Wildswimmer Pete

Thanks Paul, I added my image to my Flikr account and just added the URL to my post and, et voilà, it worked!

I have to use a bike anyway as I have a bad heart and can't walk very far before tiring. This is my "bad boy": RichBit Top 860: alloy frame, magnesium alloy wheels, 21 speed gears, full suspension including hydraulic front forks ...................and electric motor (yes, I cheat).

Tried to post a link to an image on my Facebook page but after entering the URL in the "Insert image from URL" box it turns pink and nothing happens. (Opera, Win 7 Pro)

Torrential rain at the moment but no thunder or lightning. Edit: 18:41 first clap of thunder.

Another day at Hatchmere but not as nice as last Thursday. At first I thought we were destined to tiles and chlorine today given this morning's murky, fairly chilly conditions but I saw small patches of blue forming amongst the grey so we decided to take a risk and go up to Delamere Forest. Cloud broke up to give sunny intervals with air temp. around 21C. Lake water temp. up one degree from last week: 20.5C.

I'm not easily satisfied with the British climate but most of May has been brilliant. Don't know the maximum today but I suspected it bested the forecast 28C - currently it's 24C @ 6:45pm. Got taken up to go swimming in Hatchmere lake in Delamere Forest (Cheshire). The pics show the conditions. Cloudless blue sky until lunchtime when some fair-weather Cu bubbled up however the expected thunderstorms didn't materialise with current conditions calm, warm with some Cu. Given the savage winter that's only recently ended, the water temp. of 19.5C isn't too bad for the time of the year. In a good summer Hatchmere can easily reach 24-25C Temp. recorded using a calibrated spirit scoop thermometer as per FINA stipulation. Camera: waterproof Olympus Tough TG-810

Yes, I know - I'm asthmatic. Had to use my inhaler several times. Fortunately I didn't have to be active as I was only the passenger during our delivery. Have you tried breathing the air around the A13 in Barking? Absolutely foul. I pity anyone who lives in the area. Edit: According to the Met Office air quality in London yesterday was 4 - low to moderate.

I was with a friend on a delivery in London yesterday. 28C and I was only wearing shorts and trainers - bellissimo. Can't wait for the next hot shot.

I'm physiologically adapted to withstand extreme cold, check out my avatar photo, however I much, much prefer the heat. We don't get much heat in this country, especially in recent years. We've just endured a miserable five-month winter. Isn't it time for some us to enjoy some heat?

In my neck of the woods (N.Cheshire/Merseyside) that summer was fair to middling, nothing really spectacular. Of course that's my subjective view.

Went swimming this afternoon with friends under an almost cloudless blue sky at Nantwich Outdoor Brine Pool. They've also laid Astroturf on part of poolside, very nice for sunbathing. Didn't have a thermometer but I'd say the air temp was 21C or higher. Before any pedants try to quote me stats, the brine pool is a walled lido so sheltered from any breeze.

Cloudy with sunny intervals with my garden sensor showing 13C although it might have been somewhat affected by intermittent sunshine. A lot better than the forecast 3-5C but still below par for the last day of April. We were told that the recent strong SSW event could result in a couple of April "cold shots", hopefully this is the last one. That strong Northerly feels decidedly chilly. Looking forward to the sunbathing weather expected over BH weekend.

9C at mid-afternoon on a late April day. You couldn't make it up. Looks like the couple of fine days last week were just a blip - our preternatural winter carries on. This week? Yet another one of sunless, grey skies.

Well, looks like it's back to winter next week. Knew the warm weather was too good to last. The lousy British climate sees to that.

Suitably hot today for catching some rays although I missed the hottest part of the day because I was swimming this afternoon, sadly indoors. First completely cloud-free day I've experienced for over 5 years.

Too cold for sunbathing today, also quite cloudy now however trees and shrubs are now putting on a spurt with buds preparing to open.

It can be if done in moderation. Sunbeds are not a good idea as their spectrum has has little resemblance to natural sunlight. I resent being lectured over my health by those much younger. If I've made it to 68 without serious mishap (other than a congenital heart defect) I must be doing something right. Exposure to sunlight has been found to be beneficial to heart health and as I have a buggered heart I'll follow that advice.

At 68 and after 50-odd years' sunbathing I don't really think I need to be concerned about the risk of melanoma. I turn red before I develop a tan but I don't burn, and that's the critical concern. I don't even have any moles.

Very different from yesterday, chilly and grey but I'm going swimming indoors this afternoon so not too bothered (I can show off the reddish pre-tan I got yesterday ). I do hope the forecast warm weather really does materialise.

Not Liverpool, Runcorn. We're in the Liverpool City Area but not the city itself.

I'll take it back. Mostly sunny, 15C and I've been sunbathing topless so happy.

Sea temps are low for the time of the year, especially the North Sea (as you'd expect). Current sea temps in Liverpool Bay just 6C. Bear in mind I'm a bare-skin winter swimmer and I record water temps whenever I swim outdoors - my own measurements are taken using the method stipulated by FINA. At New Brighton I expect to see 11-12C in late April which won't happen this year.

Not here. Forecast temps over the weekend 13-15C, merely what you'd expect at this time of year although an improvement on the January temps we've been enduring for almost 6 months. "Warm temps" (19-20C) expected next Wed and Thurs. So for me it's still a case of "jam tomorrow".

It's been a long time since we've had an April as relentlessly cold as this one. Lunchtime on a mid-April day: 7C, what you'd expect in January or February. I'll be surprised if the promised warm weather actually materialises, it's always a case of "jam in a week's time".