Nick L

We have put out some bird seed, peanuts and fruit and it has increased the wildlife in our garden dramatically! We have had 3 different woodpigeons, 2 blackbirds, 2 squirrels, 2 blue tits (who have recently had chicks and they are all over the place), 2 collared doves, a wren, a robin and even a jay but he/she rarely turns up. The smaller birds love our waterfall for a little bath and a drink. The woodpigeons are by far the most entertaining to watch though: enormous and clumsy! And a quick look out the window and there is one there now!

They have no real need to upgrade the radar, simply because we very rarely encounter extreme weather. The USA have an enormous network of very good quality radars, but they HAVE to for the sake of millions of people. I find that most of the time the Met Office and BBC are correct...the only problem I have is that in the winter they always make Aberystwyth the coldest place in Britain on their 5 day forecasts, even somebody with basic weather knowledge knows that is unlikely to say the least.

I was wondering the same actually. They forecasted it to be warm today (on BBC 5 live yesterday they mentioned 24-25c!) but in reality it got no higher than 14c and I don't think many places hit the 20c mark. Ah well it aint easy!

I am surprised we didn't have any downed trees today, very strong winds. Seems to have calmed down somewhat out there now but it is starting to rain. The leaves are probably exacerbating the situation. If this was January/February the windchill would be unbearable!

36.8c, somewhere near London, 2nd week of August

I believe that extra terrestrial life exists somewhere out there, as we can't be the only miniscule dot in the universe. But I do believe these people who have "seen" UFOs are taking the mick and shouldn't be believed.

I would give anything to experience that!...Well almost anything

Cant stand daddy long legs. If you leave the light on with a window open when it's dark outside and they come swarming in, hate them.

Wow great pics!

Wow I never knew it never went totally dark during the summer months, you learn something new every day! Interesting read that was.

I have between 1 and 2 inches of snow, this is the most snow I have had this year....and it's the middle of spring - incredible.

I dont have NW, I am using www.meteox.com next best thing, 15 min updates and you can zoom to some extent.

Flippin' heck! The Staffordshire shower is intensifying!!

Merh...it was a long way back. I was hoping it wasn't a hand ball really because then I would have been wondering "what would have happened if the referee had eyes". Never mind though, we have the league to concentrate on! Now, about this shower...still a tad on the warm side at 3c.

Wow that big shower is heading straight for me!

I think he may mean tonight...well that's what I am looking for. Is it that area over Cumbria?

My thoughts exactly!

I must say I am astonished. This could be the most productive snow "event" of the season and we are pretty much half way between winter and summer....madness.

I normally crave the cold weather...but I am not taking any interest in this cold snap at all! Although if I do get some snow I wouldn't really mind tbh. Doesn't look likely though.

Argh, I watched last week's, but I missed the one tonight! When is it repeated does anybody know?

Morning people. The next update to the Met Office warnings will be interesting, the early one will be updated at 11ish. But at the moment it is a beautiful day! Not a cloud in the sky but it is blowing a gale out there. Will be out playing football soon so I expect it to be more than a bit nippy. Currently a temp of 4.4c and rising rapidly, but I think I should take a few degrees off that. Those lucky folk in the east enjoy the snow that you get, and blow some over here please!

I know they are classed as severe events and I am sure they can cause problems. But it just seems quite a sad state of affairs when our European friends can cope with twice that amount and we seem to grind to a complete halt! Lessons just don't seem to be learnt.

If this were in the middle of January then yes I would regard it as a severe event because any snow cover would stick around for a while and accumulate very quickly. But as we are in March any glimmer of sunlight and the snow will begin to melt into a puddle at a fair rate. I understand that the Met Office have to cover their backs. I really want a severe winter asap, not just because I have never seen one but so we can see the true meaning of the word "severe", not this modern version! This could give a good covering over the Peak District and the Pennines on Sunday:

Mammatus and Timmead, I know that it can cause problems for the south, but in my post I was referring to the warning in Scotland. They are used to a few inches of snow and it should be a walk in the park for them. If a few inches fell in London all hell would break loose! In Scotland I feel 2-5cm is hardly "severe".

Yup, could just about bury a small mouse alive. Would be truly catastrophic.