AdamStorm7891

Lights where flickering when I got home from work about half an hour ago, had a CRAZY squall line as a heavy shower past through. Gusts today have generally been 40-50mph on and off here but really ramping up whenever a shower passes through, more like 55-60mph in brief but intense periods so all in all a rough day it has certainly been, I just feel grateful that inland areas haven't had the 70-80mph gusts they've had in coastal regions though!

Whoever said this is a non-event must be having a giraffe, I work outside and trust me when I say this having just got home it has been f**king windy today. It started off bright and breezy and not too bad but after about 10 o'clock the winds began to pick up and it clouded over, we had quite a bad spell between 11 and 12 then there was a slight lull for about an hour or so before it started picking up again and the rain has arrived in the last hour or so and the winds have cranked up a notch and seem more persistent then they where earlier, very squally and higher mean speeds about 30-35mph I'd say, some of the gusts must have been approaching if not exceeding 60mph for a time, the roar and howl was pretty noticeable and trees looked like they where about to snap in half lol. Absolutely crazy!!!!! So absolutely NOT a non-event. I dread to think how bad it is on the coast!

Lol cheers, well hat or hood I'm going to get wet and windswept.

Morning folks well I got woken up by that crazy squall line about 11pm last night there wasn't any thunder here but the rain was pounding it down, sounded like it was going to cave the roof in and wind was absolutely roaring easily 50-60mph for a short time possibly more and it was lashing the rain against my bedroom window. It went quiet after that but the wind has started getting up again in the last half hour or so, just abouts to set off for work and it's already roaring, must be 40'ish and not expecting the peak until lunchtime. I think we might see something over 60 even this far inland, wish me luck out there lol.

Can't say I heard any thunder last night but we did have a crazy squall go through about 11pm, rain lashing against my bedroom window woke me up and wind was easily 50mph for a short spell possibly more. It went very quiet out during the small hours but now it's starting to blow up again, not expecting the peak here until lunchtime could well see 60+ I reckon.

I'm a street sweeper and I'll be outside in it from 7 till 3 so know how you feel, I'll be wasting my time trying to keep the roads clean tomorrow aswell with things getting blown about all over the shop lol.

LOL no I very much doubt it'll be that bad but it could end up being worse then the St' Jude storm from October 2013 or the storms back in January 2007. They're still quite certain winds will be generally 50mph around the London region but I think they might be closer to 60-70mph, somewhere near the south coast especially the south-west approaches could get over 90mph. The Great Storm of 1987 saw winds gusting of over 90mph in central London and gusts of 110-120mph around Kent and Essex coasts and headlands, a storm with a once in 150 to 300 year return period.

I've got a feeling if anything the national forecasts have underestimated this one!

GFS chart for midday tomorrow seems confident on the strongest winds right through the heart of southern England running from Bristol Channel to London and out into the North-Sea via the The Wash, actually a very similar path to the '87 and St' Jude storms.

There was a tree down just around the corner from me, all be it a small one but I remember it being quite wild for a short spell during the evening!

I think their dividing line between where the strongest zone of winds will be is too close to London and the surrounding suburban areas for comfort, the line between the 50-60mph gusts and the 60-80mph gusts literally runs right through the heart of Greater London and the Thames Estuary so on that basis if you live north of the Thames you'll get 50mph winds if you live south of the Thames you could get 70mph winds, I don't think there's an exact science with their predictions it's mostly guesswork on the assumption that usually areas closer to the sea are more exposed to strong winds but it doesn't always work out that way, in fact some models are predicting the strongest gusts to swathe right through Hertfordshire, Essex and East Anglia and it would make sense for the winds to be slightly further north then the warnings would have you believe because it's these areas that are slightly closer to the centre of the LP's southern flank where the tightest pressure gradient and isobars are!

Actually I'm not sure about that, weren't the winds during Storm Barney back in November about that strong? I remember there where some power outages in Essex.

Heavy thundery showers are forecast so combined with the turbulent vortex effect of Storm Imogen driving their energy anything is possible!

60mph gusts well inland are actually quite uncommon, so this isn't being at all overhyped, St' Jude was overhyped because they predicted widespread gusts of 80-90mph which would have made it almost as bad as 1987 but in reality only a few coastal districts got 80mph whereas the rest of us got a very short spell of 50-60mph winds so tomorrow's winds are going to be at least as strong as St' Jude if not stronger and lasting a few hours longer!

BBC London News bulletin on now, should have a local weather update on the storm in a few minutes.

Quite right and I think the main difference is it'll last a lot longer, the strongest of the winds during St' Jude lasted barely over half and hour where I am it was more like a freak squall then a proper developed storm this is because the storm only started winding itself up as it was pulling away from the SE quarter and didn't reach it's full strength until it crossed the North-Sea into Denmark where 120mph winds where reported, thank god it didn't get that bad here. Imogen is looking potentially slightly worse though or at least on a par strength wise but lasting for several hours.

Wind beginning to freshen up here now after a relatively quiet spell mid-afternoon, it would appear rather like St' Jude storm that there are 2 periods of strong winds associated with this storm the first spell will be later this evening up until around midnight the early hours 40mph gusts associated with the first swathe of heavy persistent rain before a slight lull around breakfast time tomorrow before the 2nd and more potent spell of Gales arrives mid to late morning 10am onwards through into the afternoon associated with a band of squally and potentially thundery showers, this 2nd wave expected to deliver the widespread 50-60mph gusts inland with 70-80mph or more along exposed coasts!

Looks menacing for most of the south to be honest.

But the dividing line map suggests 60-70Mph gusts as far inland as the Thames Estuary and the surrounding suburbs. Dark threatening clouds gathering as I speak and wind starting to increase!

What are we thinking for the London / Essex border area for tomorrow's gusts? Met Office wind map seems to think 60-70mph but most of the graphs only indicate about 50-55mph max.

That looks pretty sick!

Has there been any upgrades to the Amber warning zone yet?

....or perhaps when she blows the lights out, they always look better in the dark! Hahaha

I'd love nothing more then some of the white stuff, it's about time. It's been ridiculously mild this winter so far!