Stormy Weather

[MrGongGong]

Getting p****d off with getting p****d on !

I'm loving the rain
even though we still have a hosepipe ban (I know there's a BIG difference between weather and climate !)

just went to check on the allotment and its looking very good indeed
if people hate the rain so much there's this great place in Peru they could go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esEdC0c3YI4&feature=related

[Mr Pee]

Wind speed at 7:00 this morning in Chichester Harbour:-





I would normally expect to see this in October- not June...... and I've got to cycle into work later......

[BBMmk2]

Certainly is rather wild wet and windy here to! Especiallly last night! The trees in full leaf will easilybe blown down at the moment!

[aeolium]

"Midnight--in no midsummer tune
The breakers lash the shores:
The cuckoo of a joyless June
Is calling out of doors:.....

Midnight--and joyless June gone by,
And from the deluged park
The cuckoo of a worse July
Is calling thro' the dark:....

And, now to these unsummer'd skies
The summer bird is still,
Far off a phantom cuckoo cries
From out a phantom hill;"

(Of course the cuckoo, phantom or not, is hardly ever heard here now as they are so rare)

[Serial_Apologist]

Certainly is rather wild wet and windy here to! Especiallly last night! The trees in full leaf will easilybe blown down at the moment!

You certainly get it down on the S coast in this sort of situation. In expectation of worse I went out yesterday and loaded up, but so far hasn't been as bad as I'd have expected here in London.

[gurnemanz]

Tempestuous day for us - stormy weather + ROH Salome this evening.

[cloughie]

Tempestuous day for us - stormy weather + ROH Salome this evening.

Wild night, breezy here today in the Duchy, so far dry though!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So far, gentle breezes and mild drizzle on the Pennines (heavier rain overnight).

[Anna]

Today has not been anywhere near as bad as forecast, bit of rain this morning, fairly breezy, chilly, typical Winter's day. Last night was horrific for about an hour and a half, just couldn't sleep for wind and rain battering the windows, then suddenly ....... it all stopped, very odd. Few branches down but no trees felled. Tomorrow is promised dry and sunny but, horror of horrors, bought the RT at lunchtime and every day from Saturday onwards schedules are full of some football tournament! Weather had better improve so I can get in garden in the evenings!

[Serial_Apologist]

Today has not been anywhere near as bad as forecast, bit of rain this morning, fairly breezy, chilly, typical Winter's day. Last night was horrific for about an hour and a half, just couldn't sleep for wind and rain battering the windows, then suddenly ....... it all stopped, very odd.

Probably when the eye of the storm passed across, Anna!

but, horror of horrors, bought the RT at lunchtime and every day from Saturday onwards schedules are full of ...

I thought you were going to say "more rain"; but instead you wrote...

... some football tournament!

... which is even worse!!! Lots of links on Britain in old photographs thread to follow up on though, thankfully...

[Anna]

Probably when the eye of the storm passed across, Anna!
Lots of links on Britain in old photographs thread to follow up on though, thankfully...

Eye of the storm? Thanks for explanation - it was just so downright weird! Actually, wind is increasing now, may have spoken too soon. It's been veering wildly, yesterday was ESE, SSE and now it's WSW. I do hope all the cyclists are very careful in this weather. I'll catch up on any photos/links missed at the weekend, we have two fascinating threads going at the moment but I can't say any of it is nostalgia as I haven't lived in London (I've lived in Ealing and Wimbledon which don't count)

[Serial_Apologist]

Eye of the storm? Thanks for explanation - it was just so downright weird! Actually, wind is increasing now, may have spoken too soon. It's been veering wildly, yesterday was ESE, SSE and now it's WSW. I do hope all the cyclists are very careful in this weather. I'll catch up on any photos/links missed at the weekend, we have two fascinating threads going at the moment but I can't say any of it is nostalgia as I haven't lived in London (I've lived in Ealing and Wimbledon which don't count)

I was leg-pulling just a little bit, Anna, because one cannot speak of the eye of the storm in the case of our temperate depression systems in quite the same way one can about tropical hurricanes, where the eye is much more clearly defined as a calm central area of descending air; however, there is always an area of light and variable winds in the centre of any low pressure system at ground level, and your description of winds veering markedly does suggest proximity to the centre of this particular one, especially knowing that it has moved northwards across Wales.

As to cycling, personally I never do it in this kind of weather, following a traumatic incident cycling in strong winds many years ago, when a broken off branch smacked me right across the face, fortunately not quite blinding me; and I did somehow just manage to stay undislodged! It is more dangerous in a general sense in that high-sided passing vehicles create vacuums in their vicinity in high winds, so that cyclists get sucked towards them as they pass, then thrown sideways in their wake, which is really scary. Tall buildings tend to funnel and divert winds too, while at the same time accentuating wind strength, which can double in the space of a few yards. Nasty for umbrella holders, too!!!

[Nick Armstrong]

As to cycling, personally I never do it in this kind of weather, following a traumatic incident cycling in strong winds many years ago, when a broken off branch smacked me right across the face, fortunately not quite blinding me; and I did somehow just manage to stay undislodged! It is more dangerous in a general sense in that high-sided passing vehicles create vacuums in their vicinity in high winds, so that cyclists get sucked towards them as they pass, then thrown sideways in their wake, which is really scary. Tall buildings tend to funnel and divert winds too, while at the same time accentuating wind strength, which can double in the space of a few yards. Nasty for umbrella holders, too!!!

Nasty branch story!!

I've cycled this week... It's rain that puts me off - it all gets too dangerous then in terms of braking and visibility, as well as being just darned unpleasant.

I tend to soldier on through gales - the only time I'm really exposed, it's relatively safe and off the road (parks etc). You're right about buildings though - my bugbear is Centre Point, past which I ride on the way home. It has the cross-section of a wing or propellor-blade - if the wind is in the wrong quarter, it creates vacuums and vortices that would be dangerous but for the fact that the traffic around it is so snarled up that one is normally going at almost 0 mph.

I shall shortly be pedalling forth.

Wish me luck!

[Anna]

As to cycling, personally I never do it in this kind of weather

As to cyling - I just never do it! I didn't have a bike as a child, although both brothers had bikes (as I recall modified Claud Butlers?) and my eldest brother was mad keen and long distance and time trials, his last bike was also a Butler. I was persuaded to learn and then to buy a mountain bike for some off-road rough stuff here. I cannot say I enjoyed it, nor on-road cycling, I was too nervous in traffic and felt silly in a helmet and elbow defenders and that's the extent of my cycling career. Total wuss!

[BBMmk2]

Me and the Mrs wemnt to centr of Brioghton today. Goodnes the area around Churchill Square Shopping Mall was like being in a wind tunnel!! I( never seen the sea looking soooooo rough either!