Sky Full

I am in no way qualified to comment on this subject but in my unqualified opinion, the idea of introducing pollutants into the atmosphere to reduce the temperature at the earths surface doesn’t make sense for another reason. I would suggest that this strategy would reduce the amount of light reaching the surface, which in turn would reduce the ability of plant life to grow as efficiently as it does now, and plant life is one of the main captors of C02. The overall effect would be to reduce the ability of plants to absorb C02 allowing the extra C02 to cancel out any cooling effect of the pollutants. The only way to reverse global warming is to reduce our output of C02 (imo).

Another damaging consequence of ice melt? “Three storms in a week” Rare lightning strikes in the Arctic Last week three successful thunderstorms hit the Arctic in a rare event which has left scientists puzzled. Conditions in the Arctic are not conductive to the formation of thunderstorms which need a layer of warm air beneath colder air. But with sea ice melting, adding moisture to the air, and temperature rising it could become a more regular occurrence. For context, just 0.5% of all lightning strikes on Earth are recorded in the Arctic with the number of strikes tripling since 2010. While many think of the Arctic as a cold, frigid place; heatwaves in the region have hit parts of Alaska, Siberia, and Canada drying ground vegetation which is now exposed to lightning strikes triggering wildfires. Not only is it drier, but with ice receding there is more ground available for vegetation to grow acting as tinder for devastating fires in remote areas.” (article copied from weather&radar.co.uk)

No doubt about it. It’s very hot. Not broken 30C here but it doesn’t matter because the strength of the sun and lack of cloud makes it one of the hottest ‘feeling’ spells I can recall here. An hour ago we also had a ‘grassnado’ as the heat stirred up a strong spiral updraft which began moving across the newly mown surrounding meadows taking tufts of hay and grass cuttings high into the sky and scattering them everywhere. Didn’t manage to get any video but if it happens again I’ll be ready!

That is definitely a first!

We’ve just been looking at the temperatures predicted this week in some of the places we have visited in the past - parts of the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and France - where they are expecting between 30 and 34C every day and 20 - 22C at night this week. We don’t think we can face thIs level of heat any more and I’m quite happy for Wales to top out at 28C as long as the sun shines!

It’s still very warm here although the sun well is down now and it will soon be dark. May be a little uncomfortable getting to sleep tonight.

Repeat of yesterday but a degree or two warmer! This spell of summer weather should last through the weekend and part of next week so the butterflies will be loving it. After that things look likely to cool off but by that time we may need a little rain….

It already has. July 2007 saw most of the upper Thames valley under water with many villages and farms flooded. Brice Norton recorded a record 24 hour rainfall total that still stands. This is a quote from the Wikipedia article on the floods of 2007…. “On 20 July, another active frontal system moved across Southern England. Many places recorded a month's rainfall or more in one day. The Met Office at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire reported 4.98 inches (126.6 mm): a sixth of its annual rainfall. The college at Pershore in Worcestershire reported 5.60 inches (142.2 mm),[14] causing the Environment Agency to issue 16 further severe flood warnings.[15] By 21 July, many towns and villages were flooded, with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, London and South Wales facing the brunt of the heavy rainfall.” These events are sadly going to become more commonplace and more widespread as our global climate changes.

Here we are - summer proper. And summer days don’t come much better than this one. Wall to wall blue sky, light air, 24C. Perfect or what? If this could be guaranteed for four weeks a year, nobody would need to travel abroad.

Yes, me too. And there are also reports of record temperatures in parts of Russia and Europe and the above the Arctic circle, plus further loss of permanent Arctic sea ice etc I’d be surprised if we didn’t see at least one very hot spell in the UK this year but even if the all time record high temperature is not actually broken this summer I’m sure it will be within the next five years. Our island geography may be a protector against severe heat but if the weather comes from the east during a European heat-wave, the Atlantic won’t be much help.

GFS 0Z has this evolution between the 10th and 15th July….(+192h - +312h): 500s. 850s Still too many pesky lows floating around but not directly over the UK and this is perhaps a much better picture for mid-July than was being suggested yesterday.

Back to full overcast and steady drizzle - but this is not unusual around the Preselis! Hoping for something drier towards the end of the week but the weekend looks very unsettled according to the models. Nature has a way of evening things up so maybe we’ll have a few late summer heatwaves in July and August……

After a dry night, light rain has just started here now and is set to continue for maybe three hours or so. This won’t do the garden any harm. It feels quite humid and there’s very little wind. Later in the week we might get some more dry and sunny weather but no heatwave so far this summer.

Not a bad day at all, really, with plenty of sunshine breaking through the cloud and very acceptable temperatures between 19C and 20C. Only fly in the ointment is the persistent, quite strong, north easterly wind without which I guess this would be a lovely June day all in all. Went down to Bosherston lily ponds early today but by the time we got back to the car park at around 11am it was heaving! People and cars everywhere with dogs running loose and queues for the loos. Not my idea of fun but with everyone staying at home this year I imagine all the beauty spots will be overrun in any decent weather. As long as people are respectful and take their litter home with them, I hope they all enjoy themselves!

A pretty nice set-up for a week in the middle of June.... To be honest, I’d be happy if this pattern was repeated right through the Summer keeping the UK settled and warm, even if it meant no extreme heatwaves. I’m sure that July and August will have something more intense to keep us interested, though.

Yep. If that trend doesn’t improve I guarantee there will be some ‘Summer’s over’ posts on here before we even reach the equinox.... However, despite the apparent desire by the models to predict a cool wet summer there’s still loads of time for everything to change - and it almost certainly will. CFS looks plummy (plumey?) by mid-June (...jff )...

Good to know it’s not the worst ever, but it’s certainly as bad as I can remember. Anyway, let’s hope it’s a one-off and not the new normal

What a noisy, almost violent night we had here last night. The kind of weather I expect in November or even January. I can’t help worrying that this increased turbulence in the atmosphere is caused by climate change and that, if so, it is only going to get worse in years to come. I hate to think how bad future winter storms could get if this is what we can now expect in early summer. Must get my roof repaired before the winter or I might be in trouble....

Well, I’m sitting here with the doors, windows and roof being rattled and shaken by this typical autumn Atlantic storm with copious rainfall to accompany it, and if it wasn’t for the flowers in the garden it would be hard to believe it’s Spring at all..... Guess there won’t be too many flowers left by tomorrow the way they’re being battered about. Please let this be the last of these storms before October, at least.....

Here we are again in the teeth of another Atlantic storm with winds easily gusting above 50mph now and moderate rain with it. It managed to pick up quite a heavy patio chair and shift it right round the side of the house just now. Not what you want 11 days short of June with all the spring flowers out and leaves on most of the trees. Some forecasts are showing peak gusts around the coast at 70mph + which is bound to cause some disruption. We’ve got our second jab booked for this afternoon and the surgery is about 10 miles away so I hope we can get there and back without any trouble.....

Lovely photos! Like seeing them. Wouldn’t want to be under them....

I really hate to be a moaner but this lack of a proper Spring is getting depressing now. After the abnormally cold and windy April, even if it was sunny, we now have pretty much constant stormy conditions here with non-stop gales bringing regular showers - some pretty hefty - and precious little sunshine. I am just looking out the window at horizontal rain and the trees, now in full leaf, are being tossed around as if it was November. I am desperate to be able to just sit outside and enjoy some sun but it seems a long way off right now. I hope that this is not a recurring pattern set in stone for the rest of summer.....

Yet another April frost this morning - must be some sort of record by now, surely? But the sun is out again so the long spell of settled, sunny but chilly weather continues for another day at least. There might be a breakdown over the weekend with some overdue rain and the return of windy conditions but no sign of Summer yet. Would be nice to see some signs of a proper wam-up in the charts but there’s nothing to get excited about, even by mid-May, as far as I can see. I hope this late Spring will eventually become a long hot Summer!

I imagine the lack of rain might begin to be an issue for growers if May doesn’t bring above average rainfall but for the time being I’m loving the dry, calm weather especially because we have been frost free for three mornings now! A succession of lovely sunny days with a cool breeze - perfect Spring conditions.

Yes .... it’s not completely dry. Here’s the GFS rainfall gif covering the 19th and 20th April..... Its a bit too far out to be accurate though, and I expect this will be different by next weekend.