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Brightening up nicely now. Roll on 5 o'clock...

METO weather warnings for Saturday and Sunday for our region now. Very warm and humid conditions will lead to thunderstorms developing across parts of Southern England, the South and West Midlands and Wales on both Saturday and Sunday. Thunderstorms will produce torrential rain and hail in places with up to 30 mm falling in an hour, while some places may miss the worst of the heavy rain.

I don't think we were expecting much more than the odd rumble. All eyes on the weekend still.

Good work Ed. Here are a couple of shots from my phone in the lead car. I think we'll need to wait for Rich's iphone footage that was mounted on the lead windscreen. I remember keeping an eye on it at the time, as it had a good view of what was going on above.

Should be good for the garden though. I'm out there now potting things on in anticipation. Well behind this year.

Arrived home from Tour 1 on Sunday. We all had an absolute blast. It's by no means a classic season stateside this year, but Paul B and the team still found us storms every single day. The Nebraska tornado day, a mammoth chase from Elizabeth, Colorado where we were hit by massive hail and the apocalyptic Plainview, Texas storm will live long in the memory. A massive thanks to Paul Botten and the team. Best of luck to those on the remaining tours. Group shots credit to Becca Start.

We'll miss out today Tom, but we should be cooking on gas over the weekend. :)

Same here by the looks of it. You can always query it here...

Afternoon boys and girls... Just back from Tour 1. If any of you get the opportunity to go, do it. This season has been far from a classic so far in the US, but Paul B and the Netweather team managed to find storms every day. It's a trip that will live long in the memory for all sorts of reasons and I loved every second of it. Now, let's see what the South of England can deliver.

It was a cracking day for it. We ended up sat on the green at the back of the White Horse, for a couple of pints of Elderquad in the sunshine. Happy days.

I meant emojis, sorry. I'm old. Thicker cloud now.

Smilie upgrade -

Blue skies to start, cloudy now.

Done... I think.

Are we feeling lucky? From the NOAA Storm Prediction Centre... Day 4-8 Convective Outlook NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 0231 AM CDT Thu May 03 2018 Valid 061200Z - 111200Z ...DISCUSSION... Mid-level flow will weaken considerably across much of the contiguous US through early next week, owing to a relaxation of the large-scale height gradient and departure of the polar jet into Canada. Additionally, there will likely be a lack of focused large-scale ascent over the Plains into early next week, thereby limiting substantial poleward moisture return. In turn, the severe weather potential is expected to be low through at least D6/Tuesday. Thereafter, gradually increasing boundary-layer moisture east of the Rockies may combine with a passing shortwave trough to generate a few strong/severe storms over parts of the Plains and Mississippi Valley. Accordingly, "Low Predictability" has been introduced for D7/Wednesday-D8/Thursday. However, even this severe potential appears rather limited. ..Picca.. 05/03/2018

Thank you.

Yep, this one ->> https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotel-rooms.44524.html

Thanks Nick.

Hello, I'm staying at the Best Western Irving on the 7th. Where does the hotel shuttle bus pick up from at DFW and do I need to call the hotel to arrange a pick up? Or does it run on a half hour schedule, or similar? Cheers John

We went a couple of years ago and loved it. It felt like a really young vibrant city, with that old Eastern European look - Old trains, old trams, bullet holes in the buildings, etc. You've got a couple of days, so a day on either side of the river should do it. When you go across to the other side, walk up to the Citadella for the view. Then you're on the right side for the castle, museum, etc. I'd stay on the other side (Pest), so you're in amongst it, but I'd imagine that the hotels in the boozy area are noisy at night. The hotels were great value btw, compared with other big cities. The beer's cheap, especially in the ruin pubs. If you want to pay a bit more, there's a cracking craft beer bar called the Marionett, down on the front by the Marriot Hotel. The food was great, especially if you love paprika. If you're flying in, you can get a public bus and then the metro, which drops you in the centre of town. It's really cheap. Have fun.

A rotten day to discover a leak in your walking boots.

I fixed a hammock up in the brewshed this morning. Visions of lazy Sunday afternoons, drifting off with the spring sunshine streaming through the windows. Came in for a warm up instead.

No worries. Yep, getting close. This time next week, I'll be packing. I'd take that too, based on the season so far out there. Some interest coming up this week... Let's hope it continues.

Burner's on and I'm going to have a Stout in a minute. Awful weather.

Did you look up? It was rumbling away nicely to the South of here.