UK Weather - Autumn 2012

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

NADINE ...a nice old spud

[Simon Culling]

CET for October to the 13th was 10.4*C (-1.2*C) and the EWR to the 12th was 54mm, well ahead of the curve. The coming week is expected to continue the unsettled theme although a little milder.

The autumnal colours have been appearing in recent weeks, but its really only rather patchy. Plenty of shades of green, but the yellows and reds are not widespread. Perhaps the frost this morning (Sunday) will spur things on a bit. I have attached a couple of photos from today which was cool (11*C) and partly cloudy with good sunny intervals. They were taken with a cheap compact but give an idea of the more colourful trees......I must finally upgrade to a digital SLR!

[Orion]

Nice autumn tints - thankyou. Plenty of time yet for more colour.

[Simon Culling]

CET for October up to the 20th is 10.2*C (-1.0*C) and the EWR up to the 18th is 81mm, which is 93% of the monthly average of 87mm.

It is currently cloudy and mild in the SE of the UK with patchy rain + drizzle and will remain this way until the latter part of this week. A strong build of high pressure over the Greenland/Iceland region will introduce cold artic air Thursday into Friday as a low sinks SE over Scandinavia giving us a first taste of winter.....and rather early too!

The colours on the trees are continuing to develop and are probably reaching their peak. If we get any sunshine I will try and grab a few photos.

[Richard]

Nice colours there Simon seems odd seeing trees changing colour when we are in spring.Funny thing happened the other day on a gardening forum that i post on,another number from the US thought i was having him on when i was mentioning how i was about to plant out my tomatoes for the coming summer,he must have thought the whole planet has the same season at one time ...........surly people cant be that stupid can they.

[stepr]

The colours are similar here Simon, though in general things are a little greener. I'd say it is 50/50 in terms of colour and green in trees here, but they are turning. Usually leaves just fall straight green here or just brown up, so it's nice to see some colour

Richard, without sounding like I'm discriminating against Americans which I'm not, that lack of geographical knowledge seems quite rife and widespread around the United States. I think it's to do with their media etc in the main... I suppose if it's not American, it's not important type of view.

[stepr]

The last few days have been chilly, the 27th saw some cold, and frosty weather first thing with temperatures generally between 0 to -2C, then on the 28th, southeastern areas saw similar temperatures.

No frost is expected on such a widespread scale for the forseeable future, though there maybe some in localised areas.

Rain is a feature of the forecast for much of the UK over the next 7 days or so.

[Simon Culling]

As stepr has said, it has indeed turned cooler here in the UK with snow falling even in the south over last weekend. A cold northerly flow became established on Friday 26th with snow showers crossing East Anglia and the London area overnight into Saturday morning and there was a widespread frost, made more penetrating by the persistent wind. The 27th saw some low max temperatures for the time of year, especially for England, i.e.

5.4*C at Pennerley (Staffs)
5.9*C at Andrewsford Airfield (Essex) + Lake Vyrnwy (Wales)
6.3*C at Kenley (S London)

It had been a cold start in Scotland with mins of -6,2*C at Tulloch Bridge and -5.3*C at Saughall.

The cold air was soon cut off on Sunday and it has been cool and showery since, with quite a deep depression (963mb at 1200GMT today, Weds 31st Oct) currently centred to the north of Scotland

[stepr]

As you can see, generally trees here are still fairly green, even now (pictures taken today).. but gradually they are losing their leaves..

[Simon Culling]

Final CET for October was 9.7*C (-1.0*C) and the EWR 117mm, 134% of the monthly average of 87mm, so yet another wet month.

It has remained cool and showery for the last few days and the same will apply to the next few days. A quite vigorous low pressure is forecast to scoot NE across Southern England tomorrow (Sunday) and could provide plenty of rain to the SE half of England with some strong winds on the south coast. It is forecast to be around 980mb, but will be small with quite a tight circulaton. The synoptics are about right for a few small waterspouts/tornadoes along the south coast.

The autumn colours remain lovely here in the South Midlands, particularly the yellows and oranges.....not too much red this year. There has been so little sunshine recently to show them in the best light, but the two photos attached taken a couple of days ago give some idea.

[Simon Culling]

The small compact depression (lowest central pressure 984mb) did run NE across SE England on Sunday (4th Nov) giving between 20-30mm of rain in many places and the rain turned to snow on its western edge in the morning to give a brief covering of snow to Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset and parts of Devon + Somerset. See links at BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20197064

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20197535

It was a cold day over the middle strip of England with max temps of 4-5*C and as low as 2.2*C at RAF Leemnig in N Yorks. Here in Milton Keynes it rained heavily all morning (after a nip of frost in the early hours) with the rain turning to sleet at times mid-morning. The max temperature was just 5*C. Leaving Buckingham at noon in driving sleet and 3*C, we arrived in central London at 1:30pm to be greeted by sunny intervals and a temperature of 10*C. It is surprising the difference 60 miles can make!

[Simon Culling]

CET for November up to the 10th is 6.4*C (-1.4*C) and the EWR up to the 9th is 26mm which is on the curve for the month. Average rainfall for November is 92mm.

Has been a lovely sunny day today (Sun 11th) for Rememberence Sunday with just a few pieces of cumulus and reasonably mild at 9-10*C.....after an early nip of frost. The coming week is expected to see high pressure become established over eastern Europe (Balkans/Ukraine area) and this will push depressions further to our northwest. This will gice us a generally mild S or SE flow with the problems of mist and fog becoming more prevalent later in the week.

The colours on the trees remain, but the leaves are gradually being shed as the nights get colder.....there has not been the usual autumn gales to blow them off!

[Simon Culling]

CET for November up to the 17th is 7.2*C (-0.1*C) reflecting a warmer few days, and the EWR is at 38mm up to the 16th (41% of the monthly average). Not much has been happening on the weather front - it has been rather dull and mild with not a lot of sunshine. Today (Sunday) was a repeat of last week with a frost to start and a glorious sunny day to follow with a max of 8*C. Wet and windy weather is expected for the coming week, with a hint of high pressure arriving for next weekend,

[Simon Culling]

The weather has been much milder and wetter in the last week with particularly wet days on Wednesday and Thursday, with quite a lot of flooding reported. With the ground now very wet, it does not take much rain to lift the river levels. Plenty more rain and wind predicted for the next few days with a gradual cooling off in the temperatures. The forecast charts look decidedly chilly by next weekend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20457526

CET up to the 23rd is 7.3*C (+0.5*C) reflecting the recent milder weather and the EWR has risen sharply to 80mm up to the 22nd, well ahead of the curve.

[Simon Culling]

The very wet weather has continued, with parts of SW England receiving in excess of 150mm of rain in the last 5 days. A small but quite intense depression passed NE over the south of England overnight Saturday into Sunday (24th to 25th Nov) giving lots more rain and some very strong wind along the south coast. At midnight it was 991mb over Wilts/Hants and by 1200hrs was into the North Sea and down to 984mb. See the attached satellite picture that shows its structure well. Lots more flooding and also wind damage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20488645

The strongest winds were along the south coast on the southern flank of the depression and a number of ships reported mean wind speeds of 60-65kts in the English Channel. Highest gusts on land were:

Worthing Pier 64kts
Portland Bill CG + St Catherines Point (IOW) 60kts
RAF Wattisham 49kts
Luton Airport 44kts

Here in Milton Keynes a light ESE breeze veered sharply ay 02:30 to W and increased to a strong wind with gusts to 40kts. At least it blew the rain away.

[Simon Culling]

Last of the heavy rain days today thankfully. Yesterday and today the worst of the rain transferred to North Wales and the northeast of England with serious flooding in St Asaph, Denbighshire in N Wales. No rainfall figures to hand, but the nearby mountains must have copped 50-100mm on top of the recent rains.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20506344

CET for November up to the 26th is 7.1*C (+0.5*C) and the EWR is 108mm up to the 24th. Much colder weather is arriving tomorrow but thankfully a lot drier.....just a few wintry showers along the ease coast. Frost and fog are likely to be the main concerns Thursday onwards.

[Simon Culling]

A cold last day of the autumn season with a sharp o/night frost for Friday (30th Nov) morning. Minimums were:

-7.0*C at Shap Fell (Cumbria)
-6.7*C at Benson (Oxon)
-5.8*C at Ravensworth (N Yorks) + Redesdale (N'thumberland) + Eskdalemuir (S Uplands)
-5.0*C at Pershore (Worcs)
-4.8*C at Bournemouth Airport

It was also a cold day, with an 'ice day' recorded in parts of NW England with max temps on Friday of -1.1*C at Warcop, -0.4*C at Shap Fell and 0.0*C at Keswick, all in Cumbria.

Here in Milton Keynes it was a frosty start (local minimums around -3*C to -4*C) and a cold day with a sunny start, but cloudy from late morning onwards.....day max just 3*C.....and more frost forming in the evening.

Great day for the England rugby team this afternoon (Saturday) bringing the All Blacks 20 match winning streak to an end. England were definitely the best team on a cold but fair day...max temp in London was 5*C.

[spwill]

+

Great day for the England rugby team this afternoon (Saturday) bringing the All Blacks 20 match winning streak to an end. England were definitely the best team on a cold but fair day...max temp in London was 5*C.

Missed the game but hope to watch a replay on a big screen Well done to England . The Kiwi Rugby heads will be depressed for the Summer now.

[Simon Culling]

Final CET for November came in at 6.8*C (+0.3*C), which is a little surprising as most stations appear to be reporting a deviation of -0.5*C or so......global warming bias perhaps?!!

EWR was 135mm which is 146% of the average and yet another wet month.