The Great Meteorological Thread

Mornin' all. A combination of high concentrations of car/BBQ emissions, dust and pollen will make for a rather soup-like mixture over Southern England and more especially over the South East. It's where all this stuff are wafting in from the near Continent under a very light southerly wind and then held in place over the UK under an inversion layer of warm air aloft - just like a fart being trapped under a duvet. The rising sun will then make the lot simmer like a chemical cocktail in a laboratory.
So those suffering with respirtory-related aliments will do well to stay indoors and/or be prepared with inhalers and nebulisers to hand.
It's the kind of thing that does happen a few times every year and at any time of the year given the right synoptics (stagnating high pressure sitting close by), but rather unpleasant when it does happen. Seems that we have gone from one extreme (stormy fresh wind in from the Atlantic ) to the other (stale calm air sitting over the country for days on end) in just a matter of a few weeks.
However, the good news is that the air quality is expected to be much improved by Friday onwards as our wind try and turn in from the south west - in from the Atlantic - bringing breezy and fresher air back our way once again.
 
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Nice report Ian.
As you know I'm pretty close to you here in Kent, and although off work with pneumonia, I was thinking of finally getting out for a little while today; but it even looks a bit dodgy out there in terms of the air. Your report now explains why. I think I'll do the smart thing and stay home :-)
I have a Whitstable gallery request to consider, so that'll keep me occupied.

Incidentally...are the current conditions the reason my car looks to be covered in sand?
 
The TV news this morning said the current high level of air pollution is caused by a number of factors one of which is sand blown from the Sahara. Has there been a change in how we measure/assess/define air pollution? I remember over the last 40-50 years a few times times when sand from the Sahara has arrived in the UK and it was reported as unusual and interesting oddity, without any metion that it was a pollutant.

BTW the sand has made its way as far north as NW Scotland. There was a fine deposit on the car and a seat in the garden yesterday and a little more this morning.

Dave
 
viv1969 said:
As you know I'm pretty close to you here in Kent, and although off work with pneumonia, I think I'll do the smart thing and stay home :)
I have a Whitstable gallery request to consider, so that'll keep me occupied.

Incidentally...are the current conditions the reason my car looks to be covered in sand?
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Please excuse the snip! Good thinking, Ruth - stay in the warm and relative dry until the antibots have done their stuff. Nice deep breaths as long as the pain's not too bad.

And yes! Apparently the dust is Saharan sand and we have about 2" of it here! (OK, slight exaggeration but there is a coating of the bloody stuff on all vaguely horizontal surfaces!)
 
In actual fact, it is a combination of plant pollens, Sahara sand and industrial emissions coming in from the near continent that is causing the problem at the moment as the wind is coming in from the south/south east which has a long fetch all the way back from North Africa, picking up gunk over Europe along the way.
The strenthening rising sun is then having the effect of mixing the lot into a kind of chemical cocktail, however the saving grace is that humidity is quite low so, thankfully, fog isn't being added to the equation (apart from those early morning mist patches, of course) to produce that 1950's style "pea souper" (that was nasty as that contained sulpher caused by heavy use of coal and coke).
The Sahara dust thing is more common than you think as it occurs three or four times a year, but most of it goes by unnoticed. I do remember one weekend in October 1984 when southerly winds and persistent rain delivered a thick coating of red coloured dust to Southern England, it was the kind of event that was easily observed by the "layman". I was 17 at the time.
 
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Nice update Ian :thumbs:
Yep half the Sahara's sitting on my car too :(
And it is quite "heavy" out there.

Ian D J said:
- just like a fart being trapped under a duvet.
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Perfect description :D
 
The Met office (or at least the Win8 app that's derived from their forecasts!) got it spot on today. They gave us a rainy morning with it clearing to relatively fine this afternoon, so I managed to get 9 holes in at 2:40. Started with a waterproof on as a windcheater but after 3 holes ditched it and carried on in shirt sleeves. Lovely! To keep it vaguely photographic, IF I'd had a camera with me I could have caught a pair of Buzzards, a Kestrel and loads of cock Pheasants. Heard a double ender flying up the valley (Chinook heading for CTCRM at Lympstone) but it must have been flying low and stayed below my horizon. Unfortunately, they're not too keen on people stopping on the course to take photos so I don't take a camera.
 
You could try using your tripod as a golf club, might get the ball nearer the hole? ;)
 
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I've wondered about sticking a tripod screw atop the trolley handle to use as an accessory mount!
 
Nod said:
I've wondered about sticking a tripod screw atop the trolley handle to use as an accessory mount!
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Yep, that way you'd get some good shots out of it.

See what I did there?
 
I actually didn't do too badly yesterday, especially considering I haven't been out with the sticks for a few months! First 3 holes went remarkably well and only dropped a couple of shots (after handicap applied) but then we got down near the water... Only actually lost one ball but found one to replace it but let's just say that I shot (un handicapped) well over my age - scored 60 over the 9 holes but being a rank tyro, I'm off 28 so a corrected score would be 46 (AFAIK!) so not too bad (not good but we both enjoyed the walk despite me trying to spoil it!) Looking forward to the DVLA getting off their ar5es so I can get out a bit more when Mrs Nod is otherwise engaged - I got way too close to making her a real widow in 2012 so don't want to make her a golf widow too often!
 
Any clues with regards the BH weekend weather?
 
new2me said:
Any clues with regards the BH weekend weather?
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Hi, I would say that Good Friday and Saturday are likely to be dry and settled with temperatures sticking close to average values (12 C to 16 C) over the South but more unsettled over the North, then perhaps becoming cool and showery everywhere on Easter Sunday and into Bank Holiday Monday.
But at this time of the year, six to eight days is a very long time in weather forecasting, so all that has been said in very low confidence.
 
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Cheers Ian. Found out this morning that I've been shafted at work so it's irrelevant now. I'll just have to make the most of tomorrow :thumbs:
 
new2me said:
Cheers Ian. Found out this morning that I've been shafted at work so it's irrelevant now. I'll just have to make the most of tomorrow (y)
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Ouch, not good. But there'll be a lot more in the way of sunny skies over England and Wales tomorrow and it'll feel pleasantly mild under light winds after a somewhat chilly start.
Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, will be cooler and breezy with occasional rain, more especially the further West and North you go.
 
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Here's the forecast for Kent at a glance - but this could apply to most of England and Wales in any case.

forecast.jpg


Ironically, if you want to enjoy guaranteed warm, dry and sunny weather for the whole of the long Easter Weekend, then head to the Lake District. One of those occasions where it'll be the place to be rather than at London and South East come Sunday.
 
michael23 said:
Will be heading up to northumberland for a week on saturday, hope weather behaves itself!
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It is a long way off in forecasting terms so I couldn't really comment. :oops: :$ :D

But regarding this weekend, it depends how far north this mass of cloud and rain associated with a shallow low pressure system moving in from the east (usually they come in from the Altantic!) will travel over the UK this Sunday.
I think the northern fringe of this system will go as far north as the Midlands so anything south of that will turn out wet and cold on Sunday.
If it is mid January, I'd be thinking about heavy snow and bitter cold winds but it's too late for all that at this time of the year.
 
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Local 10 day forecast gives it sunny at the weekend, and cloudy but dry for the rest. Slight easterly winds throughput which can bring a bit of sea fret at times, but its all a bit general. Hope you enjoy your week up here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2634032
 
I keep looking at the BBC forecast for the week and see black clouds and rain ... someone please tell me my browser is broken and that there will be nice weather for my week off :(
 
Just had a quick shufty through the models regarding next week and it does look like a "col"-like set up forming over the UK, that's the weather term of a slack area between high and low pressure systems, like a "no man's land" thing. Due to the slackness, that does it difficult in terms of getting the forecast accurate for more than a day, never mind for the whole of next week but it does look like the kind of thing that will allow showers to bubble up to give some of us a soaking, or it could stay dry and bright all day for other areas - especially if a decaying weather front gets tangled up in it all. Besides, showery type weather is difficult to pin down due to their localised nature and as they wander about aimlessly.
The other common theme is that winds will be light and calm for most of the time and that may enable temperatures to start warming up a little, especially if the sun does stay out for long enough. I also wouldn't be surprised if fog and mist may tend to be a regular feature.
So, combine all that and it would make for great growing conditions, something the gardeners and agriculturalists amongst us would appreciate.
With all that to mind, it does look like Northern and Western parts of the UK may get to have the most cloud and rainfall while tending to be drier, brighter and warmer towards the South East - so it does depend where you live in terms of cloud cover, etc.

And that's pretty much my take on things regarding next week. :)
 
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South east it is then :D Cheers Ian
 
Was glorious down here on Friday and yesterday so we made the most of it knowing that today was likely to be a bit moist. Glad we did since we had to do some furniture shifting at Mrs Nod's studio after the decorator came in yesterday. Thankfully the rain isn't too heavy and actually died right down while we were outside between the building and the car. Cat a bit disgruntled - she's been enjoying lolling around on the bench in the sunshine!
 
Nod said:
...Cat a bit disgruntled - she's been enjoying lolling around on the bench in the sunshine!
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She and I both!!!
 
Even more peeved because it's easter sunday and EVERYTHING is closed! Can't even go peruse.
 
Pubs are open (and so is Mrs Nod's studio but only for a workshop which has now finished - not to mention being 200 miles away!!!)
 
The Folkestone Rain Deflector appears to be working well as after that bit of rain and single clap of thunder at 10 am, it hadn't done much else since then, just staying dull but is drying up and I suspect it won't be long before the sun will try and break through again (actually, just looked out through the window and can see it spitting again).
Looks like it's Sussex and more especially at Hampshire and Dorset that are getting the heaviest rain as the shallow low pressure trundles very slowly westwards for the rest of this afternoon.
 
Nod said:
Pubs are open (and so is Mrs Nod's studio but only for a workshop which has now finished - not to mention being 200 miles away!!!)
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Nodster, I'm SO not a yoga girl :lol:
 
Ian...still drizzling here in sittingbourne...not really stopped all day :(

Quick update. .3.30pm. Peeing it down :(
 
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Has been absolutely disgusting here all day!

....certainly NOT the Sunny South Coast today.

....just have to eat more chocolate.... :p
 
Folkestone actually stayed dry the whole time (since that bit of thundery rain at 10 am) as the town juuuuuust snucked through a gap in the rain belt. It is now slowly trying to brighten up as the back end of this system moves over us in from the south.
Seems that the Folkestone Rain Deflector is back up and running again.
 
viv1969 said:
Nodster, I'm SO not a yoga girl :LOL:
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Sorry for the diversion, Ian - back on track after this!

I do a fair impression of the fat Buddha but I'm no yoga boy, Ruth! I did go to a class on Wednesday though and still ache! Only went as it was a friend's 51st birthday and although she's no yogini, decided to give it a try so I went for moral support. Probably didn't help that the class started at 07:15... We did all (well, most of the class) go for coffee and cake after the class though!

BOT!!!

Still persisting with rain here. Not "a verse" but steady rain rather than drizzle. Should refill the water butts though after using them for most of the watering over the past couple of weeks.
 
Nod said:
Sorry for the diversion, Ian - back on track after this!

I do a fair impression of the fat Buddha but I'm no yoga boy, Ruth! I did go to a class on Wednesday though and still ache! Only went as it was a friend's 51st birthday and although she's no yogini, decided to give it a try so I went for moral support. Probably didn't help that the class started at 07:15... We did all (well, most of the class) go for coffee and cake after the class though!

BOT!!!

Still persisting with rain here. Not "a verse" but steady rain rather than drizzle. Should refill the water butts though after using them for most of the watering over the past couple of weeks.
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You - and anyone - may go off topic as much as you like. :D I'm quite lazy when it comes to excercise but I don't seem to get any heavier than my default 11 and a half stones no matter how much or how little and what I eat.

Quite sunny here at Folkestone now that this weather system has moved on from here to affect Wales and the South West.
 
Seven pm and now the sun decides to make an appearance :(
 
viv1969 said:
Seven pm and now the sun decides to make an appearance :(
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It's been quite sunny since 5 pm at this end.

Tomorrow should be a decent enough day in terms of sunny spells and varied cloud amounts as well as feeling quite mild under light winds here at Kent - and pretty much the same can apply over the rest of the UK, but showers will start to break out over Southern England and Wales in the afternoon or evening.
 
Had 2 very pleasant days so far up in berwick, sumshine and blue sky. Mist in off the sea this afternoom really turned it cold and now its very windy. Quite different hearimg the wind buffeting and hearing the shouts of Herring Gulls at nearly midnight from a caravan!
 
michael23 said:
Had 2 very pleasant days so far up in berwick, sumshine and blue sky. Mist in off the sea this afternoom really turned it cold and now its very windy. Quite different hearimg the wind buffeting and hearing the shouts of Herring Gulls at nearly midnight from a caravan!
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That sounded quite autumnal in flavour! But hope you, and everyone reading this, all had an enjoyable long weekend. Mine went along on a quiet and uneventful manner, not really an awful lot to write about on that front.
It was quite decent weather-wise, if somewhat cool and fresh but with plenty of sushine, on Friday and into Saturday. Sunday wasn't as ideal with overcast skies and outbreaks of rain - but I missed the worse of the thundery stuff and even the sun came out by 5 pm and stayed bright for the rest of the day. However, it then became drier and warmer yesterday as the sun came back out again which enabled temperatures to reach 20 C away from the coast - but the cloud gathered themselves once again in the evening which lead to quite a wet night with 7.3 mm of useful rain, something the lawn will appreciate.

I still update my weather page daily but I now only focus on Kent because 1) there are loads of quality web pages and facebook groups that covers the nation as a whole and 2) less demanding and not quite so time consuming for me while at the same time enhancing accuracy rates.

My weather web page: http://thecloudmaster.webs.com/ (Regarding the forecast, not a lot to get too excited about as things stand - especially since it's still only April).
 
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