Wildswimmer Pete

Currently lot of thunder but no visible lightning. Just had a burst of heavy rain. Rain felt warm on my topless torso. Current temp 26C Edit: first flash of lightning, moderate rain.

Managed 26C today understand DP is 17C. High cloud means sitting out in garden wasn't like being in a huge halogen oven. Downside (isn't there always one?) tomorrow is the longest day

According to Liverpool ATIS we made 26C, currently 25C with DP of 17C. Now overcast. Happily sitting in just my shorts, no top.

You need to re-read my post correctly: "Meanwhile I hope the forecasts for next week is correct with possibly 20C mid-week". Mid-week not mid-20s.

When I made my previous posts I was feeling cold hence my expressing my detestation of the British climate but turns out I've caught flu (very rare for me). However while we didn't have anything severe, just wintry showers, according to my energy meter my heating is costing as much as a winter day (around £2), and that's maintaining the temp of my living room at just 18C, the minimum recommended for someone of my age. It'll be interesting to experience the outdoor temp as I've been confined to base since Sunday night. Meanwhile I hope the forecasts for next week is correct with possibly 20C mid-week. Hopefully we won't have the same experience of the past few years with anything decent always arriving in 2-3 days time, but of course tomorrow never comes.

But it's MY point of view. As an elderly person I would prefer heat rather winter cold however instances of 30C twinned with high humidity are very rare. I'm asthmatic and at risk of pulmonary oedema. Humid heat is great for my chest. Please enlighten us. I think we need to agree to disagree.

You are writing from the south coast. I live 250 miles further north. I lived in Southampton for a couple of years during the 1950s and can assure you the climate in the Merseyside area is significantly different from that of the south coast.

I'm not really interested in any figures from France, their health system is quite different from ours as is their climate. I well remember Summer '76 and I don't recollect a significant loss of the elderly due to heat compared to the estimated 50,000 annually killed by the British winter. One problem with the elderly is that they don't dress for the heat so that's a problem of culture - little old ladies swathed in heavy winter coats during the rare times we actually make 80F. As the body ages it eventually loses the ability to regulate internal temp. in the face of highly variable ambient temp. However it is far cheaper to cool down in hot weather than forking out a small fortune in heating during the 37-week heating season in the UK. Not heard of having to choose between heating or eating?

Same here. Those who adore the endless chill of our now "Forever Autumn" climate forget that the older you get, your ability to withstand cold lessens. At the end of April I'm still having to use the central heating - my living room temp is only 19C so I'm not actually living in a sauna. I should remind the coldies of the awful cull of the sick or elderly (and at 67 that includes me) that happens every year between November and March. This April has been just another late winter month with only that one weekend we saw the sort of temperature we normally expect - I wouldn't even describe 18-20C as especially warm, only compared to our now usual daily fare of 10-13C. I'm holding out hope for the coming weekend when we might see something warmer with temps of at least 16C. Is this week's cold shot the final SSW event of the season?

Stuff that for a game of soldiers. It's the end of April and I don't want to see a return to winter no matter how brief. "Cold hating nancies can wait a bit longer lol." A "Nancie" like me? That's a 1" thick slab of ice.

Passable today, even managed to catch some rays around lunchtime as long I was sheltered from that cold breeze. Monday night managed 1.7C overnight and given my sheltered garden sensor I suspect out on the fields there could well have been a ground frost.

Yet another cold, mostly grey Easter. Looks like my birthday could again be marred by wintry weather just like last year. Whatever happened to my childhood/teen Easters when the dress code was T-shirt/shorts? And no, it's not the wearing of rose-coloured spectacles, my memories of the time are remarkably clear. We seem to be entering the now usual spring/summer rut:of a couple of passable days like last weekend followed by weeks of cold NW/N/NE winds with endless grey days followed by cold, frosty nights.

This was Pickmere (Cheshire) on Saturday afternoon, air temp around 17C and water temp 13C (about right for time of the year). Gloriously warm and sunny this afternoon (Sunday) with the breeze actually feeling warm as I cycled to Brookvale Recreation Centre (Runcorn) to do my Swimathon in tiles and chlorine. However when I left the Centre four hours later it was cloudy and a very cold breeze. had got up. According to my (sheltered) garden sensor I got a got a max of 24C but when I was out on my bike I'd say the true temp. was more like 21C. Coming home the temp was 14C and falling quickly. 6-7C drop in 4 hours! Did quite well in my Swimathon - was down for 2.5k.

March of course is the first month we can realistically see the first 20C in the UK. Looking at the model thread there signs of a warm second half of March. Given that March came in like a lion with Doris it hopefully will be going out like a lamb.

Now continuous moderate rain and temp down to 2.3C. Light breeze.

Yes, the Water Tower! Of course there wasn't a cell base station when I lived there (1950s/60s). I remember watching when the Water Tower had its "roof" put on in 1960.

Thurstaston Hill or Heswall Water Tower?

Moderate to heavy rain but seems to be just rain. Little or no breeze and outdoor temp 3.7C

14:47 Now snowing quite heavily with large flakes but not currently sticking.

We managed 73mph sustained with all Port of Liverpool operations suspended. Newly repaired fence damaged again. Still very gusty but rain stopped. Not posted in the wrong forum: Meteorologically speaking Cheshire is in the Midlands - dividing line is Mersey-Humber.

Liverpool ATIS reporting 40kt gusting 53kt No reports of any problems.

Exceedingly windy with heavy rain sheeting horizontally. Wind howling through nearby high-voltage lines loud to be heard through double glazing. Tree trunks in motion.

The main change in our current "forever Autumn" is the persistent cloudiness. In summer what sunshine does occur is in the small hours before most of us wake. Come breakfast, the grey lid has already slammed down and stays until sunset. Again, dry stats don't tell the full story. Stats might "prove" that 2016 is warmer than 1984 but in '83 and '84 it felt much warmer because we actually saw the sun most if not all of the day. All that incident IR on the skin which you don't get in modern sunless summers.

Dickensian winters are reckoned to have been influenced (and inspired) by the early 1800s Dalton Minimum. Some hold that we are currently entering a new Grand Minimum as solar activity appears to be ratcheting down every cycle.

Believe me, most who hanker after a repeat of '62/'63 would regret it should it happen again. I was there!