Moans, ramps and banter

[CryoraptorA303]

 reef I noticed this, almost every day of March was reaching 15°C somewhere if not higher and nights were rarely getting below 5°C. The only thing stopping the bloom now will be the dullness and lack of warm days. After Saturday which is now forecast to reach 20°C or higher in East Anglia we will likely see the bloom commence at full speed, especially if it stays sunny later next week. Very unlikely we'll be waiting until late April-early May to see the full bloom again.

It feels awfully Mediterranean, in the bad sense, we've had essentially constant low-mid teens across much of the country since late October and very heavy rainfall. I wouldn't be surprised if the analogy continues and we see quite a rapid shift to very warm and much drier later this month. I know we did have that more settled spell in January, but realistically speaking here, the sort of temps experienced then is something that could have happened at any point between November and early April to be honest. January was still above 1961-1990 averages and only just below 1991-2020, so in today's terms is likely what a standard cold and dry month looks like in the November-March bracket.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

12 minutes ago, stainesbloke said:

Not particularly pleasant at Heathrow today, lots of cloud and wind and feeling chilly

It's not great, but the funny thing is, Feb and March were so dire, that days like today actually feel semi-decent to me, simply for being mostly dry. 

It's not the 15-18c and sunny i'd like to see by start of April but it beats 10/11c and 24/7 drizzle lol...

[damianslaw]

 reef A predominant S/ SW flow will always produce min and max at least 2 degrees above norm, quite often 3-5 degrees, has been the case since yesteryear. 

[cheese]

 Summer8906 nah, I’ll take mild and wet over cold and snowy at this time of year. I really don’t want to see anything wintry again until November.

I’d definitely take cold and dry though. Not too cold though!

Edited April 3 by cheese

[Summer8906]

 Sherry Will it be nice? Looks like the best weather will be in the small hours on Saturday and again in the small hours on Monday (with drier southerlies briefly intervening for a few hours in each case); to me the weekend looks breezy, unsettled and dull with the odd drizzle shower but I hope I'm wrong.

Edited April 3 by Summer8906

[Don]

 MP-R The way some folk have been talking (not only on here), you would think the last year has been much colder than it has.

[CryoraptorA303]

 Don It actually really surprises me how poorly Brits take mild/rainy/less than warm weather to be honest. I remember at the England v Australia friendly back in October, it got a bit chilly by the evening but nothing insane, perhaps an inch or two below 10°C and clear skies. All the England fans were in big coats and moaning about it being freezing, while all the Australian fans were in shirts and shorts still and not saying a word, laughing and enjoying themselves! You'd expect 10°C at night to feel positively Arctic to most Australians and fairly inoffensive to Brits considering the climatic habits of the two countries, let alone to Australians in summer gear and Brits in modest winter gear!

Edited April 3 by CryoraptorA303

[Summer8906]

 CryoraptorA303 I have noticed the rate of flowering slowing in the past two weeks, due I suspect to very dull weather in the main, and perhaps the sodden ground is also creating difficult conditions (obviously some rain is needed but perhaps not excessive amounts).

Indeed nature looks strangely and unseasonably dead at the moment. The daffodils and early blossoms came out way too early and are now in severe decline while the flowers of later in the spring are still to appear.

I'm hoping that the dullness is in fact delaying the flowering, as there would be nothing worse than the next lot of spring flowers also coming out while it's still dull, damp and wet. If that happens, spring 2024 will be a complete bust.

Edited April 3 by Summer8906

[SollyOlly]

 CryoraptorA303 Yeah, I agree, it's been gradual but it is improving. I've had the winter coat on and off in the past few weeks, quite a bit of fluctuation to the feel of the weather! I think it was early June 2022 that I found myself wearing my winter coat, there was one really wet, very cool Sunday I think...little did we know that we were in for one brutal summer (I'm not a heat-lover!) after that...!

Anyway, the evenings are also longer now and the mornings catching up after moving to BST, so as long as it remains benign and not too hot, things do seem to be slowly improving.

[MP-R]

 reef The warmer nights thing is more relevant to summer, July last year being a classic case. Below average daytime maxima and well above average minima. Autumn and winter however has been well and truly above average in both respects.

[Summer8906]

 damianslaw This time of year though, with more normal SSTs, weren't southwesterlies "traditionally" rather cool by day (and in fact in spring and early summer in general)?

In the spring and early summer period, most serious warmth is generated either by local sunshine or by imports of dry, hot air from the south or southeast. Southwesterlies, even if relatively mild, come in across cold seas - colder than December this time of year AFAIK - so presumably will be no warmer than they are in December. So if a SW-ly produces 13C temps in Dec then it would presumably also produce 13C, at best, in April due to the seas being colder and the high cloud amounts negating any effect of the sun. Night temps of course would be very mild due to the cloudiness and maritime nature of the airmass.

Certainly I have many memories of cool, clammy Tm airmasses in spring and early summer with day temps a little below normal due to the thick cloud and cool sea at this time of year. June 2012 had quite a few, for example. So it was quite a surprise for the air to feel so warm and humid this morning - much more like an autumn or winter Tm airmass - a sign of the very warm SSTs, I guess.

Edited April 3 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

 Don The main place I've been cold of late is in my own house when I've not had the heating on because it's not been cold enough ironically 

I've lived in a coat for most of the winter but more because of the wind and rain, not because it's been cold. I missed the only truly lengthy cold spell in January being in South America.

[Summer8906]

 MP-R True, and indeed a common feature (in more western and southwestern parts at least) of many recent summers - 2023 being a particularly pronounced example.

I too missed both the Jan and the Sep fine spells - so the last spell of settled weather I experienced in the UK was literally last June. In my lifetime that is definitely a record.

Edited April 3 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

 Summer8906 Were you away in August?

[Summer8906]

 MP-R Yes, around two months. Definitely made the right decision IMO..

[MP-R]

 Summer8906 Ah ok. Had a lot of fine weather in August... lots of beach trips. All during the week though as the weekends were not great.

[Summer8906]

 MP-R Yes, I remember you've said it was OK in your area. From what I gather though the Solent area had it particularly bad, this area being cooler by day, duller and wetter than normal. Presumably an effect of direct onshore SW-lies, while your area is a little more protected by Exmoor/Dartmoor?

 cheese I don't know, my favourite type of April would be one with much warm and sunny weather but a few potent northerlies and one late spell of settling snow just for the novelty of it.

[MP-R]

 Summer8906 Possibly... although 2 out of 3 trips were the south coast of Devon and both were sunny throughout so maybe it was worse further east.

[Summer8906]

 MP-R Perhaps, though with the synoptics I'd expect Devon to be worse than here.

Analysing it in a little more depth it appears that around the 12th-14th a cyclonic SW-ly type set in which was cooler and duller here than some other areas, and much the same happened around a week later. There was only a brief window midweek in between those systems, and a similar brief window around the 10th with the only spell of a few days decent weather being around the 20th-23rd. The first week and final week were more generally unsettled and cool.

Edited April 3 by Summer8906

[CryoraptorA303]

 Summer8906 It's very odd, it appears we're running right at the borderline for several species right now, so you're getting some like willows and ashes in full bloom by mid-March, Magnolias flowering and withering before they've even started leafing up and some trees like oaks still completely bare. At least that's what I've seen round here. Of course the daffodils et al. flowered far too early as usual these days and already mostly died by Easter. We've had some very strange early bloomers as well, I've spotted nettles, daisies, buttercups and a few others blooming from mid-February onward, but now they're all looking quite sad. I suspect you're right, the dullness, lack of warm days and excessive rainfall is probably doing them in a bit. The earliest I've ever seen any of these before must be around very late March, so they must respond to nighttime temps more than anything, and the consistently mild and Mediterranean-esque nighttime conditions have led to them emerging far too early, so they are now not receiving enough sunlight or warmth.

Luckily we're now at the part of the year where the probability for overnight frosts rapidly declines, so with March out of the way without seeing any real or serious frosts, the spring shouldn't be ruined by this now. With everything out now though we really do need to get a move on with warmer and drier conditions, that height stabilising later next week is key.

[MP-R]

 Summer8906 Episodic is the word. Like I said, weekends were disappointing but Tues-Fri was typically nice. I enjoyed a nice sunny day in Dartmouth on Monday 07th, Salcombe on Tues/Weds 15th/16th and Ilfracombe on Tuesday 22nd.

Conversely, the Bank Holiday weekends was pants (after a thundery start) and the final week was autumnal.

[emmett garland]

 Summer8906 Yes I noticed it here in Dublin all the spring flowers look really wilted and withered without ever reaching any potential..A real shame..

[TwisterGirl81]

I’ve still had the heating on for an hour or so in the evenings sometimes, tonight I can get away with just a warm night gown 

today was on off sunny and on the rare occasion  the wind wasn’t blowing a hooly it felt very pleasant.

It can be mild all it likes but if it’s windy or wet that makes a world of difference 

[markyo]

Certainly not looking forward to such a mild weekend at this time of year, not what you could call seasonal at all. 

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 damianslaw Mine is just set to a certain temperatute. 21c. If it drops below it comes on. Not that hard