Scotland/Alba Regional Weather Discussion 16/03/2018 Onwards

[Cheggers]

5 hours ago, Northernlights said:

Wind got up to near gale force yesterday afternoon and there was lots of  dust flying behnd the sower.Just one field to do Amazing transformation in just a week from ground too wet to these now arid conditions.Currently less windy sunny and 11c.

Daffs very battered by wind .They are very short too this year

Local farmers here playing catchup, but most fields now look ploughed. Grey and damp start, sun needs to hurry up. 

[Quinach]

Warmest day of the year if the outside thermometer is to be believed at 18C.  Dry with a moderate SW wind all day - thankfully not as strong and damaging as yesterday. 

Fields around us full of tractor lights until 11pm last night, farmers making up for lost time with sowing by the looks of things.   Still some geese around though which is late for them - Oystercatchers are here now which is another welcome sign of summer coming.

[Hairy Celt]

1 hour ago, Quinach said:

Warmest day of the year if the outside thermometer is to be believed at 18C.  Dry with a moderate SW wind all day - thankfully not as strong and damaging as yesterday. 

Fields around us full of tractor lights until 11pm last night, farmers making up for lost time with sowing by the looks of things.   Still some geese around though which is late for them - Oystercatchers are here now which is another welcome sign of summer coming.

18C in Fort William at teatime too.  Ms HC says it was 17C in Inverness earlier.

Oyestercatchers are dippy birds, nesting in all sorts of unsuitable places. I do like their manic call though, shrieking like the Russians are landing.

[Norrance]

14.6C max here. Warmest of the year so far. Only brief sunny intervals . Maybe more tomorrow?

[101_North]

Just shy of 15c and pushing midnight! First night for a few months that I've retired with the bedroom window open!

Edited April 18, 2018 by 101_North

[ciel]

A heavy dew earlier and now a beautiful still sunny morning with just a few high level clouds.

Temp 13C.....coffee and toast taken on patio.

No excuses for avoiding the garden today.

[Northernlights]

Minimum of 16c all night currently 17c and a bit overcast. Growth almost tropical with horse chestnut bursting into leaf. As another farmer said we"ll soon be shouting for rain but said to him we shouldn"t have to wait long.

[ciel]

Mid-day - its all gone downhill.

Almost complete cloud cover and a cool breeze now blowing. Temp 14C.

I've donned a jumper and scarf.

[101_North]

Temp briefly hit 19c at Edinburgh airport earlier. Currently 18c in the City Centre with a bit of a breeze. Cracking day. 

[Cheggers]

2 hours ago, ciel said:

Mid-day - its all gone downhill.

Almost complete cloud cover and a cool breeze now blowing. Temp 14C.

I've donned a jumper and scarf.

Yep very overcast here with a niggling breeze taking the edge of the warmth.

[Norrance]

Reached 18,4C here which broke yesterdays previous high of 14.6C by almost 4C. Beats last weeks 6s with Easterly winds off the sea any time.

Saw that the Kenmore to Amulree road was finally cleared of snow at the weekend by a digger. They usually make sure it is open by Easter for tourists. The Lawers road however was still blocked though it is 80 mtrs higher peaking at 550 mtrs asl. 

 

 

 

 

[Quinach]

Another hottest day of the year at 20C going by both car and outside thermometers - as ever the automated Met Office forecast is 2C too low for the max temperature, a consistent feature over the last few months.

Dry and generally sunny but quite a lot of high level cloud making the sunshine hazy.  Nagging moderate SW wind though, but at least that is mild and makes for a cracking day for washing and drying.

Now, can we just book this type of weather until October please....

[Hawesy]

This is more like it. 

Leuchars hit 17.2c yesterday but made it to 20c today. Breezy at times which took the edge off the warmth but so very welcome after a LONG (but exciting) winter!

As @Quinach says I’d take this every day until October! 

[Polar Gael]

Warmest day of the year so far here today as well, but a more modest maximum of 16.1C. Glorious evening sunshine as well. Flora and fauna all starting to spring into action. This doughty lass was on top of the hedge in the wee hoose's garden this evening. Cheeky...

[Hairy Celt]

With apologies to @CatchMyDrift, I am sick of daffodils, they're taking over. They're so showy, unlike the cheeky little snowdrops.

Anyhow... Mixed would describe this week, with warm and sometimes very wet by Glencoe, then a bit cooler and some brilliant sunshine in Caithness. The warmth will take a bit of getting used to after this winter. My little pocket camera is still drying out after a drenching - who can I sue for weather-related damage?

There were the first signs of native plants flowering this week in Caithness with King Cups / Marsh Marigolds flowering nicely in ditches. The moors are still very late wintery grey and yellow with little growth on heaths, and I've seen several dead deer out this week - starved. Happens every year but I think more this year. I've also seen 2 badgers dead on the road on the Black Isle this week - 1 is unusual, never seen 2 in a week before - as well as roe deer dead by the road.

[Quinach]

Alas not a third day of record temperatures - max of 19C today which is nothing to grumble about.  Plenty sunshine through the day with light to moderate SW winds. 

Did get a light stealth rain shower at 6pm though.  You know, the type of shower where the rain appears, you look up, and instead of dark cloud you see blue sky and wisps of white cloud - I'm guessing the dying remains of one of the showers that seemed to have been hitting the west of Aberdeenshire (Inverness apparently had heavy shower at teatime).

The heat the last few days has seen plants start to rocket into growth.  One advantage of the late spring is that the late flowering daffodils are coming out whilst the early flowering species of daffodil are still in full bloom.  Apologies to Hairy Celt, cannot resist another daffodil photo (variety called Jetfire) - the beech hedge still refusing to show any sign of budding.

[Hairy Celt]

@Quinach, sodding daffs but nice photo!

The sun is trying to break through but I'm going back to bed anyway. 

 

[ciel]

Its chilly out this morning, clear sky, frost, and nae wind. 6am temp 2C. I suspect this will be a cool but bright day. 

A straggler flock of Pink-footed Geese  passed overhead heading NW, but still not a Swallow in sight.

[ciel]

8 minutes ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Funny that you mention dead badgers but I've seen three this week. What's going on?

 

Last spring, when staying in Midlothian while doggie was having her radiotherapy at Roslin, I noticed ( and may have commented on) numerous dead badgers in the area - and Borders/East Lothian, either road-kill or dumped?

I am aware that hare-coursers sometimes dispose of the quarry on road-sides.

[mardatha]

Ciel I'm right on the line between the Borders and Midlothian and we see them every Spring, they are always found on the same stretches of road and the old folk say these are badger runs, and they are on the move this time of year to find a mate. I've been here over 30 years and they are always, every year, at the side of the same stretches of road. It's so sad, I wish they would make wee underpasses for them - but I suppose they wouldn't use them anyway..

[Hairy Celt]

https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/snh-issues-licence-for-mass-raven-cull-in-5-year-experiment/

Is this for real? I can't quite believe that SNH are so inept. Perhaps they're just in the pockets of the hunting and shooting lobby.

[Norrance]

1 hour ago, Hairy Celt said:

https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/snh-issues-licence-for-mass-raven-cull-in-5-year-experiment/

Is this for real? I can't quite believe that SNH are so inept. Perhaps they're just in the pockets of the hunting and shooting lobby.

The disappearance of the four golden eagles (plus the sea eagle and red kite) in that particular area of Highland Perthshire is very suspicious. 

[Richard Taylor]

Fit like all,

The weather forecast for Aberdeen Airport NE Scotland now changed to reflect the possibility of a thunderstorm between 0000 - 0600 tomorrow. Previously just reporting the possibility of showers in this timeframe. Might be interesting viewing later!    

Presume likes of Edinburgh & Dundee might similarly reflect this possibility.

Probably still a remote possibility but we will see.

[Ravelin]

Decent day here again, mostly blue skies, 16C and just a bit of a breeze. Had time enough and it was warm enough for us to do the first full check of the year on the bees. Both hives have survived though the winter and the queens are laying again, so a pair of happy beekeepers now sat in the garden with a cold drink enjoying the sun. 

[Northernlights]

Fine day again currently breezy sunny and 16c

As Hairy Celt has mentioned The  roe deer have had a very bad winter as any I have seen are very thin and they have been grazing the grass fields during the day for the past week. I think the badgers are in the same  boat and are starving but in this case I think sheer numbers in this area are a big problem they have been making  numerous  latrines  at night next to  the house and even in the dutch barn next to the straw .Have never seen this behaviour on this scale before and so close to us. First field of barley sown 8 days ago is just breaking the surface.

Cows  got their first taste of grass today along with their load of neeps in the field but will be back in at night to their calves for maybe the next ten days at least.