Anvils in the Sky

And in terms of a chart from summer......believe it or not, about three hours before this, we had an incredibly violent thunderstorm pass through Kent. One of the most spectacular of the 80's. Yet nobody seems to remember it except me. That high to the east had given a rare few hot days beforehand (we got back from Spain on 17th August, and it seemed hotter here than there), and then a small but very active little front moved across the SE. Gave us an hour of spectacular lightning, deafening thunder, and torrential rain.

Great idea for a topic, Tom. For me, it has to be 13th January 1987...

Blimey, that's going to feel sub-tropical in comparison to the current soggy 11.8°! Must admit, really wasn't expecting it to be this much below average today. It's 'orrible out there! EDIT: Make that 11.1°. Amazing for a mid-afternoon in early September. Especially when it was 30° in places a few days ago.

Morning folks, Grey skies, spits and spots of rain, and a current temperature of 12.9°. I think it's safe to say it feels more like autumn than summer now. Garden definitely showing signs of the change of season; feathers coming through on the pampas grass, autumn crocuses popping up from the ground (one has already been devoured by a slug ), and apples & pears falling off the trees. Right, time to fish out the slug pellets! Have a good day, Lee

A bit of rain, a bit of wind, and a current temp of 14.1°. Dare I say it actually feels a little autumnal out there?! Edit: Now 13.9°. Hard to believe 72 hours ago we were knocking on the door of 30°!

Have put it away. And all windows now open wider than before!

Blitzortung certainly suggesting that's the case. (Mind you it - and SAT24 - both have recent strikes right on top of me. And I can assure you there has been nothing.)

Hate to be pessimistic, but I'd take a brolly if I were you! Turning into a text book 'sunshine and showers' day here. And I'm quite enjoying it - it's giving us some fairly photogenic skies. Current temp = 17.1°

I think I was a little hasty in my "nobody likes autumn" assessment last night! Hope you enjoyed your birthday celebrations. Boy, was that an evil hangover I had yesterday! As regards today.....sunny start, clouded over, a few spots a rain about an hour ago, and now the sun is back. There's a nice convective sky to my south-west though. Pic attached. (Second pic is of someone who has just come to have a nose at me typing this!) Also came across this on the net this morning. Some great shots from space. (Love those storm cells shooting up from earth in one of the pics.) http://uk.news.yahoo.com/lightbox/spectacular-space-images-show-japanese-craft-above-earth-slideshow/the-jaw-dropping-images-also-show-the-strait-of-gibraltar-where-the-atlantic-ocean-and-the-photo-1378480435904.html

I'm up, even if no-one else is. (Yup, hangover still dictating my life. ) Anyway........just thought I'd point out - to myself, if nobody else! - it's 9.2° here at the moment. Single figures for what, I believe, is the first time since June. Welcome autumn , I love ya even if no other south-easterner does!

When I was a kiddie, a friend of my nan's gave her budgie some sherry. She thought he might like a change from water. He had some......and fell off his perch! Hair of the dog is the best cure. But it's also the hardest to swallow. Literally. And so I don't get told off for talking non-weather stuff.......it'd crystal clear out there, and 12.9°. (And all the solar lights are on. They still had two hours of charging to go, at this time of day a couple of months back!)

Evening all, On the lash last night, and STILL hungover! So treat me gently. (And what did I say on here the other day? Something like "the 40's ain't that bad." Well, I lied. I NEVER had hangovers into the following evening when I was in my 20's/30's!) Anyway, glad I didn't come on here when I got in - goodness knows what tripe I'd have posted! As for today.......unlike my hangover, the weather improved as the day wore on. Sunny start soon gave way to cloudier skies, and then there was a very brief but very sharp shower in the late morning. But all change after that. The clouds slowly but surely melted away after about 2 o'clock. And by just after 3, we were left with cloud-free skies. Down to 14.3° now though, with a quarter of an hour before the sun sets, so I reckon a "chilly" one (comparatively speaking) could be on the cards tonight. Right, off to guzzle another pint of water. Though maybe I should try some hair of the dog which ravaged me.

Rain Today suggesting you could be being truthful! The Channel stuff still looking as if it has our names on it. The garden - which I purposely didn't water last night - is certainly praying for your generosity.

Well, looking at the trajectory of the French stuff, I would say you and I are in the same line of fire. But obviously you will get first pickings. Don't you dare leave us with the scraps!

Morning fellow South-Easterners / East Anglians, Still bone dry here. And it has been a bright morning so far. But that brightness is verging on sunniness now. What's going on?! Was expecting to be watching rain stream down the windows by now! All the stuff of interest seems to be to the west at the moment. Watching those returns over Caen / Le Havre, though, as they seem to have Kent and East Sussex in their sights. (But how many times have we seen that over the summer, only for them to suddenly veer 90° to the right, or die a rapid death over the Channel?!) Currently slap bang on 18°. Which is fine, but really is leading to quite an incredibly different feel out there compared to yesterday. Hope everyone has a great Friday. Lee

Evening all. Second consecutive fabulous day here. (And none of that early morning fog which caused the awful mess on the Sheppey Crossing just a few miles away. I knew it was foggy down there though, as you can normally see the bridge from the top of my road. But just a distant bank of grey this morning. Little did I know what had just happened in that fog. Thank goodness nobody was killed.) Anyway, we reached a max of 28.1 today. Not bad going for 5th September! Could see some reasonably impressive convective towers going up on the western horizon earlier. But they've moved away now. I tell you something though - the lengthening shadows were more apparent than ever today. ("Obviously! Seeing as we're getting closer to the autumnal equinox," I hear some of you cry. But I'm sure you know what I mean! Blitzortung suggesting Norwich is pretty electrical at the moment. Nice. P.S. re: spiders.....ANOTHER huge one in the house this morning. Reading what somebody said yesterday about putting them out the window breaking all their bones, this morning's one was placed GENTLY in the back garden. (I'm sure it followed me back into the house though!)

Turned into a fabulous day here too. (Very welcome after yesterday's cloudy disappointment.) Was a bit nervous through much of the morning though. Misty low cloud seemed very reluctant to thin and break. Suddenly it did.......but then it came back again, and I thought "Here we go." But the second batch cleared off within about 20 minutes. And it has been sunshine pretty much all the way since then. Just a couple of convective cumulus came up from the south, and briefly blocked out the sun - at the very moment I decided to sit outside and munch my lunch! But, yep, what a fabulous September day. And talk of 30° tomorrow. Cor, Friday/Saturday will be a shock to the system! As regards spiders, woke up the other night to find one crawling across my shoulder. Not for the first time in the last few years either. They love this house for some reason.

Glad it eventually cleared up for you. The clouds melted away here around that time too - except for one single, solitary little clump which blocked out the sun right where I am. And followed it all the way down to the horizon. And then fizzled into nothing within minutes of the sun setting! Amazing. So, anyway, a single digit number of minutes of sunshine here today from mid-late morning onwards. Not expected, and most certainly not forecast. Bit disappointing really. But, hey, tomorrow's another day...

You took the words right out of my mouth! Was just coming on here to say exactly the same. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of minutes of sunshine we've had since about 11 this morning. Oh well.....hopefully sunnier skies tomorrow, after today's unexpected disappointment.

Yep. And a bumpy road it will undoubtedly be.

I was dreading 40 when I was in my late 30s. Have to say, though, the 40s have been great so far. Of course, I'm only a fifth of the way through.....so there's plenty of time for that to change! Fabulous afternoon here. Sunshine all the way, and currently 24.4°. Needless to say the indoor temp has gone back up above 20°. I see a mention of the t-word in the MetO's SE forecast for Friday. Wonder if that will put the kibosh on it, or if we'll be happily (or unhappily, if you're a Brontophobe) congratulating their accuracy come Saturday morning?

I thought I saw someone taking a photo of me on my test drive yesterday. Chuckling away to himself. Now I know who the guilty party was!

Morning folks, Fantastic start to the new week. Sunny, temperature of 17.2° at the moment, and a fabulous lack of humidity. Indoor temperature dropped below 20° last night for the first time since some time in June. (Can't remember the exact date.) My first hint that, despite the expected warm temps of the next few days, autumn has begun to send its first tendrils out. Two weeks until I'm forty-TWO. So count yourself lucky!

Afternoon folks, The meteorological summer certainly went out it style yesterday, didn't it? Fabulous day. A few weather-type pics from the middle of the English Channel attached below. (Bit cloudy on the French side at first, but it soon cleared away as the front moved south.) Clear enough yesterday to see the English coast from France, and vice versa. As for the first day of autumn, the sunshine is now getting less hazy as the high cloud thins and moves away. Bit of a breeze just taking the edge off the temperature (currently 17.1°), but at least the air is nice and dry. However the warmth and humidity are on their way back over the next few days it seems. Always seems to coincide with the schools starting back! At least we've had a proper summer this year though. So it's not as if the kids are going back under sunny skies after six weeks of miserable weather. Hope everyone has a great Sunday afternoon. Lee