Spikecollie

What do you mean? In the Bay of Biscay?

They're dipping their toes in the channel now off the Caen coast...allez y - as we say here!

Yep! Les mouches. We have buckets of flies, midges and other flying bods I'd rather not go in to. It's just been the season for the "may bugs", stuffing themselves down every plug hole available. I kill nothing if I don't have to so having them gripping on to my fingers for dear life is run of the mill. With heat goes copulation (in the insect world, I mean, but feel free to expand) I'm afraid...

Happy time folks! I just have to be patient here in south western France. I've got a sky full of Acas a lovely intermittent wind and it's still 29c outside. It's my birthday tomorrow, so some after midnight fireworks would be welcome in moderation as I'm knacked fromlawn mowing and a long run with my doglet! Time to eat, not sure if I'm hungry because of the approaching storms or because I've just used up all my earlier calories. Happy storm watching....

Food and drink always tastes better a) when camping b) after a long walk/run c) when all three are combined with rumbles in the distance. Forget the hail and downpours - they sog your plate and dilute your beer/wine!

The odd strike in the Bay of Biscay is good to see too, though. No good to you, but I have great memories of Caen storms - try finishing your meal when the restaurant roof collapses on it due to the weight of rain and hail - and it was sunny with blue skies when we sat down!

Exactly. Our storms are progged for after 22h00 and I think it's the same for northern France. These are often the best ones, depending on whether you need a good night's sleep or not. I'm not in work tomorrow but I'll probably go to bed and then get up if there are storms. Mylo (my Border Collie) and I love to watch and I like to have Lightning Maps on at the same time to see the CG strikes. Whenever anything is progged around here I/we (OH is in the UK for 10 days ATM) we always have torches at hand and phones etc. charged up in case the electricity goes out or we start to get brown outs...

Normandie is a law unto itself though, weather wise, but that wouldn't surprise me in conditions like this.

They are certainly used here in France because I know an amateur meteorologist who launches them for Metéo France - they use amateurs outside big towns and cities and in remote locations. http://www.meteofrance.fr/prevoir-le-temps/observer-le-temps/moyens/les-radiosondages and heyho - https://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2017/10/27/did-you-know-were-testing-new-weather-balloons-from-cornwall-to-antarctica/ So now we know...

Wasn't Asperatus designated as a new cloud name during a campaign by the Cloud Appreciation Society, rather than a change of cloud name? Whatever the nomenclature technicalities it is a beautiful cloudscape to have - we often get it over our valley before a storm (or someone else's storm).

But the temperature differential is amazing - it's 30c+ in northern France,some of those progged storms have got to get to the UK...

Don't give up guys! Météo France have just produced their 16h30 forecast and they're still going for some pretty big storms for northern France, which at least folks on the coast should be able to watch, even if they don't import.

It' going to be a long wait for all of us on both sides of the channel tonight. I've got a CAPE value of 2336 for tonight on Méteociel - hmm - we shall see what happens. Right now there are three lawnmowers, one in each neighbour's garden and one in mine going at full pelt in 30c - Jean-Philippe for one always knows when to get the mowing done before a storm...

And now they are very careful with their economy and the social welfare! Sound like you planned for and had a great short trip. Somewhere I'd like to go - seeing the Aurora up front is definitely on my list. Scandinavian countries are so lovely, as are their people and cultures. I've been to Denmark, Sweden and Finalnd but all too briefly.

I'm progged something half decent for tomorrow night over here in Haute Vienne, both by Meteociel http://www.meteociel.fr/previsions-orage/31908/saint_sulpice_lauriere.htm and Météo France but I'm a long way from the coast and the best our storms tend to be quite orographically driven as we are relatively high up and in a valley surrounded by hills. Nevertheless, I hope you get at least some imports and maybe by the sound of it some homegrown storms as well. The storms of two days ago in Drôme and Ardèche reminded me so much of 1st of July 2015 https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/climat-environnement/photos-chute-de-grelons-impressionnante-a-romans-sur-isere-1560603655 I've still got the dents in my car bonnet from the Aire Valley supercell! Happy storm watching...

Summer keeps trying to install here with odd nice days but then it keeps degenerating into thundery showers followed by crud. The number of June mornings I've driven into work in fog and mist and drizzle... Tempete Miguel was a fairly standard windy and rainy affair here in Haute Vienne, well away from the coast, but in between time it has just been thundery showers followed by heavy rain. No thunderstorms of note, just a few rumbles. Some nights we've had the woodburner and electric blanket in action and Monday night it went down to near 0c! This evennig is glorious after a lovely day albeit with a dodgy, showery start and it looks like things are on the up from the weekend onward. Having had a slight moan, the gardens have flourished with the weather provided the gardener keeps a wary eye for slugs and snails and encourages the hedgehogs! My lettuces have been divine and the first courgette flowers are blooming. Potatoes and cabbages are doing well too. I've been running and cycling despite the weather, Mylo my Border Collie doesn't complain on a run come rain or shine and neither do I, but a cycle to work yesterday morning was a big mistake - lakes in shoes and a take up of an offer of a lift back home at lunchtime with bike in back of car!

Pavements and roads look OK here so far in Keighley. Freezing rain has made our driveway treacherous though. I wouldn't go out unless you have to.

It is sleeting here in Keighley. The pavements and roads are clear but our driveway is impassable without ice grippers due to the freezing rain. Far colder than Limousin but Mylo loved the ice this morning!

The electrical activity here in Haute Vienne was distant but intense and very lovely to watch - Mylo and I took a walk at about 2230 and there was 360 flashing over the hills and some great CGs in the distance. It had been an exceptional day, one of those with a hot breeze and teperatures well into the mid-30s and we'd been out for a long and lovely cycle ride late afternoon and we could see the CBs building when we were on our way back. The main event for us was around midnight, just after we had gone to bed. The wind started getting really strong and it sounded like the closed shutters were going to get ripped off the walls - then came an almighty whooshing sound followed by an equally almighty crash. We raced downstairs and then went carefully out the basement doors to find our porch roof lying in the back garden having been literally sucked off by the wind. It is/was a completely enclosed porch so there is no other explanation we can think of. Further down the road there were two or three bins in the fields which would have had to jump hedges and gates to get there!

Exactly! We've had 40c during August in Limousin (France) for the last 3 summers at times. We work, garden, cycle etc. and it's nothing special. The BBC report from Montpellier, where it was 37c, had people saying it was just normal. Hype and silly season as you say, but it's still important for vulnerable people to take care...

I would always recommend the Promenade Plantée: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/jun/07/paris-promenade-plantee-free-elevated-park-walkway-bastille-bois-de-vincennes and the Petite Ceinture (Little Belt) which is less well known than the above but utterly beguiling: https://worldinparis.com/walking-on-railroad-tracks-la-petite-ceinture-paris On a hot day, the Grand Mosquée de Paris is also very well worth a visit. It is in the lovely 5th arrondissement and offers a chance for a nice refreshment break. The surrounding streets are fascinating also. Again one for the heat, which you will almost certainly have - take a Bateau Bus ride along the Seine. This is a scheduled bus service, not one of the touristy ones, and you can pop on and off when you like with a day ticket visiting most of the main attractions, but also with the ability to get off the beaten track if you want to. Oops - forgot about the "basic French" question you asked. You'll get around just fine, but do try to use your basic French. People really appreciate it. Whatever you do, have a wonderful time - it's difficult not to

We've just had a cracker with marble sized hail, incredibly gusty winds and some great CG strikes. Sunday night was amazing too, constant flickering lightning from the storms in Charente. Say safe out there, Our next batch is on approach!

Hi Ed Right now he's helping my other half pull some cut branches out of the lake. He's very wise and cools off in the shade and the water. We run together almost every day and provided he has a good soak down before we go it's always me who's flagging and never him! He's maturing very nicely and is very bonded to us now - a lovely little 18 month bundle of love and joy. He loves his storms too, he just watches quietly with me.

You've picked a great time to come to France. I'm by our lake and it's mid 30s, very humid with rapidly developing TCU now. It's progged to kick off after 2300 here, so a great night in prospect camping under the stars (or rather lightning flashes!). Enjoy any storms you might get, you seem to be well placed in the Loire valley...