Dave J

Latest radar (1600BST) shows a few organised bands of very heavy rainfall aligned with the SW'ly gales including one very potent one stretching from Liverpool to Newcastle. Coupled with gusts of 40 - 50 MPH is making for some appauling conditions in places, whilst here in Berkshire and a few other sheltered places like East Anglia its a fine sunny autumnal late afternoon! http://www.meto.gov.uk/weather/europe/uk/r...adar/index.html

Obs from RAF Benson, 1450BST Weather : Sunny intervals. Air temp : +14C Dew : +7C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : S 21kts gusting 31kts. Clouds : Few Cb at 2400ft, Scattered Cu at 3600ft. Pressure : 1003hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1150BST Weather : Mist. Air temp : +15C Dew : +14C Visibility : 6km Wind : SSE 6kts. Clouds : Few St at 300ft, Scattered St at 400ft, Overcast St at 500ft. Pressure : 989hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1050BST Weather : Light rain, drizzle. Air temp : +9C Dew : +8C Visibility : 6km Wind : ESE 12kts. Clouds : Broken St at 2000ft, Overcast St at 3000ft. Pressure : 1002hPa. > Overnight min was the coldest so far of October @ +5.1C.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1250BST Weather : Sunny intervals. Air temp : +12C Dew : +7C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : W 6kts. Clouds : Scatted Cu at 2200ft / 670m (* for Killjoy). Pressure : 1008hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 0950BST Weather : Overcast. Air temp : +8C Dew : +7C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : W 5kts. Clouds : Overcast St at 600ft. Pressure : 995hPa.

Redhill in Surrey is in a frost hollow so as the air cools in the surrounding area by radiating energy out to space the coldest of this is much denser and so flows down into valleys and pools there resulting in a much lower temperature at that particular point. The redhill site is also I believe on a sandy soil which has a very low specific heat capacity (the lower - the easier the heat is lost and also gained). The oceans have a very high specific heat capacity leading to a much slower change in temperature here...

Redhill in Surrey is in a frost hollow so the as the air cools in the surrounding area by radiating energy out to space the coldest of this is much denser and so flows down into valleys and pools there resulting in a much lower temperature at that particular point. The redhill site is also I believe on a sandy soil which has a very low specific heat capacity (the lower - the easier the heat is lost and also gained). The oceans have a very high specific heat capacity leading to a much slower change in temperature here...

Obs from RAF Benson, 1150BST Weather : Light rain, becoming rain. Air temp : +14C Dew : +10C Visibility : 7km Wind : SE 18kts. Clouds : Few Sc at 1100ft, Broken St at 2400ft, Broken St at 4000ft. Pressure : 1004hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1050BST Weather : Light rain, drizzle. Air temp : +12C Dew : +11C Visibility : 3.5km Wind : NE 11kts. Clouds : Few Sc at 400ft, Broken Sc at 900ft, Overcast Nb at 1200ft. Pressure : 1009hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1150BST Weather : Sunny intervals. Air temp : +13C Dew : +6C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : ENE 18kts. Clouds : Scattered Cu at 2800ft. Pressure : 1015hPa. Overnight minimum was +8.4C.

Obs from RAF Benson, 0950BST Weather : Haze, mostly cloudy. Air temp : +10C Dew : +8C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : N 5kts. Clouds : Broken Sc at 700ft, Broken Cs at 25000ft. Pressure : 1019hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1250BST Weather : Showers in the vicinity. Air temp : +14C Dew : +6C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : SSW 15kts. Clouds : Few Cb at 2400ft. Pressure : 1012hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1550BST Weather : Light rain shower. Air temp : +13C Dew : +9C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : WSW 12kts gusting 25kts. Clouds : Broken Cb at 2500ft. Pressure : 1007hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1150BST Weather : Sunny intervals. Air temp : +14C Dew : +10C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : S 16kts gusting 26kts. Clouds : Few TCu at 1500ft, scattered Cu at 1800ft, broken Sc at 2000ft. Pressure : 1007hPa.

Pete, those are old readings... methinks its broken again! Obs from RAF Benson, 1250BST Weather : Mostly sunny. Air temp : +15C Dew : +6C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : SW 10kts. Clouds : Few Cu at 2800ft. Pressure : 1007hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1150BST Weather : Mostly cloudy. Air temp : +14C Dew : +12C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : S 7kts. Clouds : Few Cu at 1200ft, Broken Sc at 4000ft. Pressure : 1017hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1050BST Weather : Overcast. Air temp : +15C Dew : +12C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : SW 5kts. Clouds : Scattered Sc at 1600ft, Overcast St at 2200ft. Pressure : 1019hPa.

No worries Sas. Dew point is falling here as the air dries out, now down to just +3C. Obs from RAF Benson, 1150BST Weather : Sunny intervals. Air temp : +12C Dew : +3C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : N 10kts. Clouds : Scattered Cu at 3500ft. Pressure : 1022hPa.

The dew point is basically the temperature at which the air will become saturated if the temperature dropped to dew point at constant pressure. It is a measure of the amount of water in the atmosphere and a better indicator of air masses. The closer dew point and air temperature are the higher the relative humidity, and if they are precisely the same then you are usually either in fog or pptn.

Obs from RAF Benson, 0950BST Weather : Mostly sunny. Air temp : +12C Dew : +4C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : NW 9kts. Clouds : Few Cu at 3200ft. Pressure : 1021hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1250BST Weather : Light drizzle. Air temp : +16C Dew : +13C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : SW 14kts. Clouds : Broken Sc at 1700ft and 3500ft. Pressure : 1016hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1050BST Weather : Sunny intervals. Air temp : +14C Dew : +6C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : WSW 13kts. Clouds : Few Cu at 3200ft, Scattered Ac at 5000ft, Broken Cs at 23000ft. Pressure : 1018hPa.

Obs from RAF Benson, 1050BST Weather : Light drizzle, becoming light rain. Air temp : +17C Dew : +12C Visibility : 10km+ Wind : SSW 17kts. Clouds : Broken Sc at 2200ft. Pressure : 1007hPa.