jamesbhx

Thanks, unfortunately it produced nothing more than a light shower of rain. No hail, thunder, lightning, funnels or wind gusts! Very nice to watch as it passed though.

A pic I took a few moments ago. One of the best shelfs i've seen in the UK!

That line of convection around Stafford shows up quite well on the http://sat24.com/frame.php?html=view&country=gb loop. Looks to me as if its bubbling up due to a bit of wind convergence as shown on the GFS wind chart. Anyweather - we seem to be from almost the same location and thought of the same thing at the same time, how odd! (I've removed my posted graphic to avoid duplication of your post)

CG lightning and rumbles of thunder to my south over the nothern tip of the cotswolds at the moment. Very very dark in that direction.

http://www.airlineindustryreview.com/latest-volcanic-ash-related-aircraft-accidents/ There have been a few "under investigation" incidents over the last 48hrs. The Thomas Cook one reported on that site also provides the ATC/Pilot recordings should anyone want to get a better understanding. http://i40.tinypic.com/jsozo0.jpg is a screenshot of the flight.

http://twitter.com/AshAlerts The latest from CFMU/NATS: LONDON AIRSPACE UPDATE . AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SERVICES HAVE RESUMED IN THE UK WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AN AREA OVER THE NORTH WEST OF SCOTLAND WHICH CONTINUES TO BE AFFECTED BY A DENSE CONCENTRATION OF VOLCANIC ASH . BASED ON CURRENT INFORMATION THIS SITUATION WILL REMAIN UNTIL 0600UTC ON THE 21ST APRIL . THE SITUATION CONTINUES TO BE DYNAMIC AS A RESULT OF CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE PREDICTION OF DENSE AREAS OF VOLCANIC ASH . NATS WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST UK MET OFFICE AND VAAC INFORMATION AND THE CAA'S UPDATES ON THE AVAILABILITY OF UK AIRSPACE . THE CAA WILL ISSUE NOTAMS DETAILING AREAS WHERE AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES WILL NOT BE PROVIDED DUE TO THE CONCENTRATION OF VOLCANIC ASH

Its being circulated around aircraft operators this evening. If you're aware of the PIREP reporting system, then one was filed after landing at Oostend and is now subject to an engineering investigation of the aircraft involved to see exactly what damage was caused.

Having just come out of a teleconference between airlines/operators/ATC I can pretty much say that the 2200 reopening time doesn't appear to be an official time that the industry is working towards. The official line is that the next airspace review will be made at 0000z (0100 local). I have also been made aware than a World Airlines (MD11 aircraft) cargo flight from Maastricht to Oostend late this afternoon reported ash damage upon landing but further investigation is taking place with them at the moment.

There seems to be a misconception that "All airspace is closed". What is actually happening in laymans terms is that no air traffic control authority is allowed to give a clearence to a pilot which would allow him to depart and enter the airways in the sky. Light aircraft that people have seen buzzing around are essentially unaffected by this as they all remain outside of the UKs airway structure and do not need such a clearance to operate. However, any pilot of a private aircraft who does choose to fly today is a braver man than me, just because you can't see this "cloud" doesn't mean its not there - yes it is at a far lower concentration below 5000ft but is still detectable. The airlines, RAF, Air Ambulances etc aren't just sitting on the ground for a laugh. As an aside, there is no significant risk to aircraft above 35000ft, the main concentration at the moment being around the 20000-25000ft belt. You could argue why don't flights from outside the risk area fly above 35000ft and thus be clear? The risk being that if they had to descent for whatever reason (be it a medical emergency needing a divert, technial problem etc.) they would enter the main risk area. Hopefully that answers some of the quesions that people may have been wondering!

From what I understand (I work in air traffic control rather than airport ops) its due to the fact that the runway lights are inset into the runway but still protrude by around 1-2cm. This the bottom lip of the plough needs to be above this level so it doesn't cause damage to the light fittings as it passes over.

Unfortunately you can't grit runways and taxiways as it plays havoc with aircraft engines and snow ploughs only work with a minimum depth of around 1-2cm. So anywhere in between and it becomes a bit messy. They do use anti-icing fluid but it's designed to work against ice formation rather than snowfall onto a treated surface.

Nope sadly not, just rain/drizzle. No precipitation at all at the moment. I'm still hopeful for something overnight but can't see it settling with puddles everywhere. 2.3c here according to the weather station.

I sincerely hope so, just had drizzle here all day! No snow at all this winter either - oh well!

Saw 3 seperate funnels form underneath a CB overhead Leicester airfield between 1140-1200 this morning. There were 3 of us on board doing flying training around the airfield at the time up to 2000ft. Certainly something amazing to witness from the air, sadly none of us had a camera at the time - typical!

A very late report as i've just got back but around 1140 I was flying from Coventry to Leicester airfield and back as between the 3 crew of us onboard we noted 3 funnel clouds between 1140 and 1200. We were at 2500ft and they extended down to 2000ft and only lastest about a minute in duration. They were all on the SE side of Leicester fairly close to the airfield under a CB that formed around that time. Unfortunately none of us had a camera but the 3 of us on board (2 pilots and an air traffic controller) all agreed on what we saw.

A few rumbles from a CB thats just passed over...came from nowhere and seems to have gone to nowhere. Accompanied by a heavy shower of rain and hail.

Couple of rumbles here along with a very very heavy shower of small hail and rain - First thunder/lightning of the year!

Small cell producing sporadic CG lightning and a heavy shower of rain. Just appeared out of nowhere!

Thunderstorm also present here! Just west of Stratford Upon Avon.

Thunder heard and sporadic CG lightning over the last hour. Not directly overhead but certainly within 3 miles - I counted the seconds! James

Moderate rain. Thunder and CG lightning about once every 5 mins at the moment. Has been this way for the last 30 mins. Visibility has dropped to about 5000m in steady rain. edit: Add to that the trusty Cessna 152 flying about below the cloud base routing southwest back to Gloucester!

Storm passed over Stratford upon Avon at about 6pm. CG lightning hit the spire of the church opposite the hotel I was in, causing the fire bell to trigger leading to an evacuation into the carpark where a sewer then decided to erupt! Cue the fire service to turn off the bell and inspect the church steeple and weathercock - not for the faint hearted with CG still about! Plenty of IC and CG lasting a good 30 mins with very heavy rain and pea-sized hail. Sorry for the late report! James

Storm passed overhead at about 2130 although there have been rumbles since about 2100. Completly black and still sporadic CG and IC coming from all corners. A rather funny sky as there are areas (albeit small ones) of completly clear sky but surrounded by massive CBs. Also had a shower of light to moderate rain about 15 mins ago. At its peak I would say somewhere in the order of 5 visible strikes per minute. Enough to make the lights flicker. James

Small storm here, very heavy rain, a few rumbles of thunder, very little in the way of lightning. Appears to be coming from the WSW (Gloucester way) and moving ENE towards Coventry.

That storm mentioned above just passing over here (Bidford on Avon, nr Stratford) looks to be moving northeastwards fairly slowly, CG strikes about 1 a minute, heavy rain. Making the tv periodically tune out James