Stormy Weather II

[teamsaint]

No, shout them from the rooftops - for enthusiasts of railway history, a name of some significance (and I don't mean HM Prison) - see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feltham_marshalling_yard

Those G16s were something else - sort of Morton Feldman of steam locomotives .....

Good knowledge that, HD. Proper trains , those. Love the analogy.

I guess that the proposed southern and western rail access to Heathrow ( and the third runway) may put Feltham back on the rail map in a more significant way. Lord, its going to be busy round there..............

[oddoneout]

I think I'm going to stop looking at the forecasts for a while. They have been changing so quickly and significantly in terms of wind direction and temperature, not just from one day to the next but within each day, that I can't keep up. The temperature doesn't currently seem to bear much relation to wind direction either which I find disconcerting. The only constants have been pollen and UV - mostly VH, or for a change H.

[Petrushka]

I think I'm going to stop looking at the forecasts for a while. They have been changing so quickly and significantly in terms of wind direction and temperature, not just from one day to the next but within each day, that I can't keep up. The temperature doesn't currently seem to bear much relation to wind direction either which I find disconcerting. The only constants have been pollen and UV - mostly VH, or for a change H.

The BBC forecast on their website consistently understates temperatures. For instance, the top temperature promised for this area today was a measly 23 degrees which didn't quite square with 'hottest day of the year' predictions. The railway station thermometer at Derby read 23 degrees at 8.30 this morning and while most of us know to deduct a couple of degrees due to its location, it still read a monster 33 degrees at 5.30 this evening. That is some difference even accounting for location deduction and it certainly felt like 30+ to me.

[BBMmk2]

I certainly felt the heat in the afternoon, yesterday. We had 27C! During last hot I didn’t sleevery well, as I thought, it felt quite humid. Woke early with a stuffy head! Good old beconaise nasal spray! Wouldn’t surprise me if temperatures reached 30C today.

[Serial_Apologist]

I certainly felt the heat in the afternoon, yesterday. We had 27C! During last hot I didn’t sleevery well, as I thought, it felt quite humid. Woke early with a stuffy head! Good old beconaise nasal spray! Wouldn’t surprise me if temperatures reached 30C today.

Where you are, quite possibly, Bbm. Not here though, since a nice gentle sea breeze has come down the Thames estuary, and with humidity relatively low it's keeping temperatures down to a very pleasant 24 C at the moment. One very surprising feature of this warm spell has been the clarity of the atmosphere over London. Back in the years before the Clean Air Act, one would rarely see a deep blue sky, horizon-to-horizon, let alone find it easy picking out features 12 miles distant, through binoculars. There weren't so many British-made colour film releases back in the 1950s, but of the few filmed around London, today people remark on the paleness of the sky, the weak shadows and bland colours, and are surprised to discover that Technicolour was used, not Eastmancolour, which always produced austerer hues, regardless of location. One needed to get well out of London to experience proper deep blue skies in summer.

It seems we're still on for a fragmented breakdown of the heatwave on Sunday going into Monday, after which winds are expected to swing more into a south-westerly then westerly direction, bringing more changeable weather with the good chance of some rain, at last, and temperatures nearer what would be expected for this time of year - maxima around 21 C here in the south.

[oddoneout]

Sky would be a lot bluer here if not for the contrails. Yesterday morning I gave up counting at 24 while waiting for the kettle to boil. Same old mix here of hot sun and cool wind.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sky would be a lot bluer here if not for the contrails. Yesterday morning I gave up counting at 24 while waiting for the kettle to boil. Same old mix here of hot sun and cool wind.

So THAT's where all the aircraft have gone!!! Normally they come right over here when there's no jetstream to hasten them at regularity over the districts condemned to even more flightpaths when the turd runway at Heathrow gets built.

[DracoM]

High power heatwave here. Cloudless, hot, fells fantastic, BUT walking high - take care.

But this evening hot, sultry, stifling and a bit ominous.

[BBMmk2]

Going to be another hot day today but maybe cooler this afternoon,with some wind perhaps.

Most certainly the pollen count will be high! I can testify to that!

[Serial_Apologist]

Going to be another hot day today but maybe cooler this afternoon,with some wind perhaps.

Most certainly the pollen count will be high! I can testify to that!

The Indian manager of the local hardware shop was having a violent sneezing attack when I visited earlier. When I mentioned the high pollen levels as the probable cause, he vociferously denied this, saying he sneezed because he enjoyed sneezing. In fact, he added, he was starting up a society for sneezing enthusiasts! Very droll - he's obviously been living in London too long!

Much cooler today, with a gentle breeze off the N Sea bringing maxima down to 22 C. I've been delaying sunbathing on the lawn until after 5 pm in this hot midsummer sun. Today it might even be too cool: just now I actually had goosebumps while outside in my shorts and T-shirt, dead-heading roses.

The greatest of the heat has now transferred NW, giving Lancs, the Lakes, Scotland and N Ireland some of their highest June temperatures ever recorded. Hence the Saddleworth heath fires. How hot it gets here in the east really depends on the shapeshifting character of the high just to our north, and how much air comes in off the N Sea, bringing in coastal stratus at night, as happened last night. There's disagreement now as to when the weather pattern is due to change, with talk of thunder limited to Sunday or Monday in the south.

[HighlandDougie]

It was 31C earlier this afternoon: now 29C here in very sunny Perthshire (my two thermometers are placed in the shade so genuine readings). Given that it was 11C at the same time of day a week ago, a wee bit of a change. I'm overnighting in London tomorrow (and Gürreliedering in the RFH) en route back to France so am relieved to read SA's 22C for London. Having endured three weeks last month of Hong Kong's hottest May on record, I was dreading London in the 30Cs.

[Serial_Apologist]

It was 31C earlier this afternoon: now 29C here in very sunny Perthshire (my two thermometers are placed in the shade so genuine readings). Given that it was 11C at the same time of day a week ago, a wee bit of a change. I'm overnighting in London tomorrow (and Gürreliedering in the RFH) en route back to France so am relieved to read SA's 22C for London. Having endured three weeks last month of Hong Kong's hottest May on record, I was dreading London in the 30Cs.

It might be a bit warmer tomorrow for the reasons given, HD, but while the Tube can be pretty uncomfortable, I doubt if outside it will reach the 30 C mark even in the centre of town, tomorrow. The RFH is air-conditioned - hope it turns out to be a good performance of the Schoenberg.

[BBMmk2]

Very nice day today. Not overly oppressive. Went down to ASDA opticians this morning and was a very nice drive too.

[DracoM]

Fiercest heatwave up here for years. Cloudless apart from endless con-trails, there is an easterly breeze, but it's so hot, that breeze does little more than move the heat! Currently 27C.

[Serial_Apologist]

There's more heat haze today - first thing this morning couldn't make out the London Eye from this north-facing window (6 miles as the flow cries); Hampstead Heath just about visible in outline only, as of now. We must have imported some continental pollution. Also, a few cumulus clouds drifing by, suggesting that humidity's rising. Won't put out the Saddleworth fire though.

My "trick" of waking up at 5 am and opening all the windows on the north side wide to let in the cool night time air is working a treat for my indoor temperatures: just 19 C in here.