Stormy Weather II

[DracoM]

Up here in UK, utter, utter cold, wet filth - not a horizon to be seen on account of all-embracing low dense cloud and fog.
Yuk......................

[Serial_Apologist]

Quite pleasantly mild after yesterday's seeming chill: Yesterday I undertook a 12-mile round cycle trip - a rare event at this time of the year, when it starts getting dark by 3.30pm. Streatham Common looked beautiful in the low-slanting afternoon sunshine; more people should plant massed shrub-scaled Dogwood or willow for the almost psychedelic shimmer effect produced when the sun is low*. Today it was to be a 4-mile walk, taking in some woodland paths that will soon be too muddy to contemplate including in my chosen routes, given the expectation of high rainfalls.

*These "miniature" varieties of Dogwood and willow are easily confused in appearance: one way to identify them correctly is by association with the Latin names for each species, taking the second letter in each name: Cornus (Dogwood), has oppositely arranged branchings from the main stem, whereas Salix (willow) branches alternate.

[oddoneout]

A pleasant morning, sunny and fairly mild, but it changed suddenly at lunchtime becoming gray, cold and windy. I managed to get my trip into town(combination of a couple of errands if the places were open, and getting some fresh air and exercise without the mud and dog mess of the walk over the common) done just as the rain started. Wet and windy seems to be the order of the day now until Thursday, when perhaps we'll lose the wet but keep the wind.

[Old Grumpy]

Up here in UK, utter, utter cold, wet filth - not a horizon to be seen on account of all-embracing low dense cloud and fog.
Yuk......................

Cold, wet filth...


...must be Cumbria- would not be like that in Yorkshire, surely?

We have just returned from a lovely few days in the South with family. Fairly cold, wet filth was present around South and West Yorkshire, but the weather improved dramatically when we entered North Yorkshire

[Joseph K]

It's 8 degrees now apparently, but it feels much colder.

[oddoneout]

Quite pleasantly mild after yesterday's seeming chill: Yesterday I undertook a 12-mile round cycle trip - a rare event at this time of the year, when it starts getting dark by 3.30pm. Streatham Common looked beautiful in the low-slanting afternoon sunshine; more people should plant massed shrub-scaled Dogwood or willow for the almost psychedelic shimmer effect produced when the sun is low*. Today it was to be a 4-mile walk, taking in some woodland paths that will soon be too muddy to contemplate including in my chosen routes, given the expectation of high rainfalls.

*These "miniature" varieties of Dogwood and willow are easily confused in appearance: one way to identify them correctly is by association with the Latin names for each species, taking the second letter in each name: Cornus (Dogwood), has oppositely arranged branchings from the main stem, whereas Salix (willow) branches alternate.

Decades ago large quantities of native dogwood were used as planting alongside two (then new) stretches of major roadbuilding in these parts and they provide a great deal of pleasure in autumn and winter. I have one remaining small pollarded willow in my garden(change of neighbours enabled change of boundary planting and removal of the others) and the glowing lime, orange and red stems light up a dull day but really glow when the afternoon sun gets round. It does well as a substitute Cornus "Midwinter Fire" for which I don't have border space.

[DracoM]

Driving NW-wind - more N than W - bringing shed-loads of heavy rain, temps c 5C. Utter depressing filth.

[Serial_Apologist]

For the first time ever since I started checking, no spherics (lightning discharges) are at this precise moment being registered anywhere on Lightningmaps north of the Equator.

Back home the portents do not bode for a rain-free 24 hours anywhere in the UK this side of the New Year. The bunching of frontal systems crossing from west to east leads to rain zones converging, one into the next, as is happening today. The resulting overall absence of energy concentrations and in general of sharp temperature differentials for the time being tends to make for periods of prolonged but not especially heavy rain - apart that is from in mountainous areas, subject to orographic forcing - but the relative mildness is not made to seem in any way fortunate by the strong winds also expected!

[BBMmk2]

A rain free day?!?!?

[oddoneout]

A rain free day?!?!?

Well one can always hope, sometimes with more justification than others...
A bright, dry, if rather breezy, morning is now beginning to cloud over, but the forecast and the map suggest it should stay dry. Rain and increasingly strong winds for tomorrow morning though, not what the market stall holders will want. I must remember to put the bungee strap over the recycling bin - the stupid lid design makes it prone to being blown over, as it was last night when the gusts got close to 40mph. Tonight shouldn't be that bad but I have sleep disturbance enough without that!

[teamsaint]

Bright, sunny , dry and mild here.
Best to make the most of it , looking at the forecast…..

Lots of folk out and about the morning , when I was out for a decent run designed to start shifting the xmas excess .

[Serial_Apologist]

Bright, sunny , dry and mild here.
Best to make the most of it , looking at the forecast…..

Lots of folk out and about the morning , when I was out for a decent run designed to start shifting the xmas excess .

Ready for the binge collectors, then, ts!

Several of the wheelie variety got overturned in last night's gale - rubbish strewn all about which I would expect the bin collectors to refuse to touch.

[DracoM]

Up here, we are being battered by fierce, icy and unflagging westerlies. 3C max.
Bins teams have done their job well, but, crikey! how they have managed it from 6.30 a.m. in these temps, I do not know.
Occasional flurries of a sleetish sort of rain.

[BBMmk2]

Will we be getting North America’s Artic Bomb?

Pelting down with rain today!

[oddoneout]

Things seem to have moved on overnight, with the duration of today's rain considerably reduced, and the high winds dropping sooner than expected. Looking at the weather map and what's happening outside currently it's possible that the rain will finish fairly soon - the bank of cloud over the region has some significant holes in it heading this way, and what's here now is high, not very thick, and well broken. The rain isn't heavy but the wind gives it more effect. Looks as if I can get out before midday for errands on foot to combine fresh air and exercise with going to Morrisons to return some rotten clementines for refund and trying to get some more milk - they are going over to tetrapaks for the small sizes so I might not be able to get a 1 pint (ideally) or 2 pint(heavy to carry home) plastic bottle. I find milk in the boxes gets an unpleasant taint if it isn't used up quickly once opened and it then becomes useless for putting in tea - which is all I use it for 95% of the time, so rather pointless and wasteful - but getting plastic bottles means either bus(hourly) or car to the edge of town supermarkets which means doing other shopping to make it worthwhile - but I don't need anything else at the moment...