Rain Lady

Lashing rain on back windows from NNW this morning. 17.3 mm for the last 24hrs. Simply appalling -- how can farmers and other outdoor workers make progess with spring jobs in these conditions? Feeling colder too -- currently 6.1C. Sunless of course.

Fine sticky drizzly rain up here. 1.3 mm only picked up this morning though. That's 602.2 mm for the year so far. Calm -- so that's a bonus after the last 3 days blow.

Weather-history Thanks for this -- will compare. Puzzled still -- where are the sites supplying this data? Maybe such info is in a footnote somewhere? Met Office / EA have an automatic tipper on the site next to the manual gauge here. It is wireless linked to EA HQ so they now get info quickly from this black box tech. However all sorts of debris, such as leaves, seeds, bird droppings, slugs and spiders, can occasionally make it unreliable. I've even known thieving jackdaws take away the shiny filter. Also the auto doesn't cope well with ice and snow. Just sits and sulks till it thaws. The manual gauge however is given personal attention once a day -- thawed out when frozen up etc so no readings are missed.

severe snowstormYes, we all said last April, May, June - "We'll have to pay for this"- when the ditch bottoms were crispy and we were trying to seek shade from the blazing sun and there were no insects for the birds and the swallows had no mud for their nests. Got to keep remembering the good times and hope this current wet sunless punishment soon stops.

Weather-history Link would be interesting if you have it handy.

Morning dry. Raining now.

Weather-history What site are you using for your region? You noted 1264.5mm rain since start of July 2023. Up here in the foothills of the Bowland Fells at 150m ASL, 500 ft approx, we've collected 1929.9 mm for the same period in the manual daily gauge on the Met Office site. Would be interesting to know what other sites in the north west have recorded.

We missed the worst of last night's showers. Only 3.9mm picked up this morning. That's now 49.5mm so far for April. Brutal gusts at times. Make outdoor activities hard work.

Vicious gusts now.

First spits now ...

Dried a line of washing !!! Max been 14.4C.

More rain. At 9 GMT collected 12.9 mm for the last 24hrs. April so far = 37.0 mm. Currently raining. Pressure rising a bit.

Iceaxecrampon Tomorrow, some friends are booked to sail back from a week's holiday in Ireland on car ferry to Holyhead.

Dry until this evening. Overnight rain useful as it will help to water in the last few transplants moved into the field hedges today. But fields are so wet still. Surely we are due a dry spell.

Murky and mizzly drizzly, clouds down on fells. But birds noisy and more active today. Maybe they know of better weather coming. 7.3C at present.

Utterly fed up with this wet. Can't get on with outdoor work. Up here, even if the rain stops soon, it's going to take several weeks before there's a catch up and farmland is properly manageable. Pic of yesterday's mud fest while gapping hedgerows, even though weather was better than today. Not surprised to see the BBC TV report of costly damage to rail infrastructure. As for roads -- no end of potholes. On our public lane a spring always weeps through the tarmac -- now gushed and created a big hole. Difficut lambing time in hill country -- baby lambs suffer in relentless rain.

Fog and very fine drizzle. Visibility only about 100m up here.

Stopped about half an hour ago.

Solid grey sky all day. Still raining.

169.4 mm for March. Average is 114.3 mm. Total for first 3 months this year = 550.4 mm !! Over last 54 years our record wet year was 2020 with 2009.6 mm. Annual average 1503.1 mm.

Only drizzle in the bleak E wind so far. Could be worse. 1st April 1966 gave us a surprise after an overnight blizzard from the east. Drift across the back door but dollops settled on trees im more sheltered places. It was very cold that morning. That's me in a borrowed coat. All melted by the end of the day however, apart from a few lingering drifts.

It's been a lovely sunny calm DRY day. Max 13.2C. Picked up 12.8mm this morning for previous 24hrs. Hoping nothing more in the pot by tomorrow. Fields boggy and with pools of lying water. Ditches gurgling. Spent the day checking field boundaries. Depressing to see so much weather damage, with hedges and trees blown down and some crashed through fences, roots loosened very likely with all the rain. Planted up some gaps with young thorn and holly. Hoping the wild deer don't notice them. Hoping we stay cool and showery for several days so the plants get established. Always a risk that weather can switch and we have a long dry and increasingly hot spell. April is out driest month. Shletered roadside blackthorn coming out and an empty KFC tub hestling at its foot.

Sparkling start and only a very light breeze. A good day for the Coconutters, Ian.

Rush2019 Sorry - in my earler reply, for Ian read Rush !

From BBC Fotball website -- live report soon after the start of the match at Deepdale, Preston NE v Rotherham, Sanny Rudravajhala BBC Radio 5 Live I kid you not, as soon as the ref blew his whistle it has started hailing and it is biblical. The sound of ice smashing on to the roof has drowned all noise out in the stadium.