Dom W

Was some great lightning displays over the sea that night that lasted until the early hours.

A very hot and sticky day today, got cloudy over the last few hours and since 8.00 had a few heavy showers of a few minutes each; odd lighning flash, loud thunder. Some stormy skies over the south of me.

Just had a mini thunderstorm near Peterlee in County Durham, shower lasted a few minutes; very tropical.

Very light spitty rain here in Peterlee now

Is there any risk of thunder up in the North East of England? Seems pretty grey here with moderate rain, milky overcast skies and rather humid. Seems like all the action is south of Peterlee.

I also think the Sky News Weather graphics lack information, they are a bit messy, especially when there is a lot of rain and clouds. I much preferred the presentation before the change the new graphics a few years ago. I do not mind Francis Wilson and I quite like his laid back approach.

Had some fairly heavy rain and sleet showers today in Peterlee.

Sleet gave way to snow from around 6.15 onwards and the ground is now white.

Rain and sleet here in Peterlee, very cold outside

Snow has more or less gone here in Peterlee due to the sun, only had a very light covering to start with.

I have just noticed this morning that the GMTV Weather forecast has a new look. I wonder what people think of it?

Maybe the BBC Weather graphics should go along with what Channel 4 weather does, but perhaps be presented better than Channel 4, they can do what BBC do currently for shoter forecasts such as Today, Tonight and Tomorrow scenarios, but then use symbols (even animated symbols) for forecasts covering the next few days.

hi Hannah, Over the last cold spell during those heavy snow showers we had a few weeks ago; I am wondering if you got to see any lightning or 'thundersnow' or if you have seen it for yourself, certainly a strange site. I was amazed when I saw some blue flashes (about 5 within two minutes) during a heavy snow storm over Peterlee, added a bit of excitement.

Welcome to the forums Hannah. I am becoming quite a fan of the BBC Weather forecast, I know it is not to everyones taste but it is certainly informative. How are you liking the new Look North studio? It seems so spacious and I am liking the bigger screen for you to present the weather from.

Had rain this morning, which contained some good flakes of snow too for a time - went out this afternoon and the air felt milder, although temp was around 4.5 degrees.

I suppose depending on what is in the atmosphere, lightning can either be coloured or diffused; fairly similar to certain filters you can put on cameras lense. The atmospheric conditions determine the color of lightning. Blue lightning indicates the presence of hail or even snow. Red lightning indicates the presence of rain. Yellow or orange lightning indicates dust particle in the air. White lightning is a sign of low humidity in the air. White lightning is particularly feared as this is said to bring a risk of fires due to the low humidity conditions.

Snowing here in Peterlee, fairly light! Has been trying to do it all day, was a few flakes this morning and also some drizzle. Compact snow on the paths is getting rather slippery. Laying snow is looking messy now and carparks have big piles of dirty snow/ice. Is it me or do people think its ok to let their dogs foul the paths more in the snow & ice; it is a nightmare to contend with at the best of times.

Had a slight thaw in Peterlee, icicles have now gone and I noticed the thick snow on top of garden table has slowly began to shrink, still a lot of snow on the ground though. I have a feeling that Peterlee will see sleety rain rather than snow tonight. It has been a great spell of cold weather but the country needs to get moving again and hopefully this slightly less cold spell will help some people get moving again.

That is one way to use the cold spell to your advantage Had a lot of snow overnight in Peterlee. The snow stopped in the early hours and this was followed by showers. I could not sleep and at around 4.30am there was a couple of flashes of lightning just before the end of a snow shower.The day was cloudy with odd bright spells and showers, mainly light ones although we had a heavier one with large flakes around 3.30pm.Deep snow on the ground now!

Had some further lightning in snow around 4.30 this morning - one blue and one bright white flash within minutes of each other.

Got woken up this morning by some lightning flashes in the early hours, quite bright ones; I think one was around 6.45 this morning, perhaps earlier or later. During the day had some snow showers, mainly light from fragmented clouds; still noting much to speak of so far. I can currently see a bright orange cloud to the north of me.

That is an impressive photo - can you add that pic to my thundersnow thread?

Have had further thundersnow tonight over Peterlee, Co. Durham. Happened in the last 15 minutes with about 4 flashes within a few minutes, very impressive. Still snowing heavily at the minute. It is quite surreal, seeing thick snow on the ground, heavy snow falling and then blue lightning.

Had some heavy snow and heard thunder, then a few minutes later had 4 blue flashes within 2 minutes, very impressive for thundersnow. I am in Peterlee, Co. Durham. :lol:

Thank you for all your interesting reports - I hope that we get some more occurrences of thundersnow in the coming week