Anvils in the Sky

Just been out to give the tomatoes in the greenhouse their 50th watering today (OK, I exaggerate!), and it's still 27° outside. At gone 9 in the evening. Great going for Blighty! Something tells me a good night's kip might be hard to come by tonight!

What a difference half an hour makes. That western sky, which was filled in with cloud, now looks like this. OK, no more sky photos today, I promise!

Still clear sky to my east. But above and to my west, we now have this. (Satellite shows it really well.) And a few drops of rain just came down from that as I was taking the snap. But the breeze out there is like someone has opened the oven door!

Mine hit 32.6° for about 10 minutes, around the time yours was showing 32.9. 0.3° difference over a couple of miles sounds pretty feasible to me.

Exactly the same as my little weather station is reading at this very moment. The Medway Towns have breached 90°F! (Unofficially, of course!)

30° comfortably breached here too. Currently 31.2.......and, boy, it feels every one of those thirty-one and a fifth degrees. And still not even the teeniest, weeniest cloud to be seen in this neck of the woods. French Riviera, eat yer heart out! (For today, anyway.)

Morning folks, Currently 26.8° here, with a glorious blue sky. Quite humid, but not oppressively so.......yet! Warm, gentle breeze blowing up from the south. There really is such a Mediterranean feel out there today. What a way to start August. And all so deserved after the recent poor summers! Already thinking my guess last night of a UK max temp today of 31.5° can be binned! Enjoy the good weather, chaps and chapesses! Lee Hope the move all went well. And that your TV avoided the rain!

I'm going to plump for St James' Park or Kew. And a temp of 31.5. (And this time tomorrow, you'll see why I'm not a betting man!)

Can't help but think you're going to be proved right. I get the feeling the Channel coasts of Kent and East Sussex will see a light show on the other side of the water - whilst the skies above us lot remain stubbornly storm-free. Hmmm....just the tiniest smidgeon of déjà -vu here!

The Met Office classify it as the "worst" of the thundery stuff. I'd call it the best! Regardless of that, though, I couldn't help but smile wryly at that sentence of theirs. Storms staying just to the south and east of us? Surely not!

I must admit the "It really couldn't be clearer" comment has knocked me a little too. Yes, I'm just the new boy, so maybe it's not my place to voice my opinion. But I've really enjoyed reading - and contributing to - this thread since I joined last Tuesday. And I haven't seen one unfriendly or provocative comment. (Unlike in the model thread!) That "do what it says on the tin, and nothing else" remark has slapped me in the face, that's for sure. Anyway....the cloud which was thin enough to allow some watery sunshine through earlier has now thickened enough to allow a little very, very fine drizzle to manifest itself. 19.2° at the moment, and just one step outside is enough for anyone acknowledge the humidity is back on the rise again. Feeling very negative about - amongst other things - our chances for a storm later in the week. Lee

Checking the data, even Gravesend climbed into the 20s today. And that's only about 10 miles west. Seems the cut-off between a max of over and under 20° in Kent today was right over my head! Anyway, it's of little relevance now, as we'll be talking 30, rather than 20, come Thursday.

Thanks for the info. What a turnaround since March.

Yes, I've seen the venom in that thread once the northerly-moving French cells suddenly and inexplicably veer 90° to the right the second they leave the Normandy coast!

Well, Benelux has been starved of storms over the last few years, so it's only fair they get a shot this time! Hehe!

I blame the Met Office for this - for putting me in the middle of their thundery warning zone! Always jinxes it!

The cloud and rain took longer to clear than I expected. But clear they did, eventually. 19.6° here at the moment - and that's the highest it has been today. Assuming it doesn't rise by another 0.4° in the next four and a half hours, I'd be interested to know how long it has been since the last day we didn't make it to 20°. Would today be the first time in July maybe??

Thanks for that nice, concise summing-up of what the coming days look to have in store.

Morning South-Easterners / East Anglians, Completely different day here this morning. Overcast and gloomily dark, rain and drizzle - and, compared to recently, the current temperature is a bone-chilling 16.9°! Satellite and radar (and all forecasts) suggest this isn't in for the day though. Some rain, followed by some sun, should help the vegetation along nicely after that lengthy dry spell. Hope all have a great Tuesday. Lee

Fabulous pic!

Great to hear all the storm reports from those that got them. Nothing here (and none forecasted/expected) but it seems one cell did actually get reasonably close to the NW tip of Kent. Must have been that distant, forming anvil I posted a snap of in the old thread. Really has been another perfect summer's day here. Sunshine, cumulus, low humidity, and a very refreshing breeze. I think we got up to about 24°. Have just been in the front garden planting a lavender bush (trying to help the bee population!), and I hate to say it, but it has now struck me for the first time this year how the evenings ARE slowly starting to draw in now. Groan!

No thundery excitement here in Kent. (And I really wasn't expecting any, so I'm not downbeat.) Very pleased for those of you getting some of the electrical action this afternoon. You all deserve it. (And I mean that in a NICE way!) Spotted this in the north-west sky about an hour ago. Nothing dramatic, I know, but definitely the closest we're going to get to anything thundery here today. For those under similar clouds right now, enjoy. (But if you're a brontophobe.....sorry!)

Morning folks, Have to agree with those saying how it was more pleasant for sleeping last night. I don't think I woke up once because of the heat. And that's the first time in over a week. We missed out on the rain, though, that's for sure. Can't help but think the Kent "peninsula" will miss out today too. Currently, slap bang on 20°, blue sky and fast-moving cumulus. (Or are they stratocumulus?! Must brush up on my cloud names!) Garden looking a little happier after Saturday's storms. But a bit of a way to go yet, methinks. Lee

Electrical element dying as soon as it hits the Channel. Quelle surprise. Just as well I'd decided NOT to get my hopes up!

I notice some electrical activity over Caen (again!), which seems to be heading NE'wards. I also notice the Met Office forecast for the SE mentions "heavy, possibly thundery showers" moving across the region this evening. Dare I get my hopes up?!