that will not break the long drought that has afflicted much of the continent this year Millions are at risk from famine in the countries bordering the Sahara such as Mali, Mauritania and Chad, where drought has come on the heels of the plague of locusts last year. The rainy season stopped early in Niger, devastating crops and leading to the biggest shortfall in grain the country has faced for more than 20 years. At least three million people expected to suffer severe hunger over the next few months.
Drought is affecting areas of Ethiopia; parts of Kenya are struggling with a five-year drought that threatens to wipe out the grazing lands for most of the nation’s livestock. Crop failure from drought extends across swaths of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, leaving more than eight million people hungry.
Vast areas of Africa are now experiencing changing patterns of rainfall as the weather over the past 25 years has become more unpredictable and more extreme. Rainy seasons are coming at the wrong times, with insufficient rains or in such punishing downpours that they set off floods.
Climate change could be to blame for these extremes, and the future is expected to get only worse. In a continent where most farming relies on rainwater, the effects of global warming are disastrous.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
PRESIDENT HU of China is one of the leaders at the G8 summit in Scotland who does not need reminding of the problems caused by global warming and greenhouse gas pollution.
For the past 50 years choking sandstorms have enveloped Beijing each spring. The sand blows in from Mongolia’s expanding deserts, and the nearest sand dune is now less than 100 miles from Beijing. About 10,400sq km (4,000sq miles) of land turns to sand each year, and nearly a fifth of mainland China is now desert.
Man-made factors, such as overgrazing by animals, are involved, but northern China’s climate is also growing drier and warmer.
As it warms, the glaciers in the mountains of western China are melting. Almost all are expected to disappear by the end of the century, leaving rivers dry for much of the year and millions of people without a water supply.
While the north and west are turning more arid, China has had record floods in the south and east, and in the southeast rapid urbanisation in the past 25 years has added to rising temperatures.
At the same time, China’s contribution to global warming is increasing as its oil consumption booms and it pushes ahead with a huge programme of new coal-fired power stations — which are one of the worst sources of carbon dioxide.
Link to Weather Eye source
PRESIDENT HU of China is one of the leaders at the G8 summit in Scotland who does not need reminding of the problems caused by global warming and greenhouse gas pollution.
For the past 50 years choking sandstorms have enveloped Beijing each spring. The sand blows in from Mongolia’s expanding deserts, and the nearest sand dune is now less than 100 miles from Beijing. About 10,400sq km (4,000sq miles) of land turns to sand each year, and nearly a fifth of mainland China is now desert.
Man-made factors, such as overgrazing by animals, are involved, but northern China’s climate is also growing drier and warmer.
As it warms, the glaciers in the mountains of western China are melting. Almost all are expected to disappear by the end of the century, leaving rivers dry for much of the year and millions of people without a water supply.
While the north and west are turning more arid, China has had record floods in the south and east, and in the southeast rapid urbanisation in the past 25 years has added to rising temperatures.
At the same time, China’s contribution to global warming is increasing as its oil consumption booms and it pushes ahead with a huge programme of new coal-fired power stations — which are one of the worst sources of carbon dioxide.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
WHAT will the weather be like in the summer of 2012 for the London Olympics?
The Games are going to be held at the height of summer, from July 27 to August 12, but there is no guarantee of fine weather — far from it. This is one of the wettest periods of the year in the capital, averaging 58mm (2.3in) rainfall in July or August, and there is a chance of rain on six days over the Games. In fact, only November is a wetter month.
However, July has been becoming steadily drier over England and Wales over the past 200 years. In the 1990s rainfall in July was 40 per cent less than in the early 1800s, and the rain these days also tends to come in heavier downpours, often from thunderstorms.
But the Olympics will be held at the hottest time of the year when temperatures peak at about 34C (93F).
The warmth in the capital is boosted by the “heat island effect” of London’s urban landscape that raises temperatures in calm conditions by around 7C compared with the surrounding countryside. Winds at the height of summer tend to be gentle, at 15kmh (9mph).
By 2012, however, climate change could mean that our summers will be even hotter — and the Olympic athletes may have to endure a heatwave of 30C (86F) or even higher.
Link to Weather Eye source
WHAT will the weather be like in the summer of 2012 for the London Olympics?
The Games are going to be held at the height of summer, from July 27 to August 12, but there is no guarantee of fine weather — far from it. This is one of the wettest periods of the year in the capital, averaging 58mm (2.3in) rainfall in July or August, and there is a chance of rain on six days over the Games. In fact, only November is a wetter month.
However, July has been becoming steadily drier over England and Wales over the past 200 years. In the 1990s rainfall in July was 40 per cent less than in the early 1800s, and the rain these days also tends to come in heavier downpours, often from thunderstorms.
But the Olympics will be held at the hottest time of the year when temperatures peak at about 34C (93F).
The warmth in the capital is boosted by the “heat island effect” of London’s urban landscape that raises temperatures in calm conditions by around 7C compared with the surrounding countryside. Winds at the height of summer tend to be gentle, at 15kmh (9mph).
By 2012, however, climate change could mean that our summers will be even hotter — and the Olympic athletes may have to endure a heatwave of 30C (86F) or even higher.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
A HUNDRED years ago, strange lights appeared around Barmouth, West Wales.
For several months there were dozens of reports of lights rising from the ground, often hovering in the air. They ranged in shape from spheres to triangles. Three vicars saw a large ball of fire rise from the ground and suddenly burst. Another account described a white and red light dancing around a moving car.
A reporter from the Daily Mail started out a sceptic but then saw a ball of light hovering above the roof of a chapel. “It came from nowhere and sprang into existence instantaneously. It had a steady, yellow brilliance and did not move. It stood out with electric vividness,” he reported.
Not to be outdone, a correspondent from the Daily Mirror reported: “A soft shimmering radiance flooded the road at our feet. As I looked up, the light was even then fading.”
At the time, a divine explanation was sought for the sightings as a local religious revival was under way. More recently, geological faults in the area have been blamed. There was unusual seismic activity at the time, and only two years before a small earthquake had struck near by — so perhaps geological stresses had somehow created the phenomena.
The Barmouth lights disappeared in July 1905 and remain a mystery.
Link to Weather Eye source
A HUNDRED years ago, strange lights appeared around Barmouth, West Wales.
For several months there were dozens of reports of lights rising from the ground, often hovering in the air. They ranged in shape from spheres to triangles. Three vicars saw a large ball of fire rise from the ground and suddenly burst. Another account described a white and red light dancing around a moving car.
A reporter from the Daily Mail started out a sceptic but then saw a ball of light hovering above the roof of a chapel. “It came from nowhere and sprang into existence instantaneously. It had a steady, yellow brilliance and did not move. It stood out with electric vividness,” he reported.
Not to be outdone, a correspondent from the Daily Mirror reported: “A soft shimmering radiance flooded the road at our feet. As I looked up, the light was even then fading.”
At the time, a divine explanation was sought for the sightings as a local religious revival was under way. More recently, geological faults in the area have been blamed. There was unusual seismic activity at the time, and only two years before a small earthquake had struck near by — so perhaps geological stresses had somehow created the phenomena.
The Barmouth lights disappeared in July 1905 and remain a mystery.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THERE is some excellent and surprising news from the US. For the first time since official records began in 1950, there were no deaths caused by tornados from April to June, the peak season. On average there are 52 deaths from tornados each year.
The powerful thunderstorms that spawn tornados made relatively few appearances over “Tornado Alley”, the main spawning ground of the storms, which stretches across the Great Plains from Texas to South Dakota.
However, unusual numbers of tornados did strike fur- ther north, along the Canadian border, and this is a clue to the reason for the low number of tornados this year.
The jet stream — a ribbon of wind several miles high — is important for helping to stoke up the supercell thunderstorms. In winter the jet stream blows through the south, then slowly migrates northwards in springtime, sweeping over Tornado Alley and setting off the massive storms and their tornados. But this spring the jet stream migrated north towards Canada much faster than normal, hardly lingering over the Great Plains. Indeed, Oklahoma, in the heart of Tornado Alley, had no tornados this May.
However, the hurricane season in the US is now under way, and these storms can also spawn tornados. Last year there were 300 tornados during the tropical storm season, and this year the number and intensity of hurricanes is expected to be just as severe.
Link to Weather Eye source
THERE is some excellent and surprising news from the US. For the first time since official records began in 1950, there were no deaths caused by tornados from April to June, the peak season. On average there are 52 deaths from tornados each year.
The powerful thunderstorms that spawn tornados made relatively few appearances over “Tornado Alley”, the main spawning ground of the storms, which stretches across the Great Plains from Texas to South Dakota.
However, unusual numbers of tornados did strike fur- ther north, along the Canadian border, and this is a clue to the reason for the low number of tornados this year.
The jet stream — a ribbon of wind several miles high — is important for helping to stoke up the supercell thunderstorms. In winter the jet stream blows through the south, then slowly migrates northwards in springtime, sweeping over Tornado Alley and setting off the massive storms and their tornados. But this spring the jet stream migrated north towards Canada much faster than normal, hardly lingering over the Great Plains. Indeed, Oklahoma, in the heart of Tornado Alley, had no tornados this May.
However, the hurricane season in the US is now under way, and these storms can also spawn tornados. Last year there were 300 tornados during the tropical storm season, and this year the number and intensity of hurricanes is expected to be just as severe.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THERE used to be something very special about thunderstorms in Alaska.
They were so rare that, on average, only one thunderstorm a year struck Anchorage, the largest city in the state. But for the past decade there has been a 60 per cent rise in the number of thunderstorms, and already this year seven thunderstorms have struck.
The upsurge in thunderstorms also means more lightning, and that is causing big problems — lightning strikes are sparking off record numbers of forest fires. On the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage, there have been 13 fires sparked by lightning this year — that compares with 12 lightning incidents over the past ten years. This summer more than 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of forest and scrubland fires have been set ablaze along the south-central coast of Alaska, and fire services have been so stretched that firefighters had to be drafted from outside the state to help.
To blame for the rise in thunderstorms is the increasingly warmer waters of the nearby sea and rising air temperatures across much of Alaska. Mean temperatures across the state have risen by almost 3C in summer and 4C in winter since the 1970s, one of the fastest temperature increases in the world. The driving force behind these rises is probably global warming.
Link to Weather Eye source
THERE used to be something very special about thunderstorms in Alaska.
They were so rare that, on average, only one thunderstorm a year struck Anchorage, the largest city in the state. But for the past decade there has been a 60 per cent rise in the number of thunderstorms, and already this year seven thunderstorms have struck.
The upsurge in thunderstorms also means more lightning, and that is causing big problems — lightning strikes are sparking off record numbers of forest fires. On the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage, there have been 13 fires sparked by lightning this year — that compares with 12 lightning incidents over the past ten years. This summer more than 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of forest and scrubland fires have been set ablaze along the south-central coast of Alaska, and fire services have been so stretched that firefighters had to be drafted from outside the state to help.
To blame for the rise in thunderstorms is the increasingly warmer waters of the nearby sea and rising air temperatures across much of Alaska. Mean temperatures across the state have risen by almost 3C in summer and 4C in winter since the 1970s, one of the fastest temperature increases in the world. The driving force behind these rises is probably global warming.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
WHEN Hurricane Dennis hit the US on Sunday it was far less damaging than had been predicted. Despite winds of about 190kmh (120mph), the centre of the storm was fairly small and fast-moving, limiting its damage, and as Dennis passed inland it weakened rapidly.
But it was a close run thing. The hurricane killed more than 60 people across Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica before racing across the Gulf of Mexico to the US. Early on Sunday, Dennis exploded into a category 4 storm with winds reaching 230kmh (145mph). As it neared the coast of Alabama, though, the storm hit seas that had been churned up by Tropical Storm Cindy only a few days before. That churning dragged cool water to the sea surface, choking off the warm water that Dennis needed for its energy, and so weakened its winds. Also, the hurricane swung away from the city of Mobile at the last minute and hit a relatively unpopulated area.
But this hurricane season is worryingly active. Dennis is the earliest-known category 4 hurricane and only the second major hurricane to strike America in July — the other one happened in 1916. Also, a record-breaking four “named” storms have hit this year and yet another, Tropical Storm Emily, is heading towards the Caribbean — and the peak of the hurricane season is still two months away.
Link to Weather Eye source
WHEN Hurricane Dennis hit the US on Sunday it was far less damaging than had been predicted. Despite winds of about 190kmh (120mph), the centre of the storm was fairly small and fast-moving, limiting its damage, and as Dennis passed inland it weakened rapidly.
But it was a close run thing. The hurricane killed more than 60 people across Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica before racing across the Gulf of Mexico to the US. Early on Sunday, Dennis exploded into a category 4 storm with winds reaching 230kmh (145mph). As it neared the coast of Alabama, though, the storm hit seas that had been churned up by Tropical Storm Cindy only a few days before. That churning dragged cool water to the sea surface, choking off the warm water that Dennis needed for its energy, and so weakened its winds. Also, the hurricane swung away from the city of Mobile at the last minute and hit a relatively unpopulated area.
But this hurricane season is worryingly active. Dennis is the earliest-known category 4 hurricane and only the second major hurricane to strike America in July — the other one happened in 1916. Also, a record-breaking four “named” storms have hit this year and yet another, Tropical Storm Emily, is heading towards the Caribbean — and the peak of the hurricane season is still two months away.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
COUNCIL road gritters in Cumbria and Co Durham have been sent out this week to stop roads melting in the hot weather. Bitumen road surfaces melt, rather like hot toffee, sticking to tyres and ruining roads. The gritters have sprayed roads with crushed rock dust to protect the surfaces.
Our increasingly severe heat waves are causing other engineering problems. Trains have to be slowed down as rails buckle — safety standards demand that train speeds must be cut between 36C-40C (97F-104F), depending on the normal speed limits of the track. When the temperature goes over 40C (104F), the speed restrictions are even more severe.
The building industry is concerned that most British houses were not designed for heat waves and many homes turn into ovens as indoor temperatures soar above 25C (77F), when people feel very uncomfortable.
The fear is that more people will turn to air conditioning for a quick fix, leading to soaring power demands during the summer that could exceed those of winter, as happens in Australia.
Air conditioning is inefficient, uses huge amounts of electricity and puts a strain on utilities. If that electricity is generated by fossil fuels, then the increased power demand will cause even more carbon dioxide to be pumped out. Carbon dioxide emissions from air conditioning have quadrupled in Britain over the past 20 years.
Link to Weather Eye source
COUNCIL road gritters in Cumbria and Co Durham have been sent out this week to stop roads melting in the hot weather. Bitumen road surfaces melt, rather like hot toffee, sticking to tyres and ruining roads. The gritters have sprayed roads with crushed rock dust to protect the surfaces.
Our increasingly severe heat waves are causing other engineering problems. Trains have to be slowed down as rails buckle — safety standards demand that train speeds must be cut between 36C-40C (97F-104F), depending on the normal speed limits of the track. When the temperature goes over 40C (104F), the speed restrictions are even more severe.
The building industry is concerned that most British houses were not designed for heat waves and many homes turn into ovens as indoor temperatures soar above 25C (77F), when people feel very uncomfortable.
The fear is that more people will turn to air conditioning for a quick fix, leading to soaring power demands during the summer that could exceed those of winter, as happens in Australia.
Air conditioning is inefficient, uses huge amounts of electricity and puts a strain on utilities. If that electricity is generated by fossil fuels, then the increased power demand will cause even more carbon dioxide to be pumped out. Carbon dioxide emissions from air conditioning have quadrupled in Britain over the past 20 years.
Link to Weather Eye source
I think Paul Simons is obsessed with global warming IMO 
BY PAUL SIMONS
THE Open Championship at St Andrews, Fife, had a surprise on Tuesday. Blazing sunshine sent temperatures soaring, with nearby Leuchars recording 29C (84F), the hottest place in the UK for the day.
But an even-bigger surprise came around 4pm, when the wind shifted and a thick fog rolled in off the sea, sending the thermometer plunging to 18C (64F) in only 20 minutes.
This time of year is notorious for coastal fogs in Britain. The surface of the sea is relatively cold, and warm air blowing across the sea can be cooled until its moisture condenses into droplets that we see as fog. If the wind is very light, a bank of fog can sit just offshore while beaches bask in sunshine — but a sea breeze will send the fog rolling into the coast.
In eastern Scotland this sort of sea fret which sweeps in from the North Sea is called a “haar”, and it was this that saved Mary, Queen of Scots when she arrived near Edinburgh on August 19, 1561. As her ship sailed in, a group of English ships, commanded by Mary’s half-brother, James Stewart, was lying in wait to seize her. But a haar set in at just the right time: “The fog settled for miles along the shoreline, heavy and impenetrable,” said one account. Mary ’s ship was unseen, and she landed unharmed.
Link to Weather Eye source
THE Open Championship at St Andrews, Fife, had a surprise on Tuesday. Blazing sunshine sent temperatures soaring, with nearby Leuchars recording 29C (84F), the hottest place in the UK for the day.
But an even-bigger surprise came around 4pm, when the wind shifted and a thick fog rolled in off the sea, sending the thermometer plunging to 18C (64F) in only 20 minutes.
This time of year is notorious for coastal fogs in Britain. The surface of the sea is relatively cold, and warm air blowing across the sea can be cooled until its moisture condenses into droplets that we see as fog. If the wind is very light, a bank of fog can sit just offshore while beaches bask in sunshine — but a sea breeze will send the fog rolling into the coast.
In eastern Scotland this sort of sea fret which sweeps in from the North Sea is called a “haar”, and it was this that saved Mary, Queen of Scots when she arrived near Edinburgh on August 19, 1561. As her ship sailed in, a group of English ships, commanded by Mary’s half-brother, James Stewart, was lying in wait to seize her. But a haar set in at just the right time: “The fog settled for miles along the shoreline, heavy and impenetrable,” said one account. Mary ’s ship was unseen, and she landed unharmed.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
WHEN people think of natural dangers, most often phenomena such as floods, storms and tornados come to mind. But one of the worst natural hazards in Britain is at the seaside: rip currents.
These are strong currents that run out to sea and can easily drag swimmers from shallow water out beyond their depth. They are particularly powerful in large surf, but are found also around river mouths, estuaries and man-made structures such as piers and groynes.
Despite their name, rip currents are nothing to do with tides. They form when wind, wave and beach conditions together help to push up water on to a shore.
When that water flows back out to sea a large volume can get squeezed into narrow passages such as a under a pier or a sandbar. Water can race out at 6ft (1.8m) a second or even faster, dragging sand, seaweed and much else with it.
It is not always easy to spot a rip current. Watch out for debris floating out to sea, a rippled patch of sea or foam on the water surface.
To get out of trouble, those caught in a rip currents need to keep calm and try to swim parallel to the shore to escape its grip. Do not swim into the current towards the shore because it is too exhausting. If it is possible to stand up, try to wade instead of swimming.
Link to Weather Eye source
WHEN people think of natural dangers, most often phenomena such as floods, storms and tornados come to mind. But one of the worst natural hazards in Britain is at the seaside: rip currents.
These are strong currents that run out to sea and can easily drag swimmers from shallow water out beyond their depth. They are particularly powerful in large surf, but are found also around river mouths, estuaries and man-made structures such as piers and groynes.
Despite their name, rip currents are nothing to do with tides. They form when wind, wave and beach conditions together help to push up water on to a shore.
When that water flows back out to sea a large volume can get squeezed into narrow passages such as a under a pier or a sandbar. Water can race out at 6ft (1.8m) a second or even faster, dragging sand, seaweed and much else with it.
It is not always easy to spot a rip current. Watch out for debris floating out to sea, a rippled patch of sea or foam on the water surface.
To get out of trouble, those caught in a rip currents need to keep calm and try to swim parallel to the shore to escape its grip. Do not swim into the current towards the shore because it is too exhausting. If it is possible to stand up, try to wade instead of swimming.
Link to Weather Eye source
Great story HC, and some sound advice.
Some of the water disasters you here at this time of year are very saddening, especially as they are only having a paddle/swim.
Some of the water disasters you here at this time of year are very saddening, especially as they are only having a paddle/swim.
Very sound advice!!! I don't think anyone realises how powerful these currents can be.
On a similar note, there's been a few drowning tragedies here in Scotland recently with seemingly fit young men drowning while swimming in rivers and Lochs. But that's probably been caused by underestimating how cold watercourses are up here, all year round.
On a similar note, there's been a few drowning tragedies here in Scotland recently with seemingly fit young men drowning while swimming in rivers and Lochs. But that's probably been caused by underestimating how cold watercourses are up here, all year round.
BY PAUL SIMONS
FIFTY years ago today, the UK’s greatest single day’s rainfall was recorded in Martinstown, Dorset.
An intense thunderstorm stalled over Dorset, and the picture-postcard village of Martinstown was deluged with 279mm (11in) of rain in 15 hours, most of it falling in an intense four-hour burst. This was a deluge of biblical proportions, bearing in mind that the average rainfall in London is 610mm (24in) for the whole year.
Torrential rains also fell over a surrounding area. Water cascaded down the steep slopes of the Ridgeway hills, setting off landslides and gouging massive holes in the ground. Flash floods struck nearby Dorchester, Weymouth and Bridport, smashing cars, and boulders were strewn across roads. Two people died.
But the flooding could have been far worse. The porous chalk rocks in the area helped to absorb vast amounts of rainwater, like a sponge, although in Martinstown this led to a delayed-action flood as the small local river burst its banks the following day, leaving the village marooned.
July 1955 had been sunny and warm, and temperatures the day before the storm had reached 29C (84F) in Dorset. But a depression sat over northern France, and on July 18 a storm crossed the coast, slowed down, stalled and then dumped its rain over one area.
After the deluge the previous fine, sunny weather returned to Dorset.
Link to Weather Eye source
FIFTY years ago today, the UK’s greatest single day’s rainfall was recorded in Martinstown, Dorset.
An intense thunderstorm stalled over Dorset, and the picture-postcard village of Martinstown was deluged with 279mm (11in) of rain in 15 hours, most of it falling in an intense four-hour burst. This was a deluge of biblical proportions, bearing in mind that the average rainfall in London is 610mm (24in) for the whole year.
Torrential rains also fell over a surrounding area. Water cascaded down the steep slopes of the Ridgeway hills, setting off landslides and gouging massive holes in the ground. Flash floods struck nearby Dorchester, Weymouth and Bridport, smashing cars, and boulders were strewn across roads. Two people died.
But the flooding could have been far worse. The porous chalk rocks in the area helped to absorb vast amounts of rainwater, like a sponge, although in Martinstown this led to a delayed-action flood as the small local river burst its banks the following day, leaving the village marooned.
July 1955 had been sunny and warm, and temperatures the day before the storm had reached 29C (84F) in Dorset. But a depression sat over northern France, and on July 18 a storm crossed the coast, slowed down, stalled and then dumped its rain over one area.
After the deluge the previous fine, sunny weather returned to Dorset.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THE glorious hot sunshine of the past week was delivered by an Azores high. This is an anticyclone or high-pressure system which is often centred over the tiny subtropical islands of the Azores, about 1,300km (800 miles) west of Portugal.
When a finger of the Azores high pushes towards the UK in summer it usually brings light winds and fine, warm weather. As air gently falls from a great height in this anti-cyclone it warms by compression — try putting your finger over the nozzle of a bicycle pump as you pump it and feel how hot it gets. In the Azores high, that warmth helps to dry the air, killing off most clouds and leaving skies largely sunny.
If the anticyclone moves slowly over the UK it often brings us a long spell of hot weather. For the past several days the Azores high also became blocked in position as it diverted the jet stream — a ribbon of wind several miles high that steers depressions across the Atlantic. For Scotland that diversion of the jet stream was not far enough north, and a belt of rain swept through on Sunday.
Sometimes blocked Azores highs bring exceptional heatwaves, such as the long, hot summer of 1976. Then there were 15 consecutive days, between June 23 and July 7, of scorching weather with temperatures hitting 32C (90F) or more somewhere in the UK.
Link to Weather Eye source
THE glorious hot sunshine of the past week was delivered by an Azores high. This is an anticyclone or high-pressure system which is often centred over the tiny subtropical islands of the Azores, about 1,300km (800 miles) west of Portugal.
When a finger of the Azores high pushes towards the UK in summer it usually brings light winds and fine, warm weather. As air gently falls from a great height in this anti-cyclone it warms by compression — try putting your finger over the nozzle of a bicycle pump as you pump it and feel how hot it gets. In the Azores high, that warmth helps to dry the air, killing off most clouds and leaving skies largely sunny.
If the anticyclone moves slowly over the UK it often brings us a long spell of hot weather. For the past several days the Azores high also became blocked in position as it diverted the jet stream — a ribbon of wind several miles high that steers depressions across the Atlantic. For Scotland that diversion of the jet stream was not far enough north, and a belt of rain swept through on Sunday.
Sometimes blocked Azores highs bring exceptional heatwaves, such as the long, hot summer of 1976. Then there were 15 consecutive days, between June 23 and July 7, of scorching weather with temperatures hitting 32C (90F) or more somewhere in the UK.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
THERE was mayhem at a caravan park at Exelby, near Bedale, North Yorkshire last Wednesday. A whirlwind reared up in a nearby field, sweeping piles of hay into a funnel of swirling air 50ft (15.2m) high. The “mini tornado”, as it was described, charged into the caravan site, tossing umbrellas and other loose objects into the air and sending them crashing into cars and caravans. One man was knocked unconscious when the awning was ripped off his caravan and fell on his head, but he later made a complete recovery.
This was no tornado. Violent storms are needed to create tornados, and the whirlwind in Exelby seemed to be conjured up out of thin air. It was a dust devil: a vortex generated by warm air spinning off hot ground, often in the afternoon when the surface of the earth has been baked under a hot sun.
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation has reported several other dust devils during the hot weather over the past fortnight. Most caused no more harm than scattering piles of grass or dust around, but occasionally they have been known to leave a trail of damage and even injuries.
In May 2003 a medic with the British Forces in the deserts of Iraq was lifted 30ft into the air by a dust devil before crashing to the ground — suffering several broken bones.
Link to Weather Eye source
THERE was mayhem at a caravan park at Exelby, near Bedale, North Yorkshire last Wednesday. A whirlwind reared up in a nearby field, sweeping piles of hay into a funnel of swirling air 50ft (15.2m) high. The “mini tornado”, as it was described, charged into the caravan site, tossing umbrellas and other loose objects into the air and sending them crashing into cars and caravans. One man was knocked unconscious when the awning was ripped off his caravan and fell on his head, but he later made a complete recovery.
This was no tornado. Violent storms are needed to create tornados, and the whirlwind in Exelby seemed to be conjured up out of thin air. It was a dust devil: a vortex generated by warm air spinning off hot ground, often in the afternoon when the surface of the earth has been baked under a hot sun.
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation has reported several other dust devils during the hot weather over the past fortnight. Most caused no more harm than scattering piles of grass or dust around, but occasionally they have been known to leave a trail of damage and even injuries.
In May 2003 a medic with the British Forces in the deserts of Iraq was lifted 30ft into the air by a dust devil before crashing to the ground — suffering several broken bones.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
IF HISTORY is a reliable guide, the first Test match in the series between England and Australia which begins today at Lord’s is unlikely to be rained off.
Only seven days of Test match cricket have been washed out over the past 15 years. For truly atrocious weather during an England v Australia Test we have to go back much further. In 1905 it rained at Lord’s for more than a week before the match on June 15-17, when a remarkable run of thunderstorms struck each day. On August 27, 1968, a thunderstorm flooded the Oval so badly that spectators were invited to help in sweeping water from the pitch.
One of the most spectacular bouts of weather was in 1975. On June 2 play between Derbyshire and Lancashire at Buxton was stopped by snow, though a blistering heatwave set in soon afterwards. At the England v Australia match at Lord’s on July 31-August 5, in the same year the temperature exceeded 30C (86F) — the hottest Test match on record. Australia held out for a draw without too much trouble.
The location of a Test plays a big part in its weather, though. Over the past 125 years the record for the most rain belongs to Old Trafford, Manchester, with 29 days lost to the weather. The driest Test match pitch is Edgbaston, Birmingham, with only 3 days lost.
Link to Weather Eye source
IF HISTORY is a reliable guide, the first Test match in the series between England and Australia which begins today at Lord’s is unlikely to be rained off.
Only seven days of Test match cricket have been washed out over the past 15 years. For truly atrocious weather during an England v Australia Test we have to go back much further. In 1905 it rained at Lord’s for more than a week before the match on June 15-17, when a remarkable run of thunderstorms struck each day. On August 27, 1968, a thunderstorm flooded the Oval so badly that spectators were invited to help in sweeping water from the pitch.
One of the most spectacular bouts of weather was in 1975. On June 2 play between Derbyshire and Lancashire at Buxton was stopped by snow, though a blistering heatwave set in soon afterwards. At the England v Australia match at Lord’s on July 31-August 5, in the same year the temperature exceeded 30C (86F) — the hottest Test match on record. Australia held out for a draw without too much trouble.
The location of a Test plays a big part in its weather, though. Over the past 125 years the record for the most rain belongs to Old Trafford, Manchester, with 29 days lost to the weather. The driest Test match pitch is Edgbaston, Birmingham, with only 3 days lost.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
TODAY is the 200th anniversary of a sea battle that set the scene for Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar.
In April 1805 Napoleon sent a Franco-Spanish fleet to the Caribbean to lure Nelson away from the Channel, thus allowing a massive army to invade England. But much of Napoleon’s navy remained blockaded at Brest while the remainder, commanded by Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, had a frustrating venture to the West Indies and then sailed back to Europe.
When news of the returning fleet reached the British, Admiral Robert Calder broke off his blockade of French ports and intercepted Villeneuve off Cape Finisterre, northwest Spain, on July 22, 1805. Although the Franco-Spanish fleet was larger, the weather was on Calder’s side. As the British bore down on the enemy line, a fog descended, and in the chaos Calder’s force captured two Spanish ships and inflicted hundreds of enemy casualties.
It was a defeat for the French — Villeneuve fled to Spain for reinforcements and Napoleon finally was forced to abandon his plans to invade Britain. However, the Admiralty blamed Calder for not chasing the enemy — he was relieved of his command, court-martialled and never served at sea again.
After Villeneuve’s fleet ran to Cadiz for reinforcements, Nelson blockaded the port. When Villeneuve ventured out again on October 21 he came to a sorry end at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Link to Weather Eye source
TODAY is the 200th anniversary of a sea battle that set the scene for Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar.
In April 1805 Napoleon sent a Franco-Spanish fleet to the Caribbean to lure Nelson away from the Channel, thus allowing a massive army to invade England. But much of Napoleon’s navy remained blockaded at Brest while the remainder, commanded by Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, had a frustrating venture to the West Indies and then sailed back to Europe.
When news of the returning fleet reached the British, Admiral Robert Calder broke off his blockade of French ports and intercepted Villeneuve off Cape Finisterre, northwest Spain, on July 22, 1805. Although the Franco-Spanish fleet was larger, the weather was on Calder’s side. As the British bore down on the enemy line, a fog descended, and in the chaos Calder’s force captured two Spanish ships and inflicted hundreds of enemy casualties.
It was a defeat for the French — Villeneuve fled to Spain for reinforcements and Napoleon finally was forced to abandon his plans to invade Britain. However, the Admiralty blamed Calder for not chasing the enemy — he was relieved of his command, court-martialled and never served at sea again.
After Villeneuve’s fleet ran to Cadiz for reinforcements, Nelson blockaded the port. When Villeneuve ventured out again on October 21 he came to a sorry end at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Link to Weather Eye source
BY PAUL SIMONS
A WARNING for anyone planning a barbecue this weekend. Rain is moving in from the West, and for once it looks as if the southern half of Britain will experience more wet weather than northern areas.
This is welcome news for gardeners, though. July’s rainfall so far is about 60 per cent below normal in the South East, and 50 per cent in the South West, Midlands and Wales. This follows almost eight months’ poor rainfall over much of southern England.
Although this weekend’s showers will help to water lawns and gardens, do not be tempted to turn on the taps recklessly when the weather eventually turns dry again. The rains are too little and too late to boost water supplies in drought-hit regions.
Very little of the rainwater will sink deep enough to recharge the ground-water supplies that much of the South and East rely on. In fact, most of the rainwater will vanish, evaporating from the ground or in even larger volumes from plants. A mature oak tree can lose about 80 gallons (370 litres) of water a day in summer, while an acre of a thirsty crop such as maize loses about 3,300 gallons (15,000 litres) of water each day.
To make a substantial difference to our water supplies this summer we need weeks of rain, and the chances of that appear fairly remote.
Link to Weather Eye source
A WARNING for anyone planning a barbecue this weekend. Rain is moving in from the West, and for once it looks as if the southern half of Britain will experience more wet weather than northern areas.
This is welcome news for gardeners, though. July’s rainfall so far is about 60 per cent below normal in the South East, and 50 per cent in the South West, Midlands and Wales. This follows almost eight months’ poor rainfall over much of southern England.
Although this weekend’s showers will help to water lawns and gardens, do not be tempted to turn on the taps recklessly when the weather eventually turns dry again. The rains are too little and too late to boost water supplies in drought-hit regions.
Very little of the rainwater will sink deep enough to recharge the ground-water supplies that much of the South and East rely on. In fact, most of the rainwater will vanish, evaporating from the ground or in even larger volumes from plants. A mature oak tree can lose about 80 gallons (370 litres) of water a day in summer, while an acre of a thirsty crop such as maize loses about 3,300 gallons (15,000 litres) of water each day.
To make a substantial difference to our water supplies this summer we need weeks of rain, and the chances of that appear fairly remote.
Link to Weather Eye source
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