Weather in the general media (Newspaper features etc)

[Summer Sun]

Greece wildfires: State of emergency as at least 50 people are killed

Towns and villages have been evacuated because of forest fires near Athens, which have also closed highways and diverted flights.

https://news.sky.com/story/state-of-emergency-in-greece-as-wildfires-force-people-to-flee-homes-11446677?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

[Summer Sun]

Japan heatwave declared natural disaster as death toll mounts

 

Quote

 

Japan's weather agency has declared a heatwave sweeping the country a natural disaster, with at least 65 deaths recorded in the past week.

An agency spokesman warned that "unprecedented levels of heat" were being seen in some areas.

More than 22,000 people have been admitted to hospital with heat stroke, nearly half of them elderly, emergency officials say.

The heatwave shows no sign of abating, forecasters say.

On Monday, the city of Kumagaya reported a temperature of 41.1C (106F), the highest ever recorded in Japan.

In central Tokyo, temperatures over 40C were also registered for the first time.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44935152?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_weather&ns_linkname=news_central&ns_source=twitter

 

[Summer Sun]

UK heatwave: Vintage year for British wine as temperatures soar

English winemakers are expecting a bumper year - and the curious weather is also causing blackberries to ripen two months early.

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-heatwave-vintage-year-for-british-wine-as-temperatures-soar-11446976

[Summer Sun]

UK weather forecast SHOCK: HUGE African plume to ignite VIOLENT thunderstorms in DAYS

A FLAMING surge of heat from Africa and the Continent will ignite violent thunderstorms before Britain swelters in the hottest July day ever recorded.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/993731/UK-Weather-forecast-hot-weather-hottest-July-2018-latest-Met-Office-news-update

UK WEATHER FORECAST: Britain roads to MELT as ground temps hit 42C in SCORCHING 48 HOURS

UK weather latest: BLAZING heat threatens to melt Britain’s roads with ground temperatures set to hit a blistering 42C (108F) over the next few days in a scorching 48 hours.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/993113/UK-weather-forecast-hot-heatwave-July-2018-Met-Office-BBC-weather-forecast-this-week?utm_source=traffic.outbrain&utm_medium=traffic.outbrain&utm_term=traffic.outbrain&utm_content=traffic.outbrain&utm_campaign=traffic.outbrain

Desert Britain to swelter on HOTTEST EVER July day this Friday with 36C forecast

THE UK's heatwave shows no signs of letting up for the next couple of days, with warnings Friday could see the hottest July temperatures ever recorded.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/718746/weather-uk-heatwave-met-office-thunderstorms-record-temperature-july

[Jo Farrow]

BBC Newsnight last night was about the UK heatwave and Climate change . Met Office chief scientist one of the guests. Piece starts at 12mins in with MO chat around 16:20

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bcq6lv/newsnight-24072018 

[johnholmes]

8 minutes ago, Jo Farrow said:

BBC Newsnight last night was about the UK heatwave and Climate change . Met Office chief scientist one of the guests. Piece starts at 12mins in with MO chat around 16:20

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bcq6lv/newsnight-24072018 

Thanks Jo, well worth watching

[danm]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/24/inside-met-office-mapping-great-heatwave-2018/

 

Quote

 

Inside the Met Office: mapping the great heatwave of 2018

The operations room in the Met Office Exeter HQ CREDIT: JAY WILLIAMS

•  Joe Shute 

24 JULY 2018 • 5:33PM

Follow 

The heat is on inside the Met Office’s national HQ. When the multimillion pound glass and steel monolith was opened just off Junction 29 of the M5 on the outskirts of Exeter in 2003 it was fitted with a cooling system that recycles hot air produced by its computers rather than a traditional air conditioning system.

Energy efficient as it is, on hot days like these things become somewhat sweltering for those working on the frontline mapping Britain’s heatwave.

Still, with shirt sleeves rolled up and faces flushed they plough on – even as the office pot plants wilt.  After all we are in the nerve centre of Britain’s national forecaster, and few here have ever witnessed a summer quite like this.

This week the Great British Heatwave of 2018 ramped up another gear with the Met Office issuing a level three ‘amber heat health watch warning’ that lasts until Friday, urging people to stay out of the sun as temperatures are likely to exceed 30C during the day – today it was the turn of Southend Airport – and 15C at night.

The warning has prompted a raft of unfavourable headlines including from Malcom Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, who described it as ‘nanny state with the biggest capital N you could possibly print’.

 

But Paul Gundersen, the chief operational meteorologist for the Met Office on duty today claimed the advice had been misinterpreted. “It is meant for a specific group of people who are elderly or in ill health,” he says, wearingly. “It is not saying everybody should stay out of the sun - but that is the way it has been quoted.”

Gundersen is speaking from the middle of the Met Office operations centre, the heatwave playing out in real time on giant screens all around him. He is surrounded by a team of 20 or so staff staring at satellite loops, radar imagery, and computer model outputs showing temperatures all over Britain. The cavernous HQ accommodates some 1,800 in total.

The inside of the Met Office HQ in Exeter CREDIT: JAY WILLIAMS

A few metres away a colleague is monitoring live weather feeds of the entire globe which depict similarly record-breaking temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere stretching all the way to Japan. Another satellite feed shows an infra-red map of Britain, a black patch stretching all the way east from Dorset to the Humber representing what are currently the hottest parts of the country.

In the bowels of the building below us the Met Office’s Cray XC40 supercomputers – installed at a cost of £97m - quietly churn away in rows. Despite looking like vending machines they are capable of making some 14,000 trillion arithmetic operations per second allowing the forecasting service to take in 215 billion weather observations from all over the world every day.

 

It is the job of Gundersen and his team to make sense of such a wealth of data. “It is always interesting when you get close to extreme weather of any sort,” he says. “If you don’t find this interesting then you are in the wrong job.”

What makes this year so unusual, he says, is the length of the warm dry weather which stretches all the way back to April. For much of England and Wales last month ranked within the top five on record. Parts of East Anglia have now experienced 50 consecutive days with no rain.

Unlike the famous summer of 1976 – previously the longest drought in living memory – this one spans much of the world rather than simply the British Isles. 

For Professor Peter Stott, who leads the climate monitoring and attribution team, 2018 is providing yet more solid proof of climate change. “The evidence is now cast iron solid that the world is warming and it is due to greenhouse gas emissions,” he says. “It is very frustrating when some people try to construct what might look to a naïve eye plausible sounding arguments but they are usually cherry picking data or constructing narratives that don’t accord with reality.”

 

The Met Office was founded in 1854 by Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy (erstwhile captain of HMS Beagle of Charles Darwin fame) as a service for mariners. FitzRoy coined the term ‘weather forecast’ and created a system that relied upon data from 15 land stations and sent daily updates through a new telegraph system. FitzRoy Road which leads to its HQ is a nod to the Met Office origins.

Today forecasters draw data from 4,500 observational sources, including 16 operational radar and 330 monitoring stations in the UK, plus 19 satellites, and from other national meteorological services around the world.

While the BBC has recently ended its 95-year relationship with the Met Office in favour of international private forecasting company MeteoGroup in a cost-cutting exercise,the service still provides daily updates to news organisations including Sky and ITV, the Ministry of Defence and, in times of extreme weather, government departments. Also among its customers are supermarkets, wanting to know how many sausages and salad bags to order in for the days ahead.

Mel Harrowsmith is the head of civil contingencies and during the ongoing spate of wildfires across the country has been regularly called upon to deliver high-level briefings on what the weather is going to do next. Despite taking the occasional dip off the Devon coast in recent weeks the 38-year-old admits she is never truly off-duty.

 

“As forecasters you never really stop thinking about the weather,” she says. “You always know the other side of that coin.”

Despite being ridiculed for previously wayward claims of barbecue summers the staff here insist their five day forecast now is as accurate as a three day one was two decades ago. Where once grids were mapped on squares ranging 85km by 75km, now they are monitored down to 1.5km. In parts of London such as Heathrow Airport forecasters can pinpoint weather down to 300m.

Still, Paul Gundersen admits, they would not dare claim infallibility. Predicting showers remains the greatest challenge. “Showers can be almost random in the way they are distributed and quite small as well,” he says. “We can say there will be scattered showers across a region but not exactly what towns will experience them. That comes down to probability on any given spot.”

As a nation we are obsessed with weather and according to Helen Chivers, a forecaster turned press officer who has worked for the Met Office for the past 35 years, it is not uncommon to be cornered at a cocktail party for a chat about what is on the horizon.

“It is an occupational hazard,” she says. “I once sat next to a vet at a dinner. When we found out what each other did we agreed we wouldn’t ask a single question about each other’s work and had a lovely evening.”

 

Inside the office, however, she says when the “weather is extreme there is a definite buzz. Heatwaves like this don’t happen every day. Forecasters enjoy forecasting extreme conditions. It is a challenge to get the detail right.”

So what, then, is the prediction from Met Office HQ about when we might see some relief from this scorching summer? 

A brief scan of the charts shows thunderstorms on Friday, a little cooler over the weekend and then heading into August the heatwave looks set to resume in earnest. “I don’t think we’ve seen the back of this,” Paul Gundersen says.

Additional reporting Joshua Burnand Witter

 

 

[Mokidugway]

Interesting article till it started going on about climate change ,anyway off to burn some tyres

[Weather-history]

Work this out. 

Tomasz Schafernaker mentions "welcome" thunderstorms, how can he say that and then possibly give a weather warning on them? It's a contradiction. 

Thunderstorms are not actually welcome really because you have torrential rain falling on rock hard surfaces and the water runs off causing flash flooding. They are not the best for drought relief. 

[londonblizzard]

5 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

Work this out. 

Tomasz Schafernaker mentions "welcome" thunderstorms, how can he say that and then possibly give a weather warning on them? It's a contradiction. 

Thunderstorms are not actually welcome really because you have torrential rain falling on rock hard surfaces and the water runs off causing flash flooding. They are not the best for drought relief. 

Well, on the forecast I watched on bbc news, he also went on to describe how torrential rain isn't good in this situation for precisely that reason. He might of not had time to explain that in the specific forecast you watched

[Summer Sun]

UK weather: Britain melts as temperatures near all-time record

The all-time highest temperature for the UK - 38.5C (101.3F) - could be under threat as the heatwave continues.

https://news.sky.com/story/all-time-heat-record-could-be-set-on-friday-11449003

[Mike Poole]

Ironic that on this day when exceptional weather is actually imminent, the Daily Express have no mention of the weather anywhere on their front page!

[Summer Sun]

Lightning strikes cause rail chaos across East Coast

 

Quote

 

Rail services on the East Coast mainline and across Yorkshire have been disrupted after lightning strikes damaged signalling.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) advised passengers not to travel on Friday "due to the extreme weather conditions and signalling failure throughout the route".

Meanwhile all lines between Leeds and York were blocked as trains stopped.

The signalling centre in York was also hit by lightning strikes.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44978970

[Summer Sun]

BBC monthly outlook

Saturday 28 July—Sunday 5 August

An unsettled, cool weekend then drier next week

In a significant change to the weather a lot of the country has had so far this summer, it will be cooler, windier and wetter this weekend. This is due to a complex Atlantic low pressure system which will lie close to or across the north-west of the UK throughout the weekend. Saturday will see showers and rain affecting many areas, but with some sunny spells in between. It will be a windy day, with winds gusting to 40-50mph in some areas, something most of us haven't seen for many weeks. Compared to Friday, when temperatures reached the mid-to-high twenties Celsius in many areas, Saturday will be a cooler day with highs generally between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Sunday will see the unsettled weather continuing and it looks like rain will be more widespread and persistent. It could be a rather cloudy and wet day for parts of England and Wales. It will be windy too, with winds perhaps gusting to around 50mph again. And it will be cooler than Saturday, with highs generally in the high teens or low twenties. Quite a change to recent days.The start of next week looks changeable and relatively cool for most places as low pressure continues to influence our weather. However, the low is expected to weaken and as we go through the week high pressure will start to return, bringing drier and more settled weather. It will warm up in the south with temperatures above average by next weekend. There is some uncertainty over how far north warm air will push though, and Scotland could see temperatures remaining nearer normal It should become drier and less windy even if it doesn't warm up.

Monday 6 August—Sunday 12 August

Dry and warm in the south, cooler in the north

Medium range weather model output has shown a signal for high pressure to lie across West and North West Europe during this period. This model output has some support from analysis of similar situations in the past which give us higher confidence than we might otherwise have. The pattern for the week will be similar to the end of the previous week, with the south of the UK generally warmer than average and the north seeing some warm weather, but also some cooler interludes. The north is also more likely to see rain than the south and could see some relatively windy days too. As ever, the further we look into the future, the more uncertainty there is. In this case, we think that there is a roughly 30% chance that the high pressure we expect to be over the UK could either be weaker or further west than in our favoured forecast. In this case, we could see wetter, windier and cooler weather for the UK, although even then the southern half of the country would see the driest and warmest weather.

Monday 13 August—Sunday 26 August

Will the dry, warm weather continue?

The level of uncertainty increases further as we head into the second half of August, with differences in forecast data meaning that confidence in the forecast is medium at best. It looks likely that southern parts of the UK will remain under the influence of high pressure, so should see relatively settled weather with temperatures above normal. Northern areas are more likely to see westerly winds bringing weather systems in from the Atlantic so are more likely to see temperatures near normal, although there could be some warmer spells too.With high pressure expected to be near the UK, it looks to be drier than average across the country as a whole. However, we do expect there to be a chance of rain moving in from the Atlantic at times, mostly across the north of the country. The most likely alternative scenario would see low pressure replacing the ridge of high pressure, which would lead to cooler, wetter and less settled weather in most areas. This would not be too unusual, as very dry summers in the UK are often followed by wetter weather in September.

Next Update

Will the details for the second half of August become any more certain?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/outlook

[Summer Sun]

Heavy rain and high winds post-heatwave 'a blip'

While a weather alert is in place for parts of the country, the fine weather is set to return with the chance of hot conditions.

https://news.sky.com/story/heavy-rain-and-high-winds-post-heatwave-a-blip-11452923

[Turnedoutniceagain]

"We're all going to boil again"

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/995940/UK-weather-forecast-heatwave-temperature-Met-Office-hot-sunny-latest-news

[Summer Sun]

BBC monthly outlook

Saturday 4 August—Sunday 12 August
Hot in the south, but cooler later in the week

In contrast to last weekend, high pressure will dominate the weather across the UK this weekend. This will mean that many areas will have a dry and fine day with good sunny periods on Saturday although it will be cloudier in northern Scotland, where a few spots of drizzle will fall in the west. Very warm in the south, with temperatures climbing close to 30C in London, but cooler with temperatures closer to average in the north and north-west. Similarly, Sunday will see another north-south split in the weather, with dry, generally sunny and hot weather expected for much of England and Wales once again.

Meanwhile, Scotland and Northern Ireland have a cloudier day with a few splashes of rain, while there is a risk of more widespread rain developing here overnight. Monday and Tuesday will see a shallow area of high pressure linger across England and Wales, while an increasingly hot airmass edges up from the south. Much of England will be very warm on both days, with temperatures likely to exceed 30C in London and southeast England.

In the north and west, it will generally be cloudier with a moist southwesterly airflow providing a little rain at times. Wednesday and Thursday will see a significant cool-down in the south as a strong cold front introduces a fresher airmass for all areas. Temperatures will drop close to average for all areas, with blustery showers developing in the north and west, where it will feel cool. The remainder of next week will see high pressure slowly move back across the UK from the southwest, bringing light westerly winds.

Some rain is likely across northern areas at times, while it will be drier and sunnier in the south and east, with temperatures climbing a little above normal.

Monday 13 August—Sunday 19 August
High pressure slowly returning

The first half of the following week will continue to see a steady westerly airflow, with high pressure lingering to the southwest of the UK. Temperatures should recover into the 20s Celsius for many areas, as milder airmasses move across the country from the west or southwest and light winds with strong sunshine become a feature during the days.

Later in the week, medium range weather model output suggests that high pressure will become more dominant right across the UK, most likely preventing any low-pressure areas from moving across the country from the west. Therefore, it is likely to remain largely dry and settled, and increasingly warm too, with the best of the warmth across central and eastern England.

Some patchy rain or a few showers may move into northwestern coasts of Britain at times, giving a cloudier and damp feel to the weather here. There are, however, some indications that deeper areas of low pressure could pass close to Scotland, pushing a much cooler northwesterly airflow across all areas, and giving the risk of more widespread showery and blustery conditions, particularly to northern and western parts.

Monday 20 August—Sunday 2 September
Low pressure makes little progress

During the last two weeks of August, it looks like pressure will remain relatively high, especially across the southern half of the UK, perhaps joining up with a high pressure area that is usually located to the southwest of the UK at this time of the year.

Therefore areas of low pressure bringing significant bouts of wind and rain, are expected to be kept at bay but there is always the risk that low pressure could linger to the west of the UK for a few days, pushing a hot and humid airmass towards the southeastern quarter of the country, bringing the risk of some thunderstorms too. Northern Britain will probably see more unsettled westerly interludes, with breezier and wetter weather at times, as low-pressure areas are expected to pass to the north of Scotland.

Mainly dry and settled conditions are expected in the south due to higher pressure. and more warm weather is anticipated with temperatures remaining slightly above average and winds generally light. There is a small risk that a deeper area of low pressure could develop close to the UK, bringing much windier, cooler and wetter weather to all areas - an early taste of Autumn for sure.

Next Update

As the summer holidays draw to a close, what can we expect from the forecast?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/outlook

[TSNWK]

Hello all,

I see the Met-office have today indicated that  above average nd dryer than average is most likely for the next 3 months! - suggestive to me of similar set-up to what we have had  in general since start of June, including a Jet-Stream Way! way to the North.

I'm aware of a southerly JS also being good for blocking in Winter, but what are the views if it stays so far north as we enter the Autumn and  beyond, it defo  seems to  be stuck... although the  Vortex ramping up might push  it towards a more normal latitude? or is it chicken and Egg and  the JS being so far north will impact on the Vortex

Thanks Gang!

[Summer Sun]

UK heading for INDIAN SUMMER as Met Office forecast shows warm weather for MONTHS

THE UK looks set for an Indian Summer with many more months of “warmer-than-average” temperatures expected, the Met Office has forecast.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/999710/uk-weather-forecast-met-office-long-range-august-september-october

UK weather to stay warm until OCTOBER as Met Office forecasts 'Indian Summer'

BRITAIN could face three months of above-average temperatures as the extreme hot weather has increased chances of an “Indian Summer”, according to forecasters.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/721607/weather-forecast-uk-long-range-indian-summer-met-office-bbc-london-news

UK weather forecast: Mixed showers and dry spells as hotter-than-average summer could spell warmer autumn

The Met office three-month outlook does not suggest the hot weather will last that long but it may be "warmer than average"

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-weather-forecast-mixed-showers-13042715

Edited August 7, 2018 by Summer Sun

[Turnedoutniceagain]

Scorchio until October.....etc

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6949023/britain-heatwave-last-until-october-met-office-forecast/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SprnklrSUNOrganic&UTMX=Editorial:TheSun:FBLink:Statement:News

[Summer Sun]

New South Wales drought now affects entire state

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), is now entirely in drought, officials have confirmed.

A dry winter has intensified what has been called the worst drought in living memory in parts of eastern Australia.

NSW produces about a quarter of Australia's agricultural output. It was officially listed as "100% in drought" on Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-45107504

 

[Summer Sun]

BBC monthly outlook

Wednesday 8 August—Sunday 12 August

Fresher than recently with some showers for most

The remainder of this week will be fresher than recently, particularly over central and southeastern England which experienced a hot start to the week. On Wednesday, much of the UK will have spells of sunshine but there will be scattered showers too; the showers most frequent over western areas. Indeed, a more organised band of showers is likely for a time over parts of Wales and western England in the afternoon. Temperatures will be down on recent days with highs ranging from 15 to 19 Celsius over Scotland and Northern Ireland to 20 to 25 Celsius over central, southern and eastern England.

On Thursday, many central, northern and western parts of the UK will have spells of sunshine but with showers in places; showers most frequent over Northern Ireland and western Scotland. Cloudier over south-east England and East Anglia with a risk of rain. Temperatures typically reaching the high teens to low 20s Celsius. A breezy and cool day for many on Friday with showers spreading from west to east across the country but some sunshine at times as well. This weekend, a low pressure area approaching from the north-east Atlantic is likely to bring increasingly wet and breezy conditions to western and northern parts of the UK. Often dry and quite warm for the south-eastern quarter of the UK this weekend but an increasing risk of rain here, too, by the end of the weekend.

Monday 13 August—Sunday 19 August

Drier and warmer conditions gradually returning

The first couple of days of next week are likely to be rather cool, breezy and showery over large parts of the UK. Indeed, some of the showers could be quite heavy for a time.
Temperatures will most likely be not far from the seasonal average but the wind and showers are likely to make it feel distinctly cool. Through the middle to latter part of next week, many central and southern areas of the UK are likely to see a change in the weather as a high pressure ridge moves closer from the southwest.

Temperatures are likely to rise a little above the seasonal average here with winds falling lighter, making it feel much warmer. It should become somewhat drier too. However, northern parts of the UK are likely to stay less warm with temperatures remaining nearer to the seasonal average as well as experiencing breezier conditions at times. Western Scotland together with Northern Ireland could remain quite wet through much of the week. However, this extent of any rain by the end of the week is rather uncertain. Indeed, there appear to be chances of high pressure extending much further north than we currently expect, which would also extend dry and warm conditions into the north if this happens.

Monday 20 August—Sunday 2 September

Lengthy dry and warm spells for most

The closing weeks of summer are likely to bring some further lengthy episodes of dry and rather warm weather to the UK. Indeed, overall, temperatures are expected to be a little above the seasonal average with rainfall amounts somewhat below what we would normally expect in late summer. However, there most likely will be occasional less warm and showery days as fronts occasionally move in from the Atlantic. Dry and warm days are likely to outweigh the number of any cooler, wetter days. There is a chance of one or two spells of stronger heat although these would appear most likely for the south-eastern quarter of England where a few days of 30+ Celsius are easily possible. Equally, there is the chance of a run of a few wetter and cooler days, although these are perhaps more likely towards the turn of the month. However, the most likely scenario is for any wet and cool periods of weather to be rather short-lived.

Next Update

Next week we will take a look at what could be in store for early September. Will this summer's mostly dry and warm weather persist?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/outlook?ns_linkname=news_central&ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_weather

[Summer Sun]

'Exceptionally dry' weather forces cancellation of Highland Games

The event - which includes Highland dancing, hill racing and a piping competition - has been pulled with "severe regret".

https://news.sky.com/story/exceptionally-dry-weather-forces-cancellation-of-highland-games-11466758?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter&__twitter_impression=true

[Summer Sun]

UK weather: Heatwave sparked 'unprecedented surge' in A&E admissions, NHS says

A record 2.2m patients attended A&E in July, with a higher than usual number of admissions for respiratory issues.

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-heatwave-sparked-unprecedented-surge-in-ae-admissions-nhs-says-11466613

[Summer Sun]

Next few years 'may be exceptionally warm'

The next few years could be "anomalously warm", according to a new study.

Researchers have developed a mathematical model to predict how average global surface air temperatures will vary over the next few years.

The results suggest that the period from 2018 to 2022 could see an increased likelihood of extreme temperatures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45185721