Bangers & Flash

Lightning every second now to the northwest beyond Manchester. Very picturesque. iPhone video doesn’t do it justice.

Flashes to the West of here now over Merseyside lighting up the sky - seemed to come from nowhere...

Out for a drive near Whaley Bridge and can see the anvil of the storm near Nottingham

Clouds bubbling to the west

Can see the top of the cell approaching Manchester. Feels like it’s turning to the right (maybe wishful thinking). Last pic is from behind.

Had a few rumbles of thunder from this to the west between Poynton and Manchester airport.

Just had the same - only lasted 5 minutes or so

Picturesque line of convection looking southwest from here towards Crewe. Towers going up behind this too.

Clouds building to the northwest of here

First rumble of thunder here

Towers going up here now

Heard a few rumbles of thunder from the cell towards the North West. Signs of convection to the North and in the now clear slot to the South too.

Seeing flashes every 5 seconds or so now to the south

Starting to see distant strikes from here now to the west and those to the south lighting up the clouds

Amazing how quickly things have initiated. Love nights like this, how Mother Nature can keep us on our toes.

I note that ConvectiveWeather mention initiation mid/late afternoon over France in their forecast but this hasn’t happened as expected - how does this impact the evolution of the forecast from here?

A passing shower here from mid-level cloud, but can see clearer skies to the southwest

Clouding over here now

Good luck tonight everyone! Hoping to be in prime spot here for later and luckily off work tomorrow too...

Darkening skies to the West

Warm, still and humid with signs of convection but not anticipating anything here this evening or tomorrow other than rain

Light rain here currently from what I’m guessing is mid-level cloud

Update from Convective Weather for Monday too, narrowing down the slight risks: https://www.convectiveweather.co.uk/forecast.php?date=2019-06-24 Day 3 Convective Outlook VALID 06:00 UTC Mon 24 Jun 2019 - 05:59 UTC Tue 25 Jun 2019 ISSUED 20:58 UTC Sat 22 Jun 2019 ISSUED BY: Dan On Monday morning, elevated thunderstorms may be ongoing across parts of Ireland across the Irish Sea to northern England, along the rear side of the frontal rain. This will continue to lift northwards into southern and eastern Scotland and out across the North Sea as the day progresses. In its wake, a second shortwave impulse will arrive by late morning or the afternoon, and so a second round of thunderstorms is possible, particularly over northern England - but possibly some areas farther south too, depending on the timing/phasing of this shortwave. At a glance, forecast profiles look capped to surface-based convection, and so it is quite likely much of this activity will be elevated. That said, isolated surface-based convection cannot be ruled out, especially where initially elevated convection can root within the boundary layer. The environment is likely to be well-sheared, with both reasonable speed and directional shear present, enabling cell organisation. Hail and flash flooding may be problematic. This potential may be somewhat contaminated by hints of some frontal (dynamic) precipitation running up from the south at times too. Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms will also be possible over parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on Monday afternoon / early evening in the post-frontal environment - although here, with closer proximity to the upper low, the environment will be less-sheared and so "pulse type" convection is most favoured. On Monday evening, a shortwave over Biscay combined with isentropic upglide as a renewed pulse of very warm, moist low-level air advects north/northeastward will result in another round of elevated thunderstorms, though this time the steering flow will tend to drift these towards SE England and eastern parts of East Anglia. There has been fairly uniform agreement amongst model guidance for the track of these to shift farther to the east than earlier signals, and should this trend continue then it is possible the majority of thunderstorms could skirt to the east of England entirely. This extended outlook provides an overview of the most likely forecast evolution during this forecast period - destabilising plume events are often fraught with uncertainty, and it is very likely certain aspects of the forecast will change as the event draws closer.

Certainly an exciting week of weather and model-watching ahead. Intrigued by the forecasts published by Convective Weather, the Met Office and PJB over on UKWW for this area (NW England) for tomorrow and early Monday and keeping a close eye on any updates. Good luck everyone - look forward to reading updates and seeing photos/videos as the week progresses.

Picturesque cloudscapes here as the showers have passed through. Only one direct hit though with a few rumbles earlier on.