Weather in the general media (Newspaper features etc)

[Methuselah]

Next week should be great for tourism, though. With temps 'rocketing into the mid-80s' and 300ft waves, the UK will be teeming with surfers!

[Summer Sun]

Is the end of monsoon June in sight? Weather starts to brighten up but there's still a few more showers to come

• Forecasters have said the weather will improve over the next five days with more bouts of sunshine on the way
• Bizarre weather conditions for June highlighted by sighting of huge twister off Cornish coast

There could be a glimmer of hope for the British Summer as weather forecasters predicted that the monsoon type weather might finally be over.

According to the Met Office there will be occasional showers with bouts of sunshine over the next five days and temperatures will be more in line with the seasonal average.

'It's looking like the temperature will be close to the seasonal average and certainly for the next five days it won't be as unsettled as it has been,' said Met Office spokeswoman Jenny Rourke.

'There are also no more warnings in place and from what we can tell, it's generally looking a bit better.'

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1xysst5RL

[Methuselah]

I'm sorry, but I saw the picture of the twister in today's Daily Bigot. Come off it, guys, it was never 'huge'!

[Don]

300 ft waves??

That's Cornwall destroyed!!

[Summer Sun]

BBC weather for the week ahead

[J10]

Looking at that a slightly better version of the week just gone.

[Summer Sun]

MORE MIDSUMMER DOWNPOURS

BRITAIN is facing the wettest June for 150 years as yet more stormy weather is forecast to be on the way.

The warning came after high winds lashing the country at the weekend brought a tree down on two schoolboy

cricketers, both aged nine, who were rushed to hospital with serious head injuries.

Last night forecasters predicted that severe weather will again affect much of Britain by Thursday.

The start of this week is expected to be bright, with highs of 71.6F (22C) in London by Wednesday.

Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, added: “We have already had the average rainfall for June and are set for more downpours. Next weekend is set to be dismal.â€

http://www.express.c...ummer-downpours

Shows you what the Express know, Positive Weather Solutions are not around any more

[Coast]

A rainy Royal Ascot and a wetter Wimbledon... pack the umbrella for Britain's two marquee 'summer' events

Ladies Day at Royal Ascot is chance for high society to dress up and show off at one of Britain's great sporting events. But fashionistas at this year's Gold Cup meeting will need to swap their pashminas for a plastic poncho. Forecasters are predicting Ladies Day on Thursday will be a washout and the wet weather will stick around to put on a dampener on Wimbledon the week after.

Most of the south will be treated to sunshine and temperatures in the low 20s at the start of the week. But things will take a turn for the worst on Thursday. Rain and high winds return and temperatures will drop. Met Office forecaster Tom Morgan told the MailOnline last night: 'From tomorrow, there should be a good deal of dry weather. 'Temperatures will be in the low 20s by wednesday and it will feel quite warm. But Thursday will see a change into more unsettled conditions, there will be outbreaks of rain and it will be windier, meaning it will feel colder too.'

The unsettled weather is likely to continue into the first week of Wimbledon where it looks likely to disrupt a packed tennis schedule.Tom Morgan said: 'For Wimbledon in particular, there will be showers on many of the days and bands of rain will go through on certain days, which will cause prolonged delays to play.' That means we could be heading for a repeat of previous years, when entire days of play have been wiped out by rain and the schedule has run into a third week. It's too soon to know if the unsettled summer will affect London Olympics - but the Met Office warn the wet weather is here to stay, for now at least.

Mr Morgan continued: 'There are no prolonged dry spells ahead. 'The indications are that unsettle conditions will continue for the rest of June and into July.'

But there is some hope the weather will settle in time for the sporting showcase, which opens in Stratford on July 27th - for those in the south, at least. Mr Morgan said: 'What we think is most likely is that the more unsettled conditions will transfer north towards Scotland. 'Southern areas will see more in the way of dry weather and less frequent shower and rain.'

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1y8ueQMXu

[Summer Sun]

A soggy start to summer

John Hammond explains the science behind the unseasonable weather we've seen so far this summer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/18497978

[knocker]

Any ideas anyone?

Fifty words for rain

If the Inuit apocryphally have 50 words for snow, why don't British people have 50 words for rain... or at least more words than the few they normally employ, asks Kevin Connolly.

As the UK splashes and squelches its way through what's turning into the wettest June on record, the most surprising news of the summer is the inclusion of fake clouds in the elaborate plans for the Olympic opening ceremony.

The bucolic idyll just wouldn't be complete without Maypole dancers and sturdy ploughmen of course; perhaps we will even hear the fractious shouts of angry travellers and bailiffs as a mock-eviction is conducted, or the nagging whine of an uninsured moped.

And somewhere above it will hover imagineered clouds - the message to the world, presumably, is that we can take a joke about our weather. And if providence chooses not to rain on our parade, then we'll rain on our own for the hell of it.

Will fake clouds really be needed at the opening ceremony?

It just goes to show you how deeply the very thought of rain is woven into the experience of being British.

And yet our official lexicon of rainfall is woefully buttoned-up and limited.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...gazine-18461189

Edited June 19, 2012 by knocker

[Coast]

Homebase Sales Slump On 'Lack Of Summer'

There has been a sharp decline in sales at the home improvement chain Homebase, which is being blamed on the lack of summer weather. Home Retail Group, which also owns Argos, said like-for-like sales at Homebase tumbled 8.3% in the 13 weeks to June 2.

It said the purchase of seasonal goods, such as outdoor furniture and barbeques, plunged 15% and was the primary factor for the performance. Trading at Argos, which had been struggling, picked up over the period with like-for-like sales falling only 0.2% against analysts expectations of a 4% decline.

"We will continue to plan cautiously," said chief executive Terry Duddy. Many British retailers are under pressure as consumers are squeezed by higher prices, muted wage growth and government austerity measures designed to cut record national debt.

http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16249380

[laserguy]

http://news.sky.com/...rticle/16249380

Good. I've urged the missus to avoid Asda today,as the fleeting glimpse of sun will have them out in hordes; 30-somethings with beer-bellies,wearing Union Jack shorts and sandals as they purchase the obligatory cheapo barbecue,tons of cheap burgers to burn on it,and gallons of crappy Euro pseudo lager to consume while they watch bloody football. Urghh,just dreadful.

[Summer Sun]

Matt Hugo'sThoughts & Analysis for Mid-June to Mid-July

With the days and weeks ticking by and the summer solstice just days away, the question on many people’s minds is; “when is summer going to arrive?…â€

This blog is to focus attention on the remainder of June and take a look at the early part of July. Unfortunately the outlook doesn’t look good. What can be the case during the summer is that the pressure patterns become very ill-defined and dis-organised and this can sometimes make looking at the longer term very difficult indeed, particularly compared with autumn and winter when these pressure patters are often more defined. However, it is interesting to note that there is a strong and consistent signal and unfortunately that signal is for low pressure to dominate.

http://matthugo.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/mid-june-to-mid-july-thoughts-analysis/

[Coast]

What's the outlook inside the Met Office?

How are the professional weather forecasters coping with this summer's incessant rain – and when will they be able to predict some sun?

Professor Brian Golding sometimes lies awake at night listening to the rain. Or the hail. Or the wind. “The volcanic ash cloud was the worst – there were nights I couldn’t sleep,†he admits. “When you’re on the line like that, it’s high-pressured. You don’t want to get it wrong, but often you just can’t see what’s coming.â€

If Prof Golding doesn’t know when extreme weather is coming, there’s no hope for the rest of us. The deputy director of weather science at the Met Office, he has been at the forefront of meteorological research for 40 years. Along with his team of 200 boffins, he spends his days collating information from millions of points across the globe and feeding it into the Met Office’s “supercomputersâ€, which use equations to forecast the weather at a rate of 125 trillion calculations a second. “It’s no more complicated than A-level physics,†Prof Golding explains. “But it’s very exciting. When I joined the Met Office in 1973, a one-day forecast was frequently wrong; now we can see five days ahead. Of course we don’t always get it right, but we can predict tomorrow’s temperature correctly 90 per cent of the time.â€

As a nation of weather-obsessives, we put a lot of faith in the Met Office – especially when the weather isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. The first half of June has been one of the wettest since records began, with 60 per cent less sunshine than normal and temperatures down 10C. Hosepipe bans have been lifted and headlines are warning of “50-year Atlantic storms†and “three months’ rain†this weekend. So as Britain is battered by unseasonable weather, can the experts explain, once and for all, what on earth is going on?

The short answer is no. In scientific terms, I learn, we are currently under a jet stream, a channel of fast-moving wind that lowers air pressure and brings unsettled weather. Normally positioned north-west of Scotland, the stream has become lodged six miles above southern England, bringing wet and windy conditions for the next fortnight. But that’s not the whole story. Is the weather more unstable than it used to be, or do we have higher expectations of accuracy from our forecasters?

“People now take for granted things that surprised them a decade ago. We are an island nation, which makes forecasting difficult,†says Prof Golding. “The UK’s atmosphere can be really awkward, bringing thunderstorms and snowstorms in unexpected places.â€

At the Met Office’s headquarters, a sprawling modern £80 million complex in Exeter, the 1,200 staff seem curiously unconcerned by the rain coursing down outside. It is 2pm on Thursday and time for the bi-weekly “street briefingâ€, a presentation that keeps employees up to date with what’s happening in the skies. “Last weekend: Wet. A lot,†reads one slide. “This weekend: Wet. A lot,†says another. It’s not the most helpful explanation of our miserable summer. Is this the best they can do? “Like everyone else, what I want to know is which week in August will be sunniest, so I can take my holiday,†says Rob Varley, operations and services director. “But scientifically, it is unimaginable – if not impossible – to distil the behaviour of the atmosphere that far in advance. And for some reason that makes people angry.â€

Our relationship with the Met Office has a chequered history. There was the Great Storm of 1987, which forecaster Michael Fish spectacularly failed to predict; the unfortunate “odds on for a barbeque summer†spiel in 2009, which turned out to be a washout; and 2010’s “mild winterâ€, which saw temperatures plunge below -20C. The 2009 debacle led to the end of “seasonal forecastsâ€, with the Met Office focusing now on more accurate, short-term predictions. The words “barbeque summer†still have bad connotations here, where forecasters are working to rebuild their reputations after widespread condemnation for getting it wrong. Is the phrase banned, I ask? “Not at all,†says Varley, laughing loudly to fill a rather uncomfortable silence. “The communications team is extremely careful about what we say.†His press officer folds her arms and says nothing.

“Seriously though,†says Varley, “we learnt our lesson. The three-month forecast is useless for the public – it’s in the early stages of research, so it’s unreasonable to expect accuracy. The disappointment people felt wasn’t because the forecast was wrong; it was because the weather was bad. There is a link between weather that people don’t want and criticism of what we do.†One man who feels this criticism sorely is Frank Saunders, chief forecaster at the Met Office. Saunders is one of seven meteorologists who sit in the “God†chair, translating charts and graphs into a forecast that is distributed to pilots, road-sweepers, soldiers and television broadcasters. Saunders is responsible for setting the tone of the hourly weather bulletins – he decides whether a cloudy day is described as “sunny spellsâ€, “overcast†or “changeableâ€.

When I meet him, his eyes are darting between six computer screens, each displaying terrifyingly complicated, colourful diagrams and swirling splodges obscuring maps of Britain. “I’m stressed,†he says, wiping his brow. “Here comes the rain! I can’t stand it either.†Saunders has been at the Met Office for 26 years but even he struggles to get it right every time. “I’m assessing the risks and putting the picture into words people can understand.The computer is good but it has limitations – my job is to add human interpretation.†Saunders works in the main operations centre, shared with the aviation team, shipping forecasters, flood forecasters and global guidance unit, which uses the Met Office’s technology to save lives in developing nations by sending SMS alerts before storms and hurricanes. The centre is a noisy hub of activity: more than 100,000 observations (from aircraft, ocean buoys, satellites and wind probes) come in four times a day and staff are constantly answering calls from the public asking whether they should put out their washing.

“Everyone here is passionate about the outdoors,†explains Varley. “I was told on my first day that I would become a 'Met man’ – the kind of person who looks up at the sky the minute they leave a building – and I am. We try not to be too geeky but we do talk about weather a lot.†Varley’s father joined the Met Office in 1950 and left a year after he started work in 1983. “I listened to the shipping forecast in my cradle,†he recalls. Varley has seen a lot of changes. Providing forecasts to the public is just a small part of what the organisation, founded in 1854 by Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, does. “Wind-speed forecasting for aviation is our biggest sector,†explains Arwel Griffiths, director of business development. “Our services are also used in defence, by oil and gas companies and in retail.†On-site, the Met Office has a training school (complete with forecasting studio) and a phone-in weather centre, dealing with everyone from the groundsman at Old Trafford to charity fundraisers complaining on Twitter about the rain.

But with such a diverse range of services, could the Met Office be losing sight of what the public wants? “We are constantly working to make our forecasts more reliable,†Prof Golding assures me. “We hope to extend our five-day forecast to 10 days in the not-too-distant future.†Does that mean he knows whether we’ll see some sun this summer? He smiles. “Unfortunately, we keep those general predictions to ourselves. When we know they’re robust, then it’s safe to tell people like you.†For now, we’ll have to put up with yet more wind and rain. But as you’re sheltering beneath your umbrella this weekend, spare a thought for the folks at the Met Office.

“It’s a rotten June,†says Varley, “absolutely rotten. Sadly, there’s nothing we can do about it – we hate it just as much as you do. When I hear people grumbling about the weather, I want to shout at them: 'You live in Britain, what on earth did you expect?’â€

http://www.telegraph...Met-Office.html

[Summer Sun]

It's Blazing June (for 24 hours)! Enjoy the first day of summer... but prepare for THREE WEEKS' worth of rain set to fall overnight

• Up to 1.9in of rain expected to fall across Britain tomorrow, raising spectre of mud baths at Royal Ascot's Ladies' Day
• Rest of the summer also expected to be dogged by downpours, threatening other sporting events, including Olympics
• Tourism bosses worried by forecasts with owners of guest houses already complaining about cancelled bookings
• But topsy-turvy weather is good for buttercups - with a bumper crop this year (but bad news for allergic horses)

Britain is set to enjoy the hottest temperatures so far this month today – officially the first day of summer - before three weeks’ worth of rain fall overnight and damp weather ruins the rest of the week.

The mercury will soar to 23C (73F) this afternoon – topping this month’s high of 21.9C (71.4F), forecasters predicted.

But up to 1.9in of rain is expected to fall overnight and flood alerts have been issued in the South West and South Wales.

The damp weather verdict will worry tourism bosses after rain cost tens of millions of pounds in lost income this month as holidaymakers stayed home.

Seafront guest house owners have already complained that ‘staycation’ holidaymakers are being put off by the forecasts.

Claire Jeavons, who runs the Beverley Park holiday site in Paignton, Devon, said: ‘We've been receiving many calls from worried customers, but we assure them that flooding at our altitude would also mean the entire English Riviera was hundreds of feet underwater.’

Tony Clish, director of Park Holidays UK, believes that weather reports are exaggerating flood risks and causing some tourists to stay at home.

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1yKb3TPtz

[Methuselah]

Oh dear! It's the Daily Mail!

[Summer Sun]

A DAY OF SUN...NOW FOR THE DELUGE

YESTERDAY it seemed like ­summer had finally arrived, with lavender fields swaying in the heat and sun-seekers rushing to the beach.

But 24 hours later Britain is again on standby for torrential downpours and days of devastating floods.

Forecasters are warning we could see three months of rain in the next three days.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning until Saturday across the South, West and parts of the North.

Leon Brown, for The Weather Channel, said: “We are looking at quite a serious event.

“Many places are looking at ­getting a very large amount of rain, bringing the risk of flooding.â€

Jim Dale, for British Weather ­Services, said that westerly regions and parts of Wales were in for “a ­deluge of Biblical proportions†with up to six inches between today and Sunday.

He said: “This is going to be a repeat of what we have already seen this month.

To complete the grim picture, it’s predicted that July and August will bring weeks of rain broken only by the occasional hot spell – putting Britain’s long-awaited summer on hold until ­September.

http://www.express.c...-for-the-deluge

Edited June 21, 2012 by Gavin D

[Radiating Dendrite]

A DAY OF SUN...NOW FOR THE DELUGE

http://www.express.c...-for-the-deluge

DEVASTATING FLOODS

Right time to build myself an ark!

[Summer Sun]

Drenched druids! Summer solstice at Stonehenge is the soggiest in years... and Ascot is set to be a royal washout too

• Around 14,500 people braved the miserable weather to welcome the sun at prehistoric monument in Wiltshire
• Fashionistas hoping today's Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot isn't a washout, with downpours forecast. But organisers say

  the weather appears to be improving this afternoon and they are 'hoping for another sunny day'

• Village of Evershot in Dorset had almost half a month's rainfall in just six hours overnight, says Met Office
• Flood warning issued in north-west England, which is expected to bear brunt of the heaviest rainover next 24 hours
• Tens of thousands of music fans going to Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend and Isle of Wight Festival should expect mud

One of the places to have the heaviest rainfall in England Wales overnight was Evershot in Dorset, Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said.

She said the village had 21.4mm in just six hours - almost half the normal June rainfall of 45mm for London.

Mrs Roberts said the North West was likely to see the heaviest rain in the coming days, with central, south-west and north-east England, as well as north Wales and northern Scotland also getting downpours.

There is also a chance of flooding in the North West tomorrow, she said.

'The forecast is definitely unsettled for the next few days. The main focus over the next 24 hours is going to be north-west England - that's where we're expecting the heaviest rain to be.

'Further south it could push into north Wales and further north it could push into northern Scotland.'

She added: 'There is a potential for some large accumulations of very heavy rain and fairly persistent through much of the day tomorrow.'

Hundreds of thousands of music festival fans are set to battle mud at the weekend, with 100,000 expected at Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend to see Leona Lewis and Jay-Z later.

Another 90,000 people are heading to the Isle of Wight Festival, where Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are playing.

A spokesman for English Heritage said 14,500 people gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice this year.

He added: 'Heavy rain during the night meant this was one of the lowest attendances in recent years.

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1yQiXFx00

BBC forecasters accused of driving tourists away from British resorts with 'deliberately pessimistic' reports

• They are 'trying to cover all eventualities' over fears of another 'Michael Fish' incident, owners claim

BBC weather forecasters have been accused of driving away tourists from seaside resorts with 'alarmist' reports of floods and storms.

One holiday park owner in Devon criticised meteorologists for 'trying to cover all eventualities' to avoid a repeat of the infamous 1987 hurricane blooper by Michael Fish.

Another, who runs resorts in Suffolk, said staycationers were 'terrified' to come to his sites because of fears their caravans would be left 'bobbing around' on flood water.

They are now asking for weathermen to not tarnish the whole country with a 'single wet-weather symbol' and be 'more careful with their phrasing'.

Claire Jeavons, who runs the Beverley Park holiday site in Paignton, Devon, said 'alarmist' forecasts, which often proved groundless, were having a major impact on bookings across the West Country.

She said: 'It is already causing holiday-makers to stay away. Just a few days ago we were hearing that all caravan parks in the West Country were on flood alert and this simply wasn't the case.

'We've been receiving many calls from worried customers, but we assure them that flooding at our altitude would also mean the entire English Riviera was hundreds of feet underwater.'

BBC weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker said there was no reason why forecasters would want to 'dampen the sprits or be deliberately pessimistic.'

Mr Schafernaker, who predicts the weather on BBC South East Today, said: 'I understand the frustration and there is a tendency for weather forecasters to emphasise on the negative aspects of the weather.

'It's just that our job is to pick out the most important parts of the weather which can affect people's lives. 'If indeed there's going to be a shower somewhere we need to flag up that possibility.'

In 1987, Mr Fish drew stinging criticism when he flatly denied a viewer's claim that a hurricane was about to hit Britain just hours before the Great Storm caused devastation across the country.

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1yQjp2gLa

Edited June 21, 2012 by Gavin D

[Radiating Dendrite]

Drenched druids! Summer solstice at Stonehenge is the soggiest in years... and Ascot is set to be a royal washout too

• Around 14,500 people braved the miserable weather to welcome the sun at prehistoric monument in Wiltshire
• Fashionistas hoping today's Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot isn't a washout, with downpours forecast. But organisers say

  the weather appears to be improving this afternoon and they are 'hoping for another sunny day'

• Village of Evershot in Dorset had almost half a month's rainfall in just six hours overnight, says Met Office
• Flood warning issued in north-west England, which is expected to bear brunt of the heaviest rainover next 24 hours
• Tens of thousands of music fans going to Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend and Isle of Wight Festival should expect mud

One of the places to have the heaviest rainfall in England Wales overnight was Evershot in Dorset, Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said.

She said the village had 21.4mm in just six hours - almost half the normal June rainfall of 45mm for London.

Mrs Roberts said the North West was likely to see the heaviest rain in the coming days, with central, south-west and north-east England, as well as north Wales and northern Scotland also getting downpours.

There is also a chance of flooding in the North West tomorrow, she said.

'The forecast is definitely unsettled for the next few days. The main focus over the next 24 hours is going to be north-west England - that's where we're expecting the heaviest rain to be.

'Further south it could push into north Wales and further north it could push into northern Scotland.'

She added: 'There is a potential for some large accumulations of very heavy rain and fairly persistent through much of the day tomorrow.'

Hundreds of thousands of music festival fans are set to battle mud at the weekend, with 100,000 expected at Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend to see Leona Lewis and Jay-Z later.

Another 90,000 people are heading to the Isle of Wight Festival, where Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are playing.

A spokesman for English Heritage said 14,500 people gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice this year.

He added: 'Heavy rain during the night meant this was one of the lowest attendances in recent years.

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1yQiXFx00

BBC forecasters accused of driving tourists away from British resorts with 'deliberately pessimistic' reports

• They are 'trying to cover all eventualities' over fears of another 'Michael Fish' incident, owners claim

BBC weather forecasters have been accused of driving away tourists from seaside resorts with 'alarmist' reports of floods and storms.

One holiday park owner in Devon criticised meteorologists for 'trying to cover all eventualities' to avoid a repeat of the infamous 1987 hurricane blooper by Michael Fish.

Another, who runs resorts in Suffolk, said staycationers were 'terrified' to come to his sites because of fears their caravans would be left 'bobbing around' on flood water.

They are now asking for weathermen to not tarnish the whole country with a 'single wet-weather symbol' and be 'more careful with their phrasing'.

Claire Jeavons, who runs the Beverley Park holiday site in Paignton, Devon, said 'alarmist' forecasts, which often proved groundless, were having a major impact on bookings across the West Country.

She said: 'It is already causing holiday-makers to stay away. Just a few days ago we were hearing that all caravan parks in the West Country were on flood alert and this simply wasn't the case.

'We've been receiving many calls from worried customers, but we assure them that flooding at our altitude would also mean the entire English Riviera was hundreds of feet underwater.'

BBC weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker said there was no reason why forecasters would want to 'dampen the sprits or be deliberately pessimistic.'

Mr Schafernaker, who predicts the weather on BBC South East Today, said: 'I understand the frustration and there is a tendency for weather forecasters to emphasise on the negative aspects of the weather.

'It's just that our job is to pick out the most important parts of the weather which can affect people's lives. 'If indeed there's going to be a shower somewhere we need to flag up that possibility.'

In 1987, Mr Fish drew stinging criticism when he flatly denied a viewer's claim that a hurricane was about to hit Britain just hours before the Great Storm caused devastation across the country.

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1yQjp2gLa

That is hilarious!

Talk about pot calling the kettle black!

The Daily Mail publishing an article criticising somebody else for over-hyping the weather!!

I have seen it all now..........

[ZONE 51]

And if the forecasters didn't let us know where it is likely to rain then people would moan when it rains with no warning.

Simply cannot win, it's either one thing or another, "no one predicted the downpours that flooded us out" someone could say, so it's better to be prepared and have the warnings in place, and for the weather, it changes and that's the way it is. When we read the papers headlines, that could say "80mph storm on the way" and then it's turned out less strong, then i think that is good to have had the warning, at the time of writing the article the infomation was for the possible 80mph winds, by time the headline is printed and in the shops the weather models could have changed indicating a downgrade in the winds, but some look at the models on here and say that they can't see the "80mph" the papers show, but when we look at the models and see for example 60-65mph on exposed southwest coasts then it's quite possible to get a bit higher somewhere, so if it is possible then the papers would most likely print it, so in my view the big headlines should be there, so we are prepared for what might occur.

--

From what i have read when the papers say about the floods and gales most times it has occured, it needs to be on the front page if there is the risk of severe weather, not everyone reads forums and uses the internet.

Edited June 22, 2012 by ElectricSnowStorm

[Summer Sun]

FLOODING WARNING AS STORM CLOUDS LOOM

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/328121/Flooding-warning-as-storm-clouds-loom

[Summer Sun]

ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL FANS IN MUDDY MAYHEM

BRITAIN is braced for the fourth washout weekend in a row, just as the festival season kicks off.

Thousands of music lovers arrived on the Isle of Wight for the annual bash clutching wet-weather gear and wearing wellies.

And most were expecting to find a sea of mud at the festival site.

Forecasters say we are headed for gales and another soaking.

The Met Office issued a flash flooding alert for the south-east, east and north-east, with thunderstorms expected to dump up to 40mm of rain in just two hours.

And gales of up to 55mph could batter the south coast today.

Up to 50mm of rainfall was expected overnight and today in areas of south-west and north-east Scotland.

This month’s awful weather was described as the worst June conditions since records began in 1876 by MeteoGroup forecasters.

England and Wales had a maximum of just 47 hours’ sunshine in the first half of the month, down 50% on normal.

The two countries are on course for the least sunny June since 1876, beating the current poorest on record. That was 1987, which enjoyed just 116 hours of sun

http://www.dailystar...n-muddy-mayhem/

Music fans forced to sleep in cars as downpours turn Isle of Wight Festival into a mudbath

• Organiser promises to give refunds for unused tickets
• Queues leave 600 stranded on ferries across the Solent
• Heavy rain to batter Britain, with North West warned of flood risk

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1yW4urxx4

Isle of Wightmare

Revellers stuck in their cars after mudbath

HUNDREDS of frustrated festival-goers were stranded in their cars overnight after heavy rain and strong winds caused chaos at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Some ended up stuck on ferries floating in The Solent after they were unable to disembark their passengers.

Police were forced to escort 300 motorists to a nearby football club where shelter and refreshments were provided after more than ten hours queuing in their vehicles.

The chaotic scenes were caused by severe flooding at the festival site's main car park.

Today, organisers apologised for the chaos caused by the bad weather.

Organiser John Giddings said: “We are doing everything we can within our power.

“Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had a heatwave and the fields were ready, but then we had this downpour and this is what has happened.

“We have opened new fields this morning and we are about to move the last of the cars.â€

http://www.thesun.co...ck-in-cars.html

[Mapantz]

Remember the fraudster Jonathan Powell of Positive Weather Solutions?

He's back! http://www.vantageweatherservices.co.uk/index.html

[Summer Sun]

Remember the fraudster Jonathan Powell of Positive Weather Solutions?

He's back! http://www.vantageweatherservices.co.uk/index.html

Yes and its different on his site compared to what the express quoted

AUGUST CONTINUES TO SHOW PROMISE

With July sliding awkwardly to a point where it may well mirror June, but with some improvement, August continues to show promise as offering something of summer for the UK, although at this distance the prospect of it being a mirage rather than a real oasis is in the balance. That said, the lean continues towards August looking markedly drier than average with at times, warm temperatures.