Weather.... late 2009

[mark smyth]

It was so dark here yesterday the street lights stayed on all day

Nice looking trees, Roma. Very like weeping Ash

[Paddy Tobin]

Roma,

I am delighted to see Tilia henryana in your shots as I have never seen a mature specimen previously and I have a young plant in the garden, about ten years old. Great scent from the autumn flowers.

Paddy

[Roma]

Paddy,
This is the first time I have seen flowers on the Tilia henryana.  It was in the garden before I retired 6 years ago (gosh is it that long?).  I think it may have been planted about 10 years but it could be longer.

[Paul T]

Weather here is yuk.  38.2'C here today, with a relatively mild red dust storm all afternoon and evening.  Forecast 38'C tomorrow (it was forecast 37'C today).  If we hit 39.something (I can't remember which percentage it is) we break the record for November.  Still, could be worse.... could be in Adelaide where they had 43'C today, which I think IS a record for November for them.  I think anything over 40'C doesn't really make that much difference...... you don't feel any worse as you're already half dead by 40'C.    Forecast about 20'C overnight tonight, which is going to be an uncomfortable night.  What in heck happened to Spring??  

[angie]

Hi Paul,
Its funny how us over here are wishing we could have weather like you (have sun nearly  every day) , we don't think how hard it must be for you folks trying to garden in that heat.
I have a good friend that went back home to America ( Texas ) and she sends me pictures of gardens over there and I get so jealous but a couple of years ago I went over for a visit thinking I shall help her with her new garden, so she left me too it, after cutting her grass I was finished, I had never felt so drained, of course she came to the rescue with a nice cold drink and said gardening isn't so easy as you thought is it Angela. I had to agree and no longer give her a hard time.
So Paul I hope it doesn't get to much hotter for you, but I am still am jealous of your weather and your plants.
Angie

[Paddy Tobin]

Paul,

It is such a laugh reading your grumbling about the weather  because we are here grumbling about ours as well. Here we have gale force winds and torrential rain. Our road is flooded and we cannot get out. The place is saturated and it is a day for the indoors but the consolation is that we will spend much of it cooking and baking and enjoying the fruits of our labours.

Paddy

[TC]

I have just come back after 8 days in Plymouth which gave me a chance to compare the weather in a large partof the UK.  
In Stafford - 300 miles south - it was much warmer and drier than when we left home and the season was about 10 days behind us up north.  Leaving there on Monday 9th, there had been an overnight frost and we had to endure about 100 miles of fog on the M6/M5 which stayed with us to Sedgemoor.  We stopped again at Totness, near Exeter in sunny, warm conditions.  It was the same when we arrived at Plymouth.  The next two days made up for it with gales and heavy rain.  The TV and local press were hyping it up to Hurricane force. To me, it seemed no worse than what we regularly get in Winter although warmer.  It was what the Shetlanders or the Hebridean population would refer to as a fresh day !
 There were still plenty of plants and shrubs in flower and leaf locally so I reckoned that they have about 3 weeks more  "Summer" than we have in Ayrshire.  One day we had 17c.  The day we left it was warm and sunny at 9am with a temp. of 15c,  It was sunny all the way to about near Liverpool but when we diverted to Martin Mere to have a look at the Bird Reserve, the rain started and a cold westerly wind was blowing.  Our joke of a Motorway system had almost solid roadworks from Lancaster to Carlisle.  We stopped at Tebay near Shap in a gale, thunderstorm with rain and sleet - temp 3c.  Back in Scotland it had cleared up and was dry when we got home.  We had taken 11 hours to get home and travelled 517 miles.
Since Monday, it has been continually grey, rainy with a semi-gale.  All things back to normal!  

[Paul T]

Angie,

This sort of weather is to be expected, but not for at least after Christmas.  It is the fact that it is happening so early, while so many things are still in full growth that is causing the problems.  And of course because we humans aren't exactly used to it at this time of year either.

Paddy,

I'll thank you very much to stop laughing at my expense.    It's too darn hot to do any cooking here.  Just the thought of adding an oven to this heat is aweful.  It is 11:30pm at present and we're just under 23'C, which is cooler than I was expecting it to be at this time of the night.  We're only forecast down to 20'C tonight, so I think it looks like we might get a bit lower than the forecast.  Fingers crossed.  We could do with a bit of the rain, even a touch of minor flooding here..... would be great for the water supply levels, and it just sounds so deliciously refreshing (says a frazzled overheated person sitting at their computer!  ).

Maybe we can just halfway trade.... you can have some of our heat and we can have some of your rain?  I'm happy to supply the sunshine if you can arrange for shipping it to you and shipping your rain back to here?  

[Paddy Tobin]

Oh, Paul,

You have my sympathies but it is humourous that we complain of such opposite conditions.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

"It was what the Shetlanders or the Hebridean population would refer to as a fresh day!"

This is what Andrew Fraser said to me on Sunday.

Weather baffles me sometimes. How can England be battered by high winds but we have a lovely blue sky with a slight breeze?

[angie]

Pity we couldn't share the weather out like we do with our plants. Its really windy here but no rain as yet.

Mark my husband has a guy that works for him and he comes from the Shetlands and he laughs at me when I complain about the gales we are having, he says you are only having a light breeze ,he said that's why there isn't much trees up there, didn't know if I should believe him, any one from the Shetlands on our forum.
Angie

[David Nicholson]

Weather baffles me sometimes. How can England be battered by high winds but we have a lovely blue sky with a slight breeze?

You should be so lucky

It's just the direction the low pressure system is coming in from (ie. from the south west) that is causing you to miss out (at the moment!!) further south I bet Michael and Paddy are copping it, and those in north west England and south west Scotland. No rain here yet, but has been very grey and overcast all day with a strong wind (or a fresh breeze-whatever turns you on)

[ranunculus]

A little to the north of us the weather has been horrendous, with torrential rain and 'a healthy breeze' - we have escaped the worst so far today (after heavy falls over the past 48 hours) and, apart from some strong gusts, we have been virtually dry all day. This is, of course, not expected to last as yours truly is giving a lecture this evening to an unsuspecting camera club in Atherton (poor souls) and the downpours will surely strike as I carry in my equipment.   

[ashley]

further south I bet Michael and Paddy are copping it

My usual route to work has been closed for several days now due to floods and a substantial rockslide
All part of the fun on the edge of the Atlantic at this time of year  

[iann]

Lovely day.  Breezy (!), dry, warm, even a little sun.  I'll take this any November.  Going to rain again tonight