Dangerous55019

I’ve just realised/remembered that today is the cross quarter day of Imbolc... The day when we leave the solar winter (the dark part of the year) and say hello to spring! *looks out of the window at the grey skies and rain* *sigh*

Fantastic, thank you @Another Kent clipper

I’ve had a couple of notifications on my phone that we had a couple of lightning strikes during the night! Can anyone confirm this please?

Another day of very strong convective cloudscapes over towards the Liverpool area.

Ok... I may have not had any wind last night () but I’ve certainly got some beautiful convective cloudscapes today. ... Oh if only this was late spring/summer this would be looking very promising indeed.

Looks like there has been a lightning strike just off the coast of Blackpool! Can anyone confirm this?

A very stormy looking afternoon here, although it amounted to nothing more than a few little spots of rain. This photo really doesn’t do justice to the size of the towers going up over towards Liverpool at the moment. If only this was happening later on in the year we could be on for a good evening of thunderstorms.

Couldn't agree more @Chris.R, this storm was nowhere near as bad as Storm Doris! Plus as @Mokidugway has also said, it was just a run of the mill winter storm, speaking from a totally IMBY perspective. But one thing that I did find weird about Storm Eleanor, was the wind sound! At about 05.30 this morning the dog wanted out, and although it was blustery, at a much higher level, you could really hear the wind howling and roaring... Much stronger than what I was experiencing on the ground. Even the dog kept looking up, as it did sound really wild at say another 100ft or so above where me and the dog were standing.

After the squally rain bands yesterday evening it's been very calm here today... Since about 15.00 we've had drizzle... And a lot of drizzle at that! But I've just felt the first strong gust of wind... Here comes Eleanor!. ... I think? EDIT: The wind is starting to pick up now!

As someone who looses interest in the loss of daylight shortly after Halloween, I have to say that the extra light of an evening time is starting to become noticeable of an evening now, even on cloudy days... Not by much, but enough. In fact I went out to watch the sunset the other day, and I can confirm that for my neck of the woods (with the topography of the land etc, etc), the sun was setting eight minutes later than it was! Soon be thunderstorm and barbecue season

Its quite blustery here in North East Wales at the moment, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Here’s the backend of Corwen’s thundersnow event. But sadly I’m too far away to hear the thunder.

We had a couple of flashes of lightning during the night (about 01.00 ish), and other folks around my area have confirmed thunder as well!

And as I’m stood up to my ankles in mud, here’s the back end of that hail machine, that also gave us the thunder and lightning earlier.

Looks like we’ve got a little thunderstorm breaking less than ten miles away! Always a nice way to start off a Saturday morning.

Morning @Chris.R My eyes shall be peeled mate, and fingers crossed that we do get to see and hear something. But if not, it’s still nice to see ... Ahh well, only another six months to go and we’ll be back in full storm hunting season. Lol

Some very nice convective cloudscapes going on at the moment over towards Liverpool. I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to see anything like this today, so it’s come as a bit of a welcome surprise to me.

So today is the final cross quarter day of the year - Samhain. Samhain is the old traditional end of autumn, and the start of winter... The dark half of the year. So I'm using this as an excuse to draw a line (for me personally) under this dull, grey, colourless, drab and dreary autumn. Normally I'm more than happy for autumn days to carry on, and on, and on... But not this year. So farewell autumn 2017, I would love to say its been a pleasure as always, but it hasn't. You watch, now I've said that we are going to get some stunning north or north westerly's with gin clear blue skies, and fantastically convective cloudscapes, and/or some proper wind storms, and or proper misty foggy mornings/days/evenings. Lol

Yesterday afternoon, once the main band of rain had passed through, we have some weakly convective cloudscapes, I didn't think much of it, apart from how pleasant it looked in the sun compared to our normal grey gloomfest... Then Yesterday evening the hail showers started. But when I woke up this morning we have got fantastically convective skies, and the app on my phone telling me that there were a couple of lightning strikes around 03.00 (ish)! Can anyone confirm these lightning strikes please?

Morning @Soaring Hawk I have to agree, this is turning into one dreary, colourless autumn, with just endless grey skies and virtually no colour whatsoever on the trees. As an autumn lover, it pains me to say this, but I will be so glad when autumn 2017 is over, as it just hasn't struck a chord with me at all.

Speaking from a totally IMBY perspective, Storm Brian was a damp squib... A dull, grey, wet Saturday afternoon, with nothing more than a gentle breeze. Today, is at least bright and sunny with a good strong(ish) blustery wind... But neither this or Storm Aileen last month, have come close to what Storm Doris was like earlier this year.

Looking forward to it already.

For me I absolutely love the autumn ... But there are a few negatives. Ok, so here's the positives... September: I love September, I love that last final burst of summer, with the shortening days; the misty starts to the days before giving way to another pleasantly sunny and warm day(s), along with the cool nights, plus the odd occasional thunderstorm, the harvest. For me there is a magic in the air, and I love it. October: I love the colours on the trees, those misty mornings starting to turn into proper fog days... If we get a (true) Indian summer there is a misty, smokey golden haze to the air which just makes everything look so beautiful. The light in October and September is like no other time of year. Likewise I love the run up to and including Halloween... For me there is a particular magic around the time of the clock change and Halloween, and I absolutely love it. November: By the time we get to November my love of autumn starts to wane... But again, I love the first frosts, the first proper howling autumn winds... There's nothing like pulling wrapping up, and pulling boots on and heading off for a nice walk on a cold and frosty, or blustery and wild, late autumn day, the smell of proper hearty food cooking. I also like to see many more misty, foggy, cold mornings and evenings, with that beautiful light that only a low sun in the sky can bring. And now the negatives... I really dislike endless days/weeks of just grey anti cyclonic gloom, as I know that the coming winter will have many of those. Once Halloween has passed, for me the magic of autumn goes with it. ... At that point I find myself wanting and craving to go back to August so I can go through September and October again. Also its the run up to Christmas! Plus all of the faff and farce that comes with it. ... BAH HUMBUG!! ... And I've just remembered that I've forgotten to put the sprouts on... Back in July. Lol

Morning @Turnedoutniceagain I was thinking the same thing, but when I went for a walk across the fields yesterday evening a lot of the leaves appeared to be holding on... But then the wind got stronger, and stronger.... I know that we've got a few large branches down, but until the sun comes up I can't do a full assessment. Hopefully there's still a bit of autumn colour to come.

Morning everyone. Well, I know we've got a fair few branches down (as of a walk yesterday evening), and that the wind has died down from what it was last night, but other than that we've held up ok here. I'll do a full assessment later once the sun has come up.