Metwatch

Lmao i'm just very desperate for something much drier, and warmer than the almost constant 10-14C in the past few months which will finally change here from tomorrow even it it's only for a few days. Of course sunshine would speed up the drying process and be even better, but later this month or in May I think that might just properly arrive

Not too worried if there isn't wall to wall blue skies at the moment. Still a marked improvement compared to recent, and should get the lawn done again this weekend. Later next week could see more high pressure so maybe a lot of us will witness the appearance of the long-awaited dry soils in the coming weeks Not much more than 5-10mm across modelling here and southwards from now on!

A max of only 3.5C in Coventry airport on the 10th before dropping to -3.4C the following night. Only comparable temperature on the 10th April I can see is in 1924 with a max of 3.9C. The April was cold overall; CET of 6.5C the 40th coldest, and an average of 5.9C in Coventry!

Back from a week long camping trip in the Lakes, and as much as I do love the scenery, (posting more photos in the Northwest regional thread in the coming days) the rain was becoming excessive towards the end, especially yesterday and this morning (also not exactly surprised by that). ~40mm fell last night alone near the campsite I was at! Looking at the outlook and I can see an improvement in the near term starting from Thursday; quite mild and somewhat drier, probably cooler again next week but unlikely to be as wet than of recent. I cannot see much in the models that would be on the excellence of April - May 2018 / 2020 yet though. But the Jetstream heading north now a bit and getting rid of that silly Greenland blocking is very nice to see at last for this time of year! Hopefully this is all the start of a slow transition into a stunning May! Everything is looking to become green very early this year, which personally I prefer, but probably not the best for nature itself.

Looking through various webcams on Windy in the southern part of eastern Europe and found this roughly week long difference in Hungary. An incredibly rapid bloom this spring following the warmth. Pretty much an April 2020 repeat here but on steroids!

Back home now, but from yesterday afternoon to the minute I got on the train from Penrith earlier today, that was starting to become a bit excessive with nearly 40mm of rain falling from that system, near the campsite I was at (Chapel House Farm). Incredible how quick it also changed from sunshine to rain yesterday. Made the most of that glorious sunny few hours with another walk to Castle Crag to see the caves and moss-covered woodlands, and getting the drone up over Borrowdale itself. I think i'm still lucky enough to have had the rain fall mostly at night apart from 2 days! Also a few more from Sunday night with the first of 2 walks to Castle Crag, very windy indeed!

Some nice skies tonight looking from the train station car park just as I arrived back home tonight. Couldn't spot any rainbows, but looks like the Coventry airport webcam saw one shortly after taking these:

20240407_194527.mp4 Evening all from Castle Crag! Probably gusting in excess of 50mph up here.

Blowing a hoolie here in Keswick at the moment, few heavy showers racing through as well. Think it's a tad windier than yesterday.

20240406_131841~2.mp4 20240406_124338~2.mp4 Storm Kathleen up here in the Lake District yesterday afternoon. Here for another 2 days. Certainly quite windy, but it was mostly dry & very mild so that didn't stop myself and a few dozen other hikers enjoying their walks! A lot of water on paths which are like streams!

Only just got signal (Still in the Lake District with no signal since Friday night but back in town currently) looks like @rwtwm was closest with the April 4 the guess. Fairly happy with my April 10th punt as well. Onto the first 25°C now!

Out in the Lake District through the rest of this week, mostly a camping trip with 3 other guys. So far Tuesday and Thursday was nice, with today being okish and Wednesday being the worst day. Camped near Helvellyn for 2 nights at 700m elevation, stuck all day in tent Wednesday but I think it was worth it to get to near helvellyn yesterday and take some lovely photos Tuesday evening and Thursday. Decided to stay in hotel back in Penrith last night for a little comfort, off to a campsite later today. Got up to the Penrith Beacon this afternoon, some light intermittent rain but wasn't too bad, quite mild. 20240405_120254.mp4 2 shots back on Wednesday at 700m, not a great day at all near constant drizzle or moderate rain. My first ever wildcamp so I think I did pretty well Imo (leaving no trace behind as always). Then to compare Tuesday night with pleasant conditions for climbing, and the sun coming out by late afternoon. Got a lot more photos to eventually go through from Tuesday and Thursday so will post them soon enough. Have a lovely weekend all!

Catacol I wouldn't even bother. Denies that Spain is becoming drier and warmer this week so that says enough. The ignore button works wonders

April 2011 I feel is another that tends to be less remembered about given Aprils have warmed up a fair bit. If April 2007 wasn't that warm, 2011 would have been the warmest April by 1.3C above the current third warmest which is 1865, followed by 2020. A bigger gap than between the 2 warmest Mays! The CET of April 2011 is virtually identical to the coldest June in modern times which was in 1972, and over a degree warmer than the coldest September in modern times which was in 1952.

Some quite threatening skies despite the showers not amounting to much. Always something to capture! Also dropped to 10C here in the shower. YouCut_20240401_165616633~2.mp4 Some showers in the distance developing: Loking north to the Derby / Nottingham cells right now:

Few showers closing in from the south, but not expecting any thunder. Been a nice afternoon so far, 14°C and mostly sunny up until now.

Very mild first week on the cards, with potentially the CET reaching close to 12C by the start of next week. I wonder what the rolling mean daily records are for April @Roger J Smith? I see that up to the 7th April 2011, that had a mean of 11.6C.

Oh dear they're already at it again. That's a wet summer guaranteed then! UK at risk of summer water shortages and hosepipe bans, scientists warn | Water | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM Hot and dry conditions could force measures despite country experiencing wettest 18 months since records began

Models have drastically flipped and are now showing a strong signal for high pressure over the country starting this weekend, the end of the near eternal wet spell is in sight!

Another year where March recorded a lower highest temperature than February here. I do wonder if it's becoming common... since the mid 1980s In recent decades this seems to have happened in: 2023, 2019, 2008, 1996 and 1987.

9.6C and 108mm Very wet first 7-10 days, and likely up to mid month, second half probably drier but not completely while staying near average. Have not gone for a CET of anything >10C as it's almost impossible to get an April CET of >10C while also being very wet. There is the first time for everything though so might happen this April! The scatter graph below showcases this nicely; typically the wetter an April is, the chillier it will be with the warmest ones often the driest with very few that can be classed as mild while being wet.

An interesting paper on how radar was developed in the UK in the mid 20th century. It's a long read but if you Control F some terms such as hail, thunderstorm, various years in the 1940s and 50s, (1955 57, 58, 59 etc) and flick through, there are some interesting snippets for thunderstorms! https://www.rmets.org/sites/default/files/hist14.pdf UK weather radar history 1940-1965.pdf

From the guy who manages the station in Coventry this morning: The October - March 91-2020 average for reference is 348.4mm. That is more than ridiculous now.

Certainly changed my expectations of May following May 2020, but it was sort of overdue given several Mays in the latter part of the 2010s were decent. However a fairly convective month too as it was very cyclonic with the sun being quite strong by this month. Here I only remember a day or 2 with thunder, but a lot of convective cloudscapes in the mix. 10th, 17th and 18th stand out looking back on my gallery and lightning strike archive on Meteociel. Things did settle down in the final few days though. The Lake District, parts of Scotland even fairly low down, and some higher parts in Wales got some settling snow early in the month. How unusual is snow in May? WWW.BBC.CO.UK What's behind the recent wintry spell of weather - and how often do we see snow in May? Ffair-Rhos, Ceredigion, Wales, UK. 05th May 2021 UK Weather: Residents awake to snow in the rural village of Ffair-Rhos in Ceredigion after overnight and continuing snowfall this morning. © Ian Jones/Alamy Live News Stock Photo - Alamy WWW.ALAMY.COM Download this stock image: Ffair-Rhos, Ceredigion, Wales, UK. 05th May 2021 UK Weather: Residents awake to snow in the rural village of Ffair-Rhos in Ceredigion after overnight and continuing snowfall this... Dalwhinnie, Scotland, UK. 6 May 2021. Aerial view of snow covered landscape in the high altitude Drumochter Pass at Dalwhinnie in the Scottish highlands. Pic; The A9 highway winds its way north through a snow covered Drumochter Pass. Iain Masterton/Alamy Live News Stock Photo - Alamy WWW.ALAMY.COM Download this stock image: Dalwhinnie, Scotland, UK. 6 May 2021. Aerial view of snow covered landscape in the high altitude Drumochter Pass at Dalwhinnie in the Scottish highlands. Pic; The A9 highway...

Intense hail shower today just north of Stirling this afternoon Wanted to share a few shots from Jack in North Warwickshire from yesterday, also some stunning mammatus and cloudscapes too: Some more mammatus yesterday, wonder if it's been a record of some sorts for so many sightings in a single month!