Stormy Weather II

[DracoM]

Already appreciably below freezing up here.
Now, at 11 p.m. - temp = -8C

[Serial_Apologist]

Minus 2C here last night: the lowest since March 11 - still only + 3C albeit with Walter Wall sunshine and a gentle WNW breeze. Might do a brisk woodland walk this afternoon - the ground is drying up nicely with these low moisture levels and a drying wind.

[oddoneout]

Still cold but better than yesterday - slightly less wind and a good helping of sunshine makes a lot of difference. I timed it right to go out as it clouded up shortly after I got back about 40 mins ago, and there were a few spots of drizzle. A walk tomorrow looks set to be brisk, short and with gritted teeth because it's necessary, not from enjoyment!
The local rag is cheerfully running up the S word flag for next week, but the Met forecast doesn't mention it.
A more immediate concern for many will be the effect of spring tides in some coastal and low-lying areas.

[Serial_Apologist]

Still cold but better than yesterday - slightly less wind and a good helping of sunshine makes a lot of difference. I timed it right to go out as it clouded up shortly after I got back about 40 mins ago, and there were a few spots of drizzle. A walk tomorrow looks set to be brisk, short and with gritted teeth because it's necessary, not from enjoyment!
The local rag is cheerfully running up the S word flag for next week, but the Met forecast doesn't mention it.
A more immediate concern for many will be the effect of spring tides in some coastal and low-lying areas.

Indeed - and there were reports this morning of roads collapsing in a couple of places, along the Suffolk coast, I think it was said.

The temperature didn't actually exceed 4.5C today on my north wall-facing thermometer - which I have to faithfully record, although it probably reached a degree or so higher in the warm sunshine. My walk turned out to be most pleasant - there is nothing quite to compare with the beauty of low-angled sunshine reflecting side-on against shrubs and trees, especially Pyracantha berries, massed stands of "ornamental" willow in the gold, orange and lime green-stemmed varieties, and especially foliage in the stage immediately prior to falling.

[Old Grumpy]

Bit of gardening this afternoon - clearing leaves, planting out some new roses, redistributing bulbs, that kind of thing. Our last garden bin collection of the year is this week, so good work. Really quite pleasant outside for a bit of manual labour.

[oddoneout]

Indeed - and there were reports this morning of roads collapsing in a couple of places, along the Suffolk coast, I think it was said.

The temperature didn't actually exceed 4.5C today on my north wall-facing thermometer - which I have to faithfully record, although it probably reached a degree or so higher in the warm sunshine. My walk turned out to be most pleasant - there is nothing quite to compare with the beauty of low-angled sunshine reflecting side-on against shrubs and trees, especially Pyracantha berries, massed stands of "ornamental" willow in the gold, orange and lime green-stemmed varieties, and especially foliage in the stage immediately prior to falling.

The East Anglian coastline isn't the most durable at the best of times so erosion in these erratic and extreme times is a real concern. I think its a holiday park that's been affected this time - perhaps inevitably, as folks do like to have proximity to the sea for holidays...
A couple of mature silver birches, at different points in my walk, still had enough golden leaves left to look stunning against the blue sky back drop, and there is also one in a neighbouring garden that looked good, in a different colour contrast, as the sky became more grey tinged in the afternoon.

[Old Grumpy]

The East Anglian coastline isn't the most durable at the best of times so erosion in these erratic and extreme times is a real concern. I think its a holiday park that's been affected this time - perhaps inevitably, as folks do like to have proximity to the sea for holidays...
A couple of mature silver birches, at different points in my walk, still had enough golden leaves left to look stunning against the blue sky back drop, and there is also one in a neighbouring garden that looked good, in a different colour contrast, as the sky became more grey tinged in the afternoon.

Leaves all gone from Silver Birches here for a while.

[Serial_Apologist]

Leaves all gone from Silver Birches here for a while.

I would think that hereabouts around 75% of leaves are now down. This has re-assured the gardener somewhat, who has complained over the amount of work leaf clearance is taking up this year, what with the wet weather making leaves more difficult and time-consuming to clear - especially on reminding him that the oaks, which still have to shed most of theirs, are sufficiently far away from our precinct not to affect us. Thinking further about this, most of those oaks are to our south, and prevailing winds are expected to be from a more northerly or north-easterly direction for some time to come.

Speaking of which, a marked shift from westerly to north-westerly took place here an hour ago, accompanied by strong gusts and heavy rain, as the cold back-bent occlusion associated with last night's low swung down from the north. The area of rain associated with this front is remarkably wide - about 150 miles in width - although this is expected, given that occluded fronts combine precipitation from both warm front and cold front. Talk now is of a slight possibility of sleet or snow on Wednesday, as a small depression with its trailing cold front scraping the east slips down the North Sea, and Thursday as a major primary depression moves ENE up the English Channel. I was annoyed last night when for some unexplained reason Channel 5 substituted the repeat of a programme on The (2018) Beast From The East for what had been a heavily trailed one on the Thames flooding of central London in the 1920s.

[Serial_Apologist]

Colder today - max 5C following an early frost - and colder still to come. The top of Dartmoor could see some snow tomorrow, and it's not out of the question for the rest of us over the weekend. It didn't seem too bad this afternoon until getting on my bike and cycling to the shops as fast as my legs could carry me created my own chill factor! I was nevertheless surprised to note that it had dropped to 2C by the time I got home. By the looks of it the Atlantic jet does not make a return to our isles until mid-way through next week, and even then it will be slow, and daytime maximum temperatures will still be a couple of degrees below the early December norm of 8C

[Old Grumpy]

Colder today - max 5C following an early frost - and colder still to come. The top of Dartmoor could see some snow tomorrow, and it's not out of the question for the rest of us over the weekend. It didn't seem too bad this afternoon until getting on my bike and cycling to the shops as fast as my legs could carry me created my own chill factor! I was nevertheless surprised to note that it had dropped to 2C by the time I got home. By the looks of it the Atlantic jet does not make a return to our isles until mid-way through next week, and even then it will be slow, and daytime maximum temperatures will still be a couple of degrees below the early December norm of 8C

Smidge of snow on top of the North York Moors on the way to Helmsley today. 5°C is positively tropical. 2°C on the car external temperature reading today.

[oddoneout]

The temperature dropped suddenly and significantly just before dawn, so cars were thoroughly iced up by 8 am; I'd been awake at 4 am and it wasn't frosty then so it was rather a surprise. It took me quite a while to get the windscreen and back window clear enough to be able to drive safely to my Wednesday volunteer slot. The gardening wasn't too bad as there was virtually no breeze or cloud so the sun had some effect. By about 11-30 it started to get overcast and the temperature seemed to significantly drop again and it felt really raw cold so most of us decided to call it a day. I had errands to do before getting home and with the wind picking up it became rather unpleasant out - nice to go into shops and warm up a little, not so nice to have to come out again!
Looking forward to a cuppa and a bite to eat it was a shock to find the end of the road blocked by a police car and tape. I had to lug bags in two trips, sideways past the tape, up to my house and then find somewhere to park the car - choice limited by being on the edge of town with fields backing onto the houses. There is a small estate a couple of minutes away and I found a space there in the end. Getting it back won't be easy - the road is still(5pm) closed(why I'm not certain as it was a van/pedestrian accident at midday, not a burglary or some such) it's beginning to freeze again and forecast to be even colder tomorrow so de-icing will be even more difficult. Good thing I don't have anything I need to drive to - I can wait and see if the sun appears and if so whether the car is somewhere it will reach!

[DracoM]

Gentle snow already - 8.50 p.m. - up here in Cumbria.

[oddoneout]

As expected, cold overnight, (down to -4) freezing fog at times not good for those having to drive, which has become a very pretty morning scene of sun and blue skies enhancing thick sparkly frost coating everything.

[Old Grumpy]

Very thin covering of snow here this a.m. More or less gone now...


...that's my kind of snow. Looks nice when you look out of the window, but then dissappears and doesn't cause a nuisance.

[gurnemanz]

We played a couple of sets of oldie doubles tennis yesterday morning - chilly but very pleasant with intermittent sun and no wind.

Frost was forecast and when I got home I moved some frost-sensitive plants in pots and troughs under cover. Went down to -2 overnight so probably a wise precaution.