Moans, ramps and banter

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 Metwatch Good comparison. A result of the early-onset milder temps since Feb, I'd imagine. Definitely not as a result of an abundance of sunshine

[Don]

Warm here this afternoon and have opened windows.  Not wall to wall sunshine, but bright enough.

[cheeky_monkey]

miserable day again today snowing again this morning..generally damp and cold all round.

[raz.org.rain]

An actually decently warm and sunny spring day today 

[Freeze]

1 hour ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

Lucky for some

It didn't last.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

My phone reminding me that 1st of May 2023, was in fact, superior to the 1st of May 2024  

I'd taken a photo so I imagine it must've been the first decent day for some time to the extent I'd gone "woah, sun, I need to capture this!"

Edited May 1 by In Absence of True Seasons

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 Freeze Gaaah!!!

[Summer8906]

Now going really gloomy.

Early May always seems to be poor: last time we had fine weather this time of year was, I believe, 2013.

It seems to be a definite singularity for the weather to be rubbish at this time of year. The last occasion when it was settled at the end of April and start of May was, I believe, 2013. And before that, only 2011 and 2007 in the 21st century.

The difference this year of course is that March and April were also rubbish.

I think there's little doubt that this will be the dullest spring since 1994 (the last time we had a spring completely free of any long spells of settled weather), and possibly the wettest since 1983.

Edited May 1 by Summer8906

[danm]

A few sunny spells and 20c currently. Not too bad at all.

[Summer8906]

 In Absence of True Seasons Yes, I remember this day last year being decent in the afternoon, I remember that because it was the Bank Holiday Monday.

The only decent weather all weekend, if I remember right - I seem to remember the Sat and Sun being pretty damp and the Monday morning was a bit dismal too. Cleared up around midday.

Then, following a decent Tuesday and Wednesday, the Coronation weekend also had 2 poor days out of 3, of course, including the day itself.

 

 danm Interesting, thought this next batch of dull and wet weather was moving from the east (the charts certainly show a low moving in from the east, at any rate) but that appears to not be the case.

Whatever, good old south Hampshire gets yet another dull, gloomy and probably wet day to add to the legions of such days since the end of June last year...

Edited May 1 by Summer8906

[Azazel]

Oh sick. It’s raining again 

[Summer8906]

 In Absence of True Seasons Most unfortunately, too. "Spring" 2024 has been absolutely horrific, an aesthetic desert.

The mild temps earlier meant everything came out too early, so that during that brief semi-settled interlude between April 15th-22nd, most of the blossoms had gone. They peaked during the hideously gloomy first 10 days of April.

Now we've lost the unusual mildness (just when warmer weather becomes more desirable), but it's hideously dull, damp and gloomy. Spring flowering is mostly gone. 2024 is absolutely "the year without a spring", more so than any other year I've lived through.

I just hope we don't get a winter-spring period like this one (i.e. extremely mild at first, then cooler when it's too late; extremely dull; extremely wet) for many, many years.

 

Edited May 1 by Summer8906

[In Absence of True Seasons]

40 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

just hope we don't get a winter-spring period like this one (i.e. extremely mild at first, then cooler when it's too late; extremely dull; extremely wet) for many, many years.

I hope I'm wrong, but my fears are that such winter-spring periods will become more common as time progresses, due to climate change. Our general Oct to April periods seem to be getting milder (but also wetter and duller, as a result). What was the main clear, dry spell we had in the last few months? The cold snap in Jan lol...

Edited May 1 by In Absence of True Seasons

[danm]

Warm, muggy late afternoon, about 19c/20c currently. Been quite  gloomy but warm day with only a few sunny spells, but decent sunshine now. 

Edited May 1 by danm

[Wynn D Woo]

 Summer8906  Im not sure why you keep banging this drum that everything has bloomed early it hasnt around here. In my garden (south facing, the bluebells are out currently - bang on time) and out on a walk in the Cotswolds on saturday a fair few of the bluebells were still yet to open out - much to the annoyance of my girlfriend who had been instructed to get a good photo shot of some for work purposes.

[danm]

Met Office anomaly maps are out for April.

Overall, it was about average for temperatures...

 

Unsurprisingly for most areas, it was wetter than average...

 

...and again, unsurprisingly, it was duller than average almost everywhere...

 

Looking at the number of days of rainfall, it was above average almost everywhere for days of rain over 1mm:

 

...but in terms of the number of days with rainfall above 10mm, it's the north and west that have been above average:

So exceptionally wet in these parts, which can seen on the overall anomaly maps for rainfall totals with the far NW of England and S Scotland.

 

Here are the actual values for reference:

[CryoraptorA303]

 Wynn D Woo It might not have in the Cotswolds which are uphill and a tad cooler than the lowlands, but in most of the south it has.

I wouldn't go as far to say this has been a year without a spring though, March was just very autumnal and April dull and wet. Here the bloom is actually doing relatively well and if May dries up and the Sun comes out a bit without it being too hot then we could keep ahold of a proper spring bloom for a few more weeks yet.

Such is the consequence of climate change though, we are going to see less traditionally seasonal weather in this part of the world as the century goes on, instead seeing much more autumnal behaviour in what is supposed to be winter and early spring, and faster transitions to summer-like temperatures without the consistency of summer. This is likely to have profound impacts on flora and timings of bloom, with the autumn fall occuring later (it wasn't fully complete until early December here last year) and the spring bloom being far less consistent than in the past.

[richie3846]

 Wynn D Woo Bluebells came out very early, and had their staying power extended by a cool off. Some were out at the end of March if I remember correctly, with many early April. They seem to be very temperature sensitive, which makes sense because they survive by doing their business before the trees come into leaf. Without the cool off I'm sure they'd be mostly finished by now. 

[*Stormforce~beka*]

I thought the Southerly wind direction was safe but clearly not as all it delivers now is yet more feeeckin rain!!?

[SunnyG]

 Jon Somerset Sorry to hear that

 

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 SunnyG not much better here now 13 and dropping under this rain 

[SunnyG]

 *Stormforce~beka*  So it seems we are lucky here, since today ended up around 16-18c and with sunny spells... won't last though....

[Bristawl Si]

12c and the rain's arrived, right on cue.

Heavy, thundery stuff forecast for here in the early hours tom.

[Don]

Rain starting to arrive now, a little earlier than forecast.

[Alderc 2.0]

Love how this week was meant to a getting better week. Places in the south could get they’re entire May rainfall before Saturday