jethro

Now living at virtually sea level (before they drained the Somerset levels, this was coastal) I shall be ecstatic to see a few flakes, reassurance that it is indeed possible to get snow here. Drive up, over and down the other side of the Mendips on the way to work, today there was a 2 c difference in temps between home and up on the top.

Not as cold here today, chilly wind though and ground to sky grey. Had planned on putting up the Christmas lights but hubby declared it 'too cold for that', soft office worker. Not entirely sure when is the best time to break it to him that the new lights for the holly tree are 100 meters long, ooops! Haven't checked the Mod thread but I suspect it'll be warmer this weekend than next, probably better to do it this weekend.

Top of the Mendips this morning, a tad icy up there and that's before the predicted cold gets here. At home, the car was reading -2c.

Aw, thank you. I do dip in and out for a read, usually when weather 'out of the ordinary' looks likely. There was an almost daily dip during summer, praying for signs of some rain as everything round here got crispier by the day. We've had a few frosts lately, think it's something to do the topography round here. Not sure it will work in our favour if there's any snow around, as the crow flies we're about 9 miles from the coast (Severn Estuary) and at the foot of the hills, anything coming from the East will be sucked up by The Mendips, from the West it gets sucked up the estuary and lands north of the M4. Could be in for a frustrating time.

Morning all, so there's cold weather incoming and winter looks like it may start with a vengeance. Didn't have much winter weather last year to be able to judge the difference between living on top of the mendips and now at the foot of the escarpment and barely above sea level, so far it looks to be a bit of a frost pocket. Had a few frosts already and despite the thick fog, had another sharp one this morning, the plants are a bit droopy but the cobwebs look lovely. Hopefully, even if we don't see much snow around here, we may be blessed with hoare frost, which seems an even rarer beast.

Trees down all over the place here, the roof has gone on the village hall just up the road.

It's not, they used St Cuthberts.

The roof has gone on the village hall up the road.

Not too sure if we had a localized particularly strong gust but every lane in the village now has trees down. Also St Thomas's church in Wells has lost the top of the spire. Would have been very bizarre if it had been St Cuthberts, that's the one used in Hot Fuzz.

Can't open that Khodds. Which church is it?

Power just went off here for a minute or so, thankfully came back on.

Does that mean the worst of this is nearly over or can we expect it to continue for some time yet?

Sounds like I've got a very angry monster living in my chimney. Just had a courier delivery from TNT, asked the chap 'what the hell are you doing out in this?' He said they've all been told to go out, carry on as usual, it's nothing to worry about!!!! Poor chap was off to Burnham on Sea, clearly worried to death. Said if it gets any worse he'll find somewhere to hide and park up. Corporate Manslaughter is on our statute books, I wonder at what point companies become culpable? Surely ignoring official advice in circumstances like today and making employees go out in high sided vehicles is negligent? Shocking.

Safe to say it's arrived here now, it sounds like I've got jumbo jets living in my chimneys. All I can say is thank goodness it arrived in daylight, hearing this at night would have scared the living daylights out of me. Just had a courier delivery via TNT, asked the poor chap 'what the hell are you doing out in this?' he said they've all been sent out, told to carry on as usual, just a normal day!!!! The poor begger is supposed to be going to Burnham on Sea next, said if it gets any worse he's going to find somewhere to park up and hide. I wonder at what point do companies become legally culpable if they insist on ignoring official advice and endanger their employees? Corporate Manslaughter is on the statute books, I'm pretty sure it would apply in these circumstances.

Winds picking up here now. One thing I've already learnt today in my new home, inglenook fireplaces act like echo chambers. One gust sounded like thunder coming down the chimney, so loud and the storm's not even got here yet.

Winds picking up here now. One thing I've learnt today in my new home, inglenook fireplaces act like echo chambers, one gust sounded like thunder coming down the chimney. Made oi jump!

Morning, The Sun is out, the sky is blue, when you look outside, there's not even a clue... I expected to wake up to it blowing a hoolie but so far there's nothing here. I was hoping it meant the storm had veered off elsewhere but seems that's just wishful thinking, it just hasn't got here yet. What is odd is the noise. I'm 7-8 miles inland (as the crow flies) but outside there's a constant low rumble, the only thing I can liken it to is like being on the coast and listening to the rumble of the sea. Surely being this far inland that's impossible? Oh and the seagulls are very confused. Usually first thing in the morning we get literally hundreds flying overhead, heading off to the seaside for the day, at dusk they all come back again (no idea where they go, presumed they roost in Cheddar Gorge?). This morning they're flying round in circles instead of flying to the coast, looks like they're playing a game of chicken, taking turns to say 'nope, not going'.

They're literally everywhere around here, highways have done a good job a clearing the ones adjacent to main roads but the lanes are literally lined with 100s of fully mature ones, it'll be carnage with the forecast winds. The view from the village here is up the Mendip escarpment, a steep climb of over 500ft, the slopes are deeply wooded with at least 75% Ash - all dead and dying. Just down the road is Cheddar Gorge, again the slopes and tops are covered with dead/dying Ash, I think it's guaranteed a large proportion will fall in the expected winds. Don't understand why logs are so damned expensive, there's a plethora of felled trees around

Evening all, I'm hoping a miracle happens and Eunice clears off into France, hate high winds in an average storm, Friday fills me with dread. Expecting lots of trees down around here as there are so many dead and dying Ash trees, victims of sudden ash die back, potential for an awful amount of damage from those. Work is about 7 miles from Bristol channel (as the crow flies), there's little protection as the topography is fairly flat, I'm keeping everything crossed we don't lose this vulnerable, venerable, enormous Black Pine; it stands way above everything else so catches the full force of wind from that direction. It's a few hundred years old and a landmark for miles around, home to countless generations of Ravens for decades and likely to take out a fully mature Lime tree and an ancient Copper Beech too. It's got quite an alarming lean that's getting more acute as the years pass, but the trunk has so far responded with enough stress growth to counter the lean. Please survive Old Man.

Good old FB, so easy to find old pics, together with dates It was 6th Feb 2009. It's the only proper blizzard I've seen down here, coming down so heavy you can barely see the horses in the field.

I don't recall dates at all, I rely on Facebook memories for snow days. I remember months and years.

I think it was the 6th here but don't quote me. Definitely the first week, close on 2ft here. I'll see if I can find some pics.

It was here. 2010 on the other hand, when the nation was all excited about a cold easterly, we got cold/very cold but next to no snow. Not quite as good as February 2009, that was epic.

Living in the mild and often soggy South West, February is the month I look forward to the most in winter. It's the month where (by far) we're most likely to see snow. Facebook has been taunting me all week with memories of snow, reminding me that on this day last year, the year before, the year before and the year before that, all were snowy, one stand out was very snowy (2019).

Evening all, Facebook has been taunting me for the last few days with memories of snowy days. On this day last year, the year before, the year before and the year before that were all snowy days. 2019 was the stand out year for Feb 1st around here, oh what a happy day that was