UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Discussion of weather and climate outside of NZ's waters. Australian weather, tropical cyclones and USA storm chasing feature here.
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

A second Red Warning was issued this morning for SE England including London and we have had a very windy day here in the UK.

In Tiverton, the wind picked up around 8am this morning (from the SW) and peaked between 11am and 1pm (having veered more to W-NW) with frequent gusts to 60-70mph. We are very sheltered in this part of inland Devon, but there has been plenty of tree and minor structural damage in this area, especially out in the countryside. Highest wind gusts in this inland part of the UK were 82mph at North Wyke (on the NW side of Dartmoor) and 74mph at RNAS Merryfield which is in the Somerset lowlands. On the coast, a number of stations (incl. Gwennap Head and Treknow, both in Cornwall) reported gusts to 95mph.

The wind moderated a bit after 1pm, but has been gusting over 50mph through this afternoon and into early evening, especially when the rain + hail showers rattle through. Down to 4°C at tea-time, so a tad chilly in the still strong wind.
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

Storm Eunice produced widespread wind gusts of >70mph over much of England + Wales with quite a bit of damage and injury, and sadly 4 fatalities (one of these was in Eire). The highest wind gusts I can find are:

122mph at The Old Battery, Needles (on the Isle of Wight and atop a steep cliff - very exposed)
90mph at Portland Bill (coast of Dorset)
87mph at The Mumbles (SW Wales)
85mph at Emley Moor (Yorkshire)
84mph at St Cathrines Point (also on the IOW) + Aberdaron (N Wales)

Further inland in southern England, 78mph was recorded at Charlwood (just south of London), 77mph at Little Rissington (Gloucestershire) and 76mph at RAF Boscombe Down (Wiltshire).

BBC report on the damage etc:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60439651
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

The stormy weather has continued here in the UK and we have another named storm, Franklin, on the way for Sunday night into Monday morning. This one will particularly affect Northern Ireland and parts of northern England and southern Scotland, but all areas will be very windy. This afternoon (Sun 20th Feb) we have a sharp cold front moving SE across England + Wales and line convection elements/a squall line has developed, and this could easily deliver local gusts to 70mph and a few small tornadoes. It is certainly wet and wild at the moment.

The clean up continues from Storm Eunice and 80,000 homes still had not had their power re-connected this morning - overall roughly 1.4 million homes lost power for a period due to the winds on Friday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60452334

The CET for February was 7.1°C (+3.4°C) up to the 19th and the EWR was 64mm up to the 18th which is 99% of the monthly average.
Awhituobs
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue 10/09/2019 07:20
Location: Waiuku
Has thanked: 706 times
Been thanked: 556 times
Contact:

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Awhituobs »

I did see a report from SE England from a weather enthusiast saying how he had recorded 2.5mm in a short time from that front
I did have to laugh
(we don't call rain heavy until you get to 10mm at least)
spwill
Posts: 9907
Joined: Sun 29/06/2003 22:39
Location: Mt Eden Auckland
Has thanked: 839 times
Been thanked: 866 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by spwill »

I think UK has a more interesting climate than NZ climate.
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

In defence of our exited SE weather correspondent, squally cold fronts in the UK have very narrow bands of intense rainfall accompanied by very strong and gusty winds - the 2.5mm probably fell in less than 5 minutes and the wind would have blown a lot of the rain clear of the gauge, so his figure is probably an under-recording.

The cold front on Sunday produced wind gusts at some sites that were comparable or greater than for Storm Eunice, but the strongest winds only lasted for a short period. TORRO are also investigating what looks like three tornadoes on this front as well - two in the East Midlands and one in East Anglia.

We have quite a bit of flooding at the moment in central England with Lancs/Yorks and the Severn River particularly badly affected with some near record river level and flow numbers. There has not been any particularly heavy individual rain events, but February has been wet in these areas with double the normal rainfall already. This follows a drier than average January.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-s ... e-60475077

There was even a small M2.8 earthquake in the Midlands yesterday (Monday) evening just before 11pm.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... m-60476022
Awhituobs
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue 10/09/2019 07:20
Location: Waiuku
Has thanked: 706 times
Been thanked: 556 times
Contact:

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Awhituobs »

surely you jest re posting breaking news about a 2.8 mag quake
(mind you people are talking about a 1.9 quake near Auckland on an old fault line (hunua Ranges))
User avatar
Nev
Moderator
Posts: 6216
Joined: Tue 07/03/2006 15:24
Location: Waiheke Island, Hauraki Gulf
Has thanked: 468 times
Been thanked: 1064 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Nev »

The M2.9 near Auckland's Mission Bay in July 2011 made headlines here... :D
Awhituobs
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue 10/09/2019 07:20
Location: Waiuku
Has thanked: 706 times
Been thanked: 556 times
Contact:

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Awhituobs »

true that
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

No jest at all, Brian. The UK is very quiet seismically speaking, so a small tremor felt in a large metropolis is worthy of note for us - I appreciate this may not be the case down under.

The weather has calmed down in the UK after the three named storms departed our shores - they also caused considerable damage and injury in some of our European neighbours. We had a frost this morning (Sat 26th) here in Tiverton, which was just the third air frost of the month - this is a measure of how mild it has been. Plenty of sunshine now in mid-afternoon, with just scattered cotton wool clouds.

High pressure looks to become more dominant over the next few days bringing settled and much drier weather by the middle of next week.

The CET for February was 6.9°C (+3.2°C) up to the 25th and the EWR was 93mm up to the 24th, which is 143% of the monthly average.
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

The final CET for February was 6.8°C, which is +3.0°C above the average. This makes it the joint 12th warmest February in the 364 year series. The warmest was 1779 (yes, 243 years ago!) with an average of 7.9°C (+4.1°C) - this is bang on the current April average.

The final EWR for February was 104mm which is 159% of the monthly average.

There were the usual regional variations in February with southern coastal counties being drier than average and it was actually colder than average in NE Scotland. Monthly summary here for February and Winter as a whole from the Met Office:

https://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2022/03/0 ... t-the-end/

For the winter as a whole over the UK, it was a degree warmer than normal and nearly 10% drier than average but sunshine totals were around average. The predicted SSW event never happen as the Polar Vortex remained very strong and firmly in place.
Simon Culling
Posts: 2315
Joined: Mon 23/11/2009 06:41
Location: Tiverton, Devon, UK
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 646 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by Simon Culling »

A postscript to Winter 2021/22.

On the CET seasonal series, Winter 2021/22 (Dec, Jan + Feb) was the 15th warmest in the 363 year record. However, it was still 0.8°C cooler than the warmest which was in 1868/69.

Of the top twenty warmest winter seasons, 6 have occurred in the current century.

EDIT: Looking back at the Met Office contingency forecast for the winter season which I posted in the first element of this thread - it was not too far from the mark. It was warmer than average, but somewhat drier than their prediction as we had the unusual combination of a warmer and drier winter season. My anticipated cold spell did not occur!
spwill
Posts: 9907
Joined: Sun 29/06/2003 22:39
Location: Mt Eden Auckland
Has thanked: 839 times
Been thanked: 866 times

Re: UK Weather - Winter 2021/22

Unread post by spwill »

Widespread cold air and some snow is modelled across UK/ Europe from mid week. I think the Alps could do with the snow for a good finish to the ski season.
Post Reply