azores92

where does it mention blackouts, anyway isnt that only a 35% risk?

still looking pretty unsettled on tonights ecm, with a low stuck over us from 168+, before that though, things stay fairly changeable, with plenty of dry and bright weather.

haha we're about as storm parched as the atacama in chile :lol:

extremely unlikely imo, but a good cold spell isn't out of the realms of possibility

ah winter, gotta be the best season. call me odd given that i'm only 18 , but for me hearing andy williams's "the most wonderful time of the year" always gets me in the spirit of xmas and wintriness. bring on the cosy nights and festivities, hype over that phantom easterly, and of course the zonal blues.

and it is also fair to say that, so far, this summer has been a vast improvement on the summers of 2007 and 2008 IMBY. however, the dull, boring mid atlantic high is becoming a bit of a nuisance now. however, wednesday promises some well deserved rain hopefully.

yep, proving my earlier point, and i stand by it. weather09 i still think thunderstorms are rare in the midlands, usually you get a few every year, mainly concentrated in the summer months, but the stats suggest one every 35 days roughly, and when you compare it to canadian or american standards, and ontario averages 30 days+ of t'storm activity per annum, it is comparatively infrequent.

i guess it's all about definition of thunderstorms weather09. if you include the definition that lightning must be present, then i can only think of one occasion this year that a true thunderstorm occurred, and for me, that seems fairly rare. when you are from the midwest through central/eastern canada though, what we would call a true thunderstorm would seem like a petty shower

well im not from coventry, but the climate here west of birmingham is fairly similar to that of coventry. thunderstorms occur here on rare occasions; every now and then, and usually when they do occur, they are quite tame in nature, with occasional hail, moderate gusts, and lightning. however, scattered showers are often the norm when it comes to convection, with light/moderate showers and good sunshine in between, which happens quite frequently. as you have already sussed, our climate is fairly benign and boring at the best of times, with slow moving, repetitive high pressure systems often hanging round for ages when they come along, mixed with changeable low pressure systems, though in summer, they tend to be more slack in nature. the most memorable extreme weather event here is probably the birmingham tornado of 2005, whereby a tornado of f2 intensity ripped through the kings heath and moseley areas, and although it was nothing like a canadian/american storm, it was pretty severe for here. that is very rare in the are though.

high pressure

well glacier point made a very good post yesterday i think it was, explaining how stratospheric cooling could occur this winter, and therefore a positive NAO and stormy winter look likely, perhaps after a cooler start.

i probably see myself as an outsider while all of you are probably somewhat excited about the prospect of a katla eruption, but this whole situation really worries me. this volcano is potentially 10 times more potent than the last proper eruption on eyjafjallajokull, and the fact it could happen anytime is just a horrible thought. the effects to transport, to the locals, and probably to europe i just dread to imagine. can anyone reassure me? thanks i guess the best things we can say is that it has erupted fairly frequently in history, and people have been alright, plus the wind direction may not be favourable to affect us.

wouldnt be surprised to see the central midlands pick up only the dregs of this beefy showers today, but good luck all anyway

batten down the hatches i say :lol:

i doubt im the only one saying this but i truly hope that when katla next blows, the eruption is only minor. the last thing we need is endless travel chaos through the skies due to unlimited levels of ash. also, one has to fear what the health implications could be if it occurs, you only have to look at laki and see how many people perished because of it, irrespective of the time period it happened in.

yep, excluding the snow in january, i have to say this year has really been a bore. everytime an unsettled spell crops up, it seems high pressure is on the way back. also, heat in the summer here doesnt really work for me, coupled with humidity levels and it is uncomfortable to do a lot of stuff, and it never seems to finish with a bang! so much better on the continent. here's hoping to some proper rainfall to make up the 100mm deficit or so that we have been facing this year. also, yesterday took the mick! intense rainfall 20 or 30 miles west of here, and here we get bits and pieces of light rain, about 2mm in total.

yh i heard this on the radio this morning, hopefully it rains a fair bit while im in europe for 2 weeks in july

dogs, it looks like vienna would be a great place atm !

not looking great re the showers in wales, seems like they are dying a death in the usual spot; near the welsh border. oh well, at least there have been some amazing cloudscapes today across the board, and some heavy rain to go with it. high pressure to contend with for the time being :blink:

persistant heavy rain here atm, lots of puddles on the roads, could be some local temporary flooding if it persists.

yes definitely, from about 5pm onwards, the heavens opened and around here there were a good few rumbles of thunder, no memorable shower by any means, but quite potent none the less. and yes, i agree, its the summer now, so the heat is building up on the continent, and as with snow, most of the thundery activity will crop up at short notice. can't wait for my trip to the continent soon, hopefully there'll be a storm or two

we've hardly done badly today though, lets be honest!

that shower moving westward now through birmingham looks to be building, can anyone confirm this? looks nasty on the radar.

more showers starting to form around the home counties now, albeit light. those showers in mid wales are the most exciting thing for now, moving steadily westwards.

you've got to wonder why the met office have a warning out? presumably its for showers to become stuck over the midlands for most of the day, not storms?