Scotland/Alba weather discussion - March 2021 onwards

[bomdabass]

Sat in my sheltered SW back garden and it could be July. Lots of moaning about the weather (UK wide) the last 4 weeks, but I'll.take dry and sunny any time, even if it's been a bit cold at nights. Anyway, looks like today is the last of the wall to wall sunshine, so might as well use it

[Norrance]

15 minutes ago, bomdabass said:

Sat in my sheltered SW back garden and it could be July. Lots of moaning about the weather (UK wide) the last 4 weeks, but I'll.take dry and sunny any time, even if it's been a bit cold at nights. Anyway, looks like today is the last of the wall to wall sunshine, so might as well use it

 

Completely agree. Great for getting out and about and getting outdoor jobs done. Bonus is cold nights and dry days mean fewer insects and hardly any slugs and snails in the garden. Only had to cut my grass once this year too!

[Hairy Celt]

1 minute ago, Norrance said:

Completely agree. Great for getting out and about and getting outdoor jobs done. Bonus is cold nights and dry days mean fewer insects and hardly any slugs and snails in the garden. Only had to cut my grass once this year too!

Odd you say fewer insects because I've been pleased to see so may bees (and hover flies, and other little flies) buzzing around on the fruit trees and bushes.. Not many butterflies yet but it's still April.  I'd agree about the lack of slug and snail activity but that may be about to change... No swallows or martins yet.

[Ravelin]

17 hours ago, Northernlights said:

Just for a bit of optomism I saw the first swallow yesterday morning about 7.30am It flew into the garage and I think remained there all day probably resting having arrived in such cold temperatures. Currently 4.5c

We saw a couple of Swift I think, either that or Martins as tail didn't look long enough for a Swallow. We were sat in the lounge looking out and they didn't hang a round for long.

It's been a glorious weekend, felt a little warmer yesterday than it did today, but only really the strength of the sun making it feel so warm as the air temp maxed out at around 14C both days. I've spent most of both days in the garden and we've had lunch sat out both days too, in a sheltered but sunny spot. Not too bothered about the rain forecast for this week, we certainly need it. I'd have been more upset if it had rained the last tow days then turned sunny like it's been when I'm in work. The 3 day weekend next weekend isn't looking anywhere close to as nice at the moment.

[SW Saltire]

Been a very dry last couple weeks, lots of sunshine but temperatures generally cool. 
I think the warmest was yesterday reaching 18c. 

We do need some rain but temperatures look like they’re going to become very disappointing again. 
 

Sadly the dry conditions have led to fires, the photo below relates to a fire currently ongoing behind my house set by a bunch of young boys who all ran away. 

[mardatha]

Where do snails and slugs go in long dry spells?   Do they (she said hopefully)  die off?

[Methuselah]

2 minutes ago, mardatha said:

Where do snails and slugs go in long dry spells?   Do they (she said hopefully)  die off?

I still fondly recall 1976: no rain for weeks on end, but, come the rain, and the slugs were everywhere! Maybe they're capable of traversing the space-time continuum? 

[Norrance]

3 hours ago, Hairy Celt said:

Odd you say fewer insects because I've been pleased to see so may bees (and hover flies, and other little flies) buzzing around on the fruit trees and bushes.. Not many butterflies yet but it's still April.  I'd agree about the lack of slug and snail activity but that may be about to change... No swallows or martins yet.

Actually have seen quite a lot of bees and butterflies plus a few wasp queens in the last week or two. Not so many earwigs or slaters though as well as slugs and just noticed my first ants today.

[Hairy Celt]

51 minutes ago, mardatha said:

Where do snails and slugs go in long dry spells?   Do they (she said hopefully)  die off?

If only... they just hide under stones and leaves and holes wherever they can.  My mother used to go round lifting up stones in her garden to find them; she'd take a pair of scissors with her.

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

 clouds bubbling up they look pretty nice on sat, anyone got a view of them? Just light showers from them on radar. 

[Hairy Celt]

3 minutes ago, Kirkcaldy Weather said:

 clouds bubbling up they look pretty nice on sat, anyone got a view of them? Just light showers from them on radar. 

Just looks like tedious mid level stratus from here. Gone from blue sky 90 mins ago to 100% cloud 30 mins ago. Pfft.

[Norrance]

2 hours ago, SW Saltire said:

Been a very dry last couple weeks, lots of sunshine but temperatures generally cool. 
I think the warmest was yesterday reaching 18c. 

We do need some rain but temperatures look like they’re going to become very disappointing again. 
 

Sadly the dry conditions have led to fires, the photo below relates to a fire currently ongoing behind my house set by a bunch of young boys who all ran

 

My daughter was down in D&G this weekend visiting friends just West of Gatehouse of Fleet and said the weather was great. Warm enough for her pals to get into the sea this morning but they admittedly did have wetsuits on. Went up a hill nearby this afternoon but defo did not start any fires though she said underfoot was very dry.

[Quinach]

2 hours ago, Norrance said:

Actually have seen quite a lot of bees and butterflies plus a few wasp queens in the last week or two. Not so many earwigs or slaters though as well as slugs and just noticed my first ants today.

Gardening today, alas came across two New Zealand Flatworms hiding under a bin, promptly dispatched as they do terrible damage to earthworms.  Really disgusting things.

Reached a max of 14c, wall to wall sunshine and generally light winds except around lunchtime.

[Northernlights]

Fabulous day here with deep blue sky and maximum temperature of 14c after a 1c start and ground frost. Just still the one swallow and lots of bumble bees on a woody shrub we have with wisteria like cream drop flowers.They were there even in the coldest of the weather in early April .Three of them were still there at 9.00pm this evening when I had a glass of wine surveying my progress in the garden with most of the vegetables sown today in front of the rain. Hope its warm enough for these seeds to germinate .Kept half the parsnips back in case that cold  happens.

While sitting there I also saw a bat the first of the year I have witnessed but they were probably out earlier.Strangely it appears too that the horse chestnut has had the top third of its open buds frosted earlier this month.Presumebly it will recover a bit but the lower more sheltered branches are coming into proper leaf.

[metallikat34]

A perfect day for a hike in the Borders! Loch Skeen at the top of Grey Mares Tail was just pristine today. 

But so dry! Not sure I’ve ever seen so much “burnt” landscape and dust in Scotland.

Big pattern changes coming tomorrow. Certainly colder but just how much more precipitation as we head into May?

[shuggee]

Beauty of a day yesterday with a max of 15.4C and the sixty sixth overnight air frost at -12.C.

Smashing clear vistas just a bit further north and west than your spot @metallikat34:

Today starting in the same vein, but obvs not going to last. Rain to reach here early afternoon the forecast says - the grass is waiting in anticipation....

[Hairy Celt]

9 hours ago, metallikat34 said:

A perfect day for a hike in the Borders! Loch Skeen at the top of Grey Mares Tail was just pristine today. 

But so dry! Not sure I’ve ever seen so much “burnt” landscape and dust in Scotland.

Big pattern changes coming tomorrow. Certainly colder but just how much more precipitation as we head into May?

Looking at your 2nd photo, this is typical for the hills in April, early May. Nearly everything you see is last year's growth (no-one's torched it) with little green shoots just appearing. It's slower than average due to low rainfall and cold ground condition, but with day length now well stretched, all it needs is a couple of weeks of wet and mild weather and the hills will be green again.

I read what @Northernlights and others write, in that winter gets later and later, little by little. But brown hills in May aren't that unusual.

I'd be interested to see what others think - my own observations have been very limited this spring....

[Puffy MacCloud]

Friday was a lovely day with a maximum temperature of 18.1deg.C although it cooled down substantially in the evening, not that that hindered the beer disposal in any way. Saturday was a write-off as a result. Sunday, however, was a delightful day with sunshine, temperature up to 17.3deg.C and a picnic lunch at my daughter's new house.

Today started well with the temperature at 09:30 being 10.4deg.C and pressure was 1030hPa but now the temperature is 9.8deg.C up from a minimum of 2.3deg.C at 02:43, humidity is 72%, wind is 1 to 4mph southerly, pressure is 1021.7hPa dropping like a stone, there's been no rain in the last 24 hours (nor since the 18th of April,) and cloud cover is 8/8 but just thin enough to keep thing looking bright.

[metallikat34]

4 hours ago, Hairy Celt said:

Looking at your 2nd photo, this is typical for the hills in April, early May. Nearly everything you see is last year's growth (no-one's torched it) with little green shoots just appearing. It's slower than average due to low rainfall and cold ground condition, but with day length now well stretched, all it needs is a couple of weeks of wet and mild weather and the hills will be green again.

I read what @Northernlights and others write, in that winter gets later and later, little by little. But brown hills in May aren't that unusual.

I'd be interested to see what others think - my own observations have been very limited this spring....

Good to know that the brown hills in April/May aren't too abnormal. And thats an interesting and informative point on the regrowth! I hadn't thought of that, but then again, I am too knowledgable on how land regenerates itself on an annual manner. I use the good ole and super scientific "eyeball" test.

But it does sound like crop stress is starting to become a concern

"“In Europe, as the recent cold period eases, attention has shifted to ongoing dryness after little or no rain fell in France, Germany and the UK over the past few weeks, increasing concerns over crop stress,” said Mr Lane." Source: 

Grain prices pushed higher as weather worries grow - Farmers Weekly

WWW.FWI.CO.UK

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A nervous grain market saw November 2021 London feed wheat futures rise by more than £6/t on Thursday (22 April) to just over £186/t, another new contract

 

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

Having my normal look at the wrf nmm and something stood out for around 6pm tonight in the NE, you tend to get more spin in the atmosphere with low pressures and that is shown along with a small but quite unstable area there is a small amount of CIN but you can look at that in a few ways either it kills any convection off or sometimes if the other ingredients look strong enough cells can still develop which I think could happen this time the main thing I would be looking out for is funnels and could be a bit of thunder @Mair Snaw 

[Mair Snaw]

@Kirkcaldy Weather i was getting excited thinking it was gonna snaw!! but a bit of thunder etc will do for now.

[Quinach]

Cool (max 10.3c), cloudy and slightly damp, light winds.

So far the forecast heavy rain has come to nothing, with just a short burst of rain at 9am and also at 3pm.  Surfaces are wet but scratch the soil and its powder immediately below.

Some nicely ominous dark clouds forming to the North just now, see what comes of those.

[NUT]

Pouring with rain (been a long time since I said that)!

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

Lightning with the cell near Cupar (were some strikes earlier south of Elgin) think I see the tops of it but its moving the wrong direction for me to get a good look 

[Mair Snaw]

Stunning sky above Ellon earlier..

Edited April 26, 2021 by Mair Snaw