Stormy Weather II

[BBMmk2]

SA, wild, wet and windy here today!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Absolutely thrashing it down / big wind up here. And it looks like only the start!

Yes - we got that here about an hour later. Things much more settled this morning.

[oddoneout]

Windy overnight but little rain. Light but persistent rain this morning and the wind has died down, so feeling mild. I suspect that molluscs may make an appearance in the garden now - useful for the birds getting into breeding fettle but not so good for new growth and early low growing flowers.

[BBMmk2]

Oh well, we had Storm Freya yesterday! Talk about a storm and a half! My goodness! Hopefully it will be a calmer day today!

[Serial_Apologist]

Some nice thunderly showers looming up from the west here right now, the distant hills disappearing behind a curtain of grey, the wind whistling around our premises. My afternoon walk is on hold while they pass through, which should be quite rapid. No spherics so far on lightningmaps, but I wouldn't be at all surprised were there to come a flash or two.

Leaves are starting to appear on one of our crab apple trees, and I'm amazed to see the large hornbeam coming into leaf - by far the earliest I've seen.

[oddoneout]

It has been what I think of as a typical March day today, bright, windy and rather chilly, reminding me of numerous childhood camping trips. The high winds peaked around midnight, dropped over the next few hours and then started winding up again at abut 9am. Excellent drying day provided things stayed on the line, but disentangling sleeves etc took a while. The wind gradually dropped during the afternoon, although remaining rather blustery.

[BBMmk2]

What a contrast today than Sunday’s!

[DracoM]

Blowing up big and blustery here. Fleeting sun, as yet no rain, but horizon towards Morecambe Bay looking ominous.

[Serial_Apologist]

Warm front moving in from the SW: very thick cloud sheet for a warm front, whihc usually suggests a lot of rain to come along with it. This system's going to be around for the next few days, so think rain, windy (the further north west you go) and temperatures near of slightly above the norms for early March (sort of 9-11 C range).

Some are making predictions for a lot of snow on Thursday of next week...

[greenilex]

Yesterday I was caught in a brisk dump of small hailstones, quickly followed by one of the largest and most distinct rainbows I have seen.

Today not too cold but greyish and breezy. Doesn’t feel like spring, though bulbs and violets and magnolia blossom are everywhere in the Parks. Maybe “out like a lamb” will come true?

[Serial_Apologist]

The lunchtime rews was reporting on the rising death toll from the weekend tornadoes in America, and, while obviously not wishing to in any way diminish the grief and suffering this event has caused, I could not help thinking of the irony, given that "Christian" America elected a climate change resulting from human activity denier for President, that that country is one of the worst contributers to global warming and pollution through its advocacy of non-sustainable means of energy production. American people are, of course, no worse than any others of wealth who consciously choose to live in coastal areas subject to the full force of the resulting Atlantic and tropical storm systems - one thinks of those who have chosen parts of the Suffolk and Norfolk coastlines to retire to; a good friend of mine has elected to move down to a part of the Sussex coast that is strongly subject to coastal flooding. By the time I heard it was too late for me to advise aqgainst. And while people here continue to pave over their front gardens, causing increased runoff drainage systems weren't designed for, and councils to allow building on flood plains, we can't, as a culture, point the finger elsewhere. Another report on the news came from an area of NE India where the rivers releasing ever larger quantities of water as a consequence of Himalayan glacier ice melt the land is becoming submerged whenever the outflow coincides with high tides and Monsoon rainfalls demonstrates another aspect of the global picture, in this case affecting some of the world's poorest.

[DracoM]

Oh, yes indeedy indeed!

I cannot get over the fact that apparently sensible / intelligent people looking around them, hearing graphic and unrelenting news, seeing TV etc STILL do not add 2 + 2 and get 4. We are killing our planet.

And, like Brexit, we are wishing the catastrophe on others, and leaving the climate change miseries to the next three generations to clean up - and frankly, by then, it'll be way, way too late.

[BBMmk2]

Great, rain!

[Petrushka]

It's that time of the year when the dreaded fuel bill lands on the mat. I know it's been a coldish sort of winter but a quarterly bill of £520 for both gas and electricity (with EON) seems way too much for a single person in full time work (when the house is empty for most of the day). Something isn't right here.

Can anyone offer something comparable to my situation as a guide before I waste my time in complaining?

[Serial_Apologist]

It's that time of the year when the dreaded fuel bill lands on the mat. I know it's been a coldish sort of winter but a quarterly bill of £520 for both gas and electricity (with EON) seems way too much for a single person in full time work (when the house is empty for most of the day). Something isn't right here.

Can anyone offer something comparable to my situation as a guide before I waste my time in complaining?

Back at the beginning of December my energy supplier E.on sent me a letter stating that the new government cap meant I would not be receiving any further rises in charges for a lengthy period. Two weeks later a further letter arrrived telling me my gas charges were to be doubled! I phoned up and the lady dealing with queries initially asked if I couild afford £75 per month instead of the stated £105. I said that was preferable, whereupon she left me on "hold" to enquire of her superior, and came back to say there was some problem with the revised offer and she would phone me back. I heard nothing. Yesterday another letter arrived, announcing further charge increases in May. Last month I tried switching to Vodaphone on recommendation from a friend, applying online. Three attempts failed for some unaccountable reason - my friend said I should have immediatelly received an email of acknowledgement. He gave me a phone number, which I rang yesterday. The automatic recorded message asked me to dictate either my Vodaphone account number or that of my mobile. I don't have either a Vodaphone account or a mobile phone. My friend, who knows I don't own a mobile (and thinks I am a total idiot for not doing so, but why should I have to?) hasn't got back to me; so now I am likewise in limbo. Tomorrow I shall check some comparison websites and see if another company can come up with a better offer, but the present situation seems thoroughly untenable and, frankly, contemptible.