AWD

To be fair, the no rain side of things looks a pretty good bet so you’ll probably have 50% of your wish.

Can’t really remember exactly. We had to change a couple of times. Got that new Elizabeth line train to Paddington, then a train to Exeter from Paddington (think that bit was about 2 hours as we only stopped at a couple of stations). Then a local train from Exeter to Teignmouth. At a rough estimate, it was probably in the region of 3 hours. Going back home, we got a Crosscountry train to Bristol, and not a GWR train, so there must be at least 2 different train companies operating in Devon.

My Dad lives in Teignmouth (not Plymouth I know but not too far off). I took the train down there on the Easter weekend to go and see him purely because I refuse to drive on the M5 on summer weekends as you inevitably get stuck in a traffic jam. I got the train from Stratford in East London to Teignmouth (was working in Stratford at the time and went straight from work) and it cost me £26.50 one way. I returned to where I live (Keynsham) a few days later by train and it cost me £35 one way. Not mega cheap but not ridiculously expensive either. Probably not much difference overall than what the fuel price would have cost for each journey.

A much improved outlook for many, even including this week. Mainly dry with just the occasional shower or two in any one given place. Sunny spells interspersed with some cloudy periods. Temperatures a tad disappointing, just about hitting the high teens for many. Going into the weekend we see a very slight increase in temperatures, 20c/21c maxes but we also see a slight increase in shower activity. Beyond the weekend the uncertainty increases but I definitely see no horror show, high pressure always close to the UK. Not perfect by any means, but much improved from what we’ve had recently. Looking out my window now, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping. Only downside is I still need a hoody!

Looking at them again, I’m not sure if they’re “all there and correct”. Considering I posted the maxes, most of the day will be cooler than those temps, which looking at the MLSP charts posted earlier, you wouldn’t have thought it’d be so cool away from coasts. Also, central France has maxes of circa 7c on Wednesday!

Not particularly warm for mid May though; Ok if it’s sunny and you are able to stay in the sun, wouldn’t feel all that great if it’s cloudy though.

Let’s play a game of guess where “AWD” is currently; Thunder to my north, thunder to my south. Stuck in the middle with zilch!

To be fair, I’ve seen a far worse set of ensembles than those in previous years. Temperatures more often than not, slightly above average rather than below. Yes, rain at times but no washout shown above by any means, more showers interspersed with some drier days. Obviously the one thing we can’t tell from those ensembles is cloud vs sun.

I’m all for some warmth, I can’t wait for my first garden BBQ, but I’m not that desperate that I’m contemplating a trip to Moscow for it.

The local duck population of Westbury currently loving life. Big downpour passing through and not more than a metres walk to a nice big puddle!

Snow starting to melt at a faster pace now. It is up to 2c here. Heading into Whatley for work, interested to see how conditions are down in a more rural setting there.

Few cm’s in Longwell Green with a heavy clump of PPN now traversing Bristol giving a slightly more moderate fall. Nice to see although not enough to close the kids schools unfortunately so school run here I come! It’s very wet too, so I expect melt throughout the day. If only tonight’s wave doesn’t get as far north as currently modelled……

Well, the ever unreliable Meto App has suddenly sparked some interest; well, that’s if I could be bothered to stay up and observe what happens. I just don’t have the confidence and expectation that my area will see anything more than some sleety slush. Can’t say why, other than it just doesn’t feel right. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see some activity within the thread and some interest to observe out our windows over the next couple of days though.

I’ve got a day shift at Whatley quarry tomorrow afternoon, finishing up in Westbury come the evening. Will be interesting to see what falls later in the day, compared to back home in lower down Longwell Green.

Hate to say it but those charts are purely designed to generate false hope amongst the snow community. Rarely, if ever do they come to fruition.

Currently over the Mendips now and I can confirm it’s 4c and raining!

Worth noting, when you actually read the warnings, detailed forecast etc, it’s rather uninspiring. Plays particular focus to hills and moors, with lower levels seeing transient, small accumulations of what I suspect could be slush! To balance the above with a bit of positivity though, the upcoming weeks setup is perfectly primed for surprise, unforecast snowfall and/or more or less snowfall than gets forecast, so I wouldn’t hang my hat on any PPN forecast for now.

Might just be me having a moment, but I don’t seem to be able to edit my posts anymore? These are the options I get when pressing the 3 squares;

Some very heavy rain in parts of the region this afternoon; most notably around the Swindon/Pewsey area, stretching down across the Mendips into West Somerset. With all the rain recently, and further heavy rain forecast overnight tonight, I can see some flooding issues ensuing across our transport infrastructure for the remainder of the working week.

Just heard those rumbles too. As I type, another rumble to my north. Pitch black out there for early afternoon. Flash of lightning to my east now. Comes to something when mid January offers the best thunder weather I’ve had for a couple of Years!!!!

Proper biting cold here today. You get the "bigged up" UK cold most winters, that usually need an extra layer and a bit of evening heating, then you get the rarer, true Arctic, biting cold which is what we have today. Without gloves, hands go numb, without a hat, face stings, without two pairs of socks on, feet go numb. If there were PPN today, it would undoubtedly be of the white variety.

I hope the Elves manage to commute to Santa's factory still.

For our most south western members; Personally not got high expectations, I think it'll all go through the channel into northern France but what do I know!!

Morning UKV similar, if not slightly more expansive; One more opportunity for some to see falling snow before the likely return to midler conditions return for the weekend, for our region. Too early for IMBY specifics, but current broad brush analysis suggests southern coastal counties are best primed at this stage. Wouldn't be surprised if the whole lot stayed in the channel though.

Unexpected covering of snow here this morning. A couple of cm's. Always nice to wake up to and take the dog for a Sunday morning walk in.