alr1970

About 60mm here since this all started. The Sale Waterpark flood basin sluices are open, for the first time since the 90s according to the team on site there.

The Mersey in Chorlton/Sale at about 9 this morning. Jacksons Bridge Environment Agency staff preparing to open the sluice into Sale Water Park flood basin. Lower paths on the river walls flooded. At the Princess Road crossing

Mersey shooting up again, now higher than its peak last week.

Stopped again here now, but it's what falls upstream that's interesting to me.

Depends how bad. Manchester usually falls flat at the least bit of snow, though it's a hilly place so it can vary over a couple of miles. But everywhere has its limits.

I think that's unlikely, we have the Environment Agency to issue flood warnings when it gets bad. Those are better focussed on the area at risk. There's no agency with overlapping responsibility for warnings about other extreme weather types in the same way as there is for rain (except perhaps health warnings for heat, but the MetO don't issue yellows for that).

It's been back and forth from Ukraine to Liverpool recently. I heard it yesterday, went right over our house, a very characteristic sound. I wonder what it's carrying?

The Trent level looks like this: whereas my local river, the Mersey looks like this: We always get a sharp peak like that, as the top of the catchment isn't very far east into Derbyshire, so it all drains out quickly. Most of the area of the Peak District drains to the East, and takes a lot longer to go down again. I'm guessing we'll get a challenge for the highest ever level some time on Wednesday, depending on how much of a rain shadow we get from Wales. That highest level is from the Xmas 2015 floods, I think.

It's still yesterday's warning, I expect an update before lunchtime.

I don't know if I posted these at the time. Trafford Park Centenary bridge deck being lifted a cm or so by the wind at lunchtime. Rolling waves on the Ship Canal The last HGV to not make to over Barton Bridge, on its side.

Yes! Barton and Thelwall were both shut. Took me my normal time to get home from Trafford Park to Chorlton. On my bike past solid stationary traffic the whole way.

Same here. Perhaps the wettest day since the Xmas 2015 floods?

All this lovely snow and no-one can go and enjoy it. Next winter is going to be so busy...

We were forecast 1c today, it topped out at 3c from a low of-3c. There's just enough frost left on the lawn for some of the snow to stick but hard surfaces are all wet.

I don't think I've ever seen an ensemble chart like this before. Remarkable agreement all the way. Not to say it's right, just in agreement with itself.

Stopped here now, without turning to rain. Another "better than all of last winter" covering. VID_20201229_092537.mp4 It is rather wet underfoot, like a March snowfall of years gone by I think it will melt by lunchtime.

A steady light fall here. VID_20201229_075623.mp4

Normal service here. Still, that's more than we had last winter.

Very light snow in the air here too. Merry Christmas everyone!

That's strange. We had two ground frosts in September, then nothing in October and a few more this month. September frost is unusual here. We had no snow at all last winter.

Not-getting-light-properly season is here. I did see the moon peeking through the clouds yesterday evening though, so there is hope of a break.

Another one? Seems late in the year.

Proper cold front that: two minutes of hammering rain and the temp dropped by 4 degrees. Still gloomy, looking forward to some sunshine tomorrow.

On the basis of last winter, I have given up hope of ever seeing low-lying snow again. We have plenty of high ground nearby for a day trip when conditions allow. With that mindset in place, anything more is a pleasant treat.