How many articles are there proclaiming a Beast from the East this week? Too many, it's just a cold easterly wind.
Beast from the East, what does that say to you? After last winter’s heavy snowfall and bitter cold, it should signify severe winter weather, an easterly airflow with continuous cold air from Russia and a feed of snow showers heading in from the North Sea. From that event in February/March 2018, there was widespread disruption, red and amber warnings from the Met Office, lying snow for many days and, in places, problems with food and milk supplies and transport links.
This week, there will be a cold easterly wind.
It will feel significantly colder, especially after last week’s mild southerly when the UK saw over 17C. With colder air flowing our way, thanks to a high pressure briefly sitting over Scandinavia, there will be a real chill in the air and some sharp showers.
Showers of rain, hail, sleet and snow for some hills. All this coming in off the North Sea. Air temperatures +6 to +8C but it will feel colder than that in the wind.
Overnight, there will be frost and ice to watch out for, there could be warnings for ice but no disruption from the rain or wintry showers is expected.
So, don your winter coat, gloves and scarf but you don’t need extra bread or milk. I’m sure the Met office would rather you read this Winter Ready checklist than the fiction created in these articles. Always the same; dramatic, sensational headline with CAPITALS thrown in. A half quote from the Met Office press release to give article credibility. Photos of extreme weather, hot, cold, flooding, snow, gales, stormy seas. A made-up bit of forecast, or copy from another newspapers article and sometimes for extra fun the wind chill temp from top of Cairngorm as a scary minimum. Or a made up length of time as to how long the heatwave/snow storm/freezing winds/ heavy rain will last. Weeks or months just pick a number, any number.
Why is this so annoying?
Because if or when real severe weather is forecast, people won’t listen. There will be fatigue or numbness to weather warnings. As more and more newspapers fold, and ad revenues are squeezed, more output is copying the Daily Express weather tale formula as a potential success story. It gets clicks, it gets shared.
Stop sharing these, just screenshot it if you want to share and chat.
Before the real 2018 Beast from the East, which was very well forecast as the signal was so strong, we did issue advice and warnings. I suppose it is a case of who you trust in the world of every day fake news and hype. It is hard though with a bombardment of images and headlines on social media feeds, as well as the newspaper tops in the shops. It is only November. There will be a cold east wind this week and some wintry showers, but we have a whole winter still to come.
Will it snow? and radar (chose Precip Type on)
All about Thundersnow
What is the Beast from the East ?
