The North Of England Regional Discussion

[Deluxe]

Well our thunderstorm arrived, as the storm was approaching, there was some crazy cloud formation going on, i thought at one point i would see my first ever live tornado, there was definitely rotation in the sky. I have got some footage on my phone which i will try and upload tomorow.

All in all not a bad storm, lasted for about 30 minutes, a touch cooler but wouldnt mind another storm later or is that asking too much?

That might be asking too much yes, but you're right about our storm (I'm a little further north in Billingham, currently) - the clouds were going crazy as the storm approached - definitely rotation going on - check out my photos in this thread - did the skies look similar? I appreciate my mobile camera doesn't do it justice!

[dave79]

Polar, that first picture is quality, that must of produced a funnel, its more or less complete.

That lighting strike on the tyne bridge is unreal, i would pay for an image like that to stick on the wall lol

[Deluxe]

Polar, that first picture is quality, that must of produced a funnel, its more or less complete.

Yeah that area was rotating erratically as it passed over. Very eerie beginning to the storm, the rain didn't start for a while and the thunder was muffled and very infrequent at first, all we had were the low, dark rotating cloud bases at first! Quite scary actually

It actually got a lot brighter when the rain and thunder came

Edited June 28, 2012 by Polar Thole

[Alex95]

Look how blue the sky is! Anyway, incredible sights on the Coast Road at the top of Chillingham Road - just been for a walk and its a few feet deep in the underpass!

[Aaron]

Even with great potential, a storm is just too much to ask for here. I can't believe how unlucky we have been today.. it's times like this I wish I didn't take any interest in the weathe.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Aaron

[JP1972]

I've never witnessed anything before like I have witnessed this evening - and I'm 39 years of age!

Left Cobalt Business Park at 16:30 (about 45 minutes after the storm had started) and arrived home in Heaton at 19:47. A journey of approximately 6 miles. Coast Road was gridlock as I joined from Middle Engine Lane, managed to take the Holy Cross turn off which led to gridlock all the way to Wallsend High Street. rain was lashing down and fork lightning was all around us.

After Wallsend High Street we moved until we reached the Metro bridge and I realised cars were floating down the road towards us. I was panicking like hell! Turned around like everyone else and headed along Appletree Gardens and yet more gridlock.

At the end of Appletree Gradens I was greeted by the below image.

So had to then join gridlock up Benfield Road (flooded under the East Coast railway line bridge) but then incredibly the Coast Road slip road was free so headed along there and came off at Chillingham Road. Guess what, Chillingham Road was flooded outside the Chillingham Arms! Took some back streets behind Pizza Pizza and eventually arrived home.

I've never witnessed (in the UK) a thunderstorm like todays. Bridges under railways/Metro/Road Junctions were under easily 8 feet or more of water.

[recklessabandon]

I know what we saw today was remarkable, but for those who didn't experience it - be careful what you wish for - a lot of people have been badly affected personally, losing personal items and watching their houses ruined in a matter of moments....those who missed this event....trust me, on a human level, I am not sure you really missed out....

[JP1972]

Quite agree Reckless, I saw streets off Benfield Road several feet deep in water (something I've only ever seen on the news before) and my wife and I just looked on as folk stood outside their homes as flood water streamed into their houses.

I can't imagine how I'd feel if it was my home that was flooded.

This evening has been quite unbelievable.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I moved from Cleadon to Sandhutton near Thirsk five days ago and just got internet today. Of course, I just had to time that move just in time for Cleadon getting its biggest thunderstorm for at least a couple of decades, after a few months of struggling to get so much as a day of sunshine and showers. Can't deny that had the house been among those heavily flooded it would have been a bittersweet experience though, but otherwise it would've been absolutely amazing.

Sandhutton did get some rumbles and some spectacular cloud formations on the southern edge of the band though.

Will try and find some footage from Youtube to get an idea of what it was like up in Geordie-land.

[recklessabandon]

To see the hills in NW Durham white with water pouring down them was incredible, the skyscape was almost like armageddon, and eerily reminiscent of the skyscape in Keswick I had the experience of in November 2009.....and many of us will recall that event. I have never seen anything like it in the NE, the force of the water toward valley bottoms was immense, causing damage to roads and infrastructure, as well as to peoples homes.

[seabreeze86]

Well our storm was worth the wait we had frequent lightning and shotgun thunder and torrential rain it only lasted 20 mins but i am glad looking at some of the scenes further north. I fit had gone on for another 20 mins our street would of been under water. Also the size of the raindrops was something i have never witnessed, they sounded like hail hitting the floor.

[Dom W]

Well our storm was worth the wait we had frequent lightning and shotgun thunder and torrential rain it only lasted 20 mins but i am glad looking at some of the scenes further north. I fit had gone on for another 20 mins our street would of been under water. Also the size of the raindrops was something i have never witnessed, they sounded like hail hitting the floor.

I agree, it was the same in Peterlee, which just escaped the worst (or best) of the storm; still good to have had a summer storm for once.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Looking at the N-W Extra radar, ironically it looks as if I haven't missed out on as much as I thought, for the heaviest rain appears to have skirted around Cleadon's postcode, and Neil Bradshaw at nearby South Shields only reported 9mm of rain. The thunderstorm would of course have been amazing to see, but I've experienced 2-3 hour thunderstorms on the continent that were probably comparable.

Have posted photos of what I did get in Sandhutton here:

[Cloud 10]

As posted in the convective thread, UKASF have a large area of northern england under a threat of severe thunderstorms

tomorrow afternoon,so just thought i would post it in here to see how it works out.

UKASF » Storm >> View Forecast

Well,that forecast pretty much went to plan.

I agree with what has been said about the severity of the event today,i was driving around the dipton/harelaw/stanley area

(in circles,lol )trying to get home when the storm was at its peak and i found it absolutely jaw-dropping the amount of

water running off fields and down roads.

Never seen anything even close to it except on the TV happening somewhere else.

[Thunder Snow]

Will all that water have made it into rivers yet

[Liam J]

Showery and windy here this morning, rather tired of this regime. Yes it is June and July is nearly upon us! Southerly winds touching 40mph in gusts, much fresher feel to things today.

[Snow free zone]

Never seen sustained rain like I did yesterday. Started here in the S Lakes around 1.30 ish, and was a sustained torrential downpour for at least 45mins/1 hr. No hail, plenty of thunder and lightning.

Then came the rain run off. The drains, guttering just could not cope with the volume of water. We had 4 garages and 2 rooms flooded out here, all due to surface water, there was no flooding at all from the river which runs down the back of our building less then 10 feet away.

Lakeland radio said the met office station at Levens Hall recorded a weeks worth of rainfall in less than an hour.

Like others have said a bittersweet experience for me. I do take an interest in the weather, but when we were affected (and we have lost a considerable amount of stock) you do look on the extremes a little differently.

Preston 30 miles South seemed to stay relativley dry throughout.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Snow free zone

[P-M]

Well I drove through felling last night as the storm had started on my way to the west end of Newcastle and it's the first time I seen torrents of water pouring OUT of peoples houses! The lightening was intesne like never seen such a storm up here for years in fact can't remember one being like that ever in the NE?

[Rollo]

I cannot remember a storm lasting so long and quite as intense as the one that hit my area at around 4-10 yesterday afternoon.I had been tracking the severe weather both to my west and south all afternoon but with the wind in the south it made very little inroads eastwards,at around 4pm the wall of black cloud to my west started to move east towards me as the horizon got lighter-only the occasional rumble of thunder occured as did the odd flash of lightning,then it turn like night and the storm really got its act together with violent gusts and torrential rain for about 45 minutes,this was accompanied by continuous thunder and lightning flashes everywhere.When the storm seemed to have moderated and chinks of blue appeared and the rain had turned somewhat lighter the thunder seemed to get closer and ther were a couple of violent claps of thunder virtually overhead,the storm rumbled on for some little time before finally clearing eastwards. As we can easily go through a summer without a storm this one was truely memorable.

[JP1972]

This mornings drive to work along the Coast Road eastbound was quite eerie. Lots of cars abandoned at the side of the road as people clearly decided enough was enough and walked/waded home rather than waste precious hours going nowhere.

Yesterday has left a lasting impression on my mind. The cloud formation as the storm clouds approached, the colour of the clouds, grey, black and greenish, the volume of the thunder, the amount of fork lightening and of course the size of the raindrops and the severity of the rainfall. Seeing water pour into houses, roads become rivers, kids playing on makeshift boats on main roads, gridlocked traffic, the storm ending and clear blue skies with warm sunshine appearing after 7pm.

Just another day of British weather.

Breathtaking yet sadly life changing and devastating for some ...

[dodge]

First thundershower of the summer here. Couple of lightning strikes and heavy rain. Seems to be the setup for the rest of the afternoon, although I expect this to be the heaviest shower just gone.

Amazing scenes that affected the north east a couple of days ago. Once in a lifetime event. The heat off the roasting continent, the weather front coming in from the west. Bang!

[iand61]

First thundershower of the summer here. Couple of lightning strikes and heavy rain. Seems to be the setup for the rest of the afternoon, although I expect this to be the heaviest shower just gone.

Amazing scenes that affected the north east a couple of days ago. Once in a lifetime event. The heat off the roasting continent, the weather front coming in from the west. Bang!

We've just had a really heavy shower as well although I didn't hear any thunder.

Your right about the amazing scenes from earlier in the week but although i'd love to have witnessed such an event I'm glad we missed it really as our rain from last Friday was bad enough. we've still got barriers up along road edges and pavements where they have collapsed into overwhelmed drains.

[dodge]

We've just had a really heavy shower as well although I didn't hear any thunder.

Your right about the amazing scenes from earlier in the week but although i'd love to have witnessed such an event I'm glad we missed it really as our rain from last Friday was bad enough. we've still got barriers up along road edges and pavements where they have collapsed into overwhelmed drains.

Yes, really was a washout last Friday. You may be getting another heavy shower breaking out up your end, really dark skies here too, but the darkest clouds appear just a little to the north of here.

Edited June 30, 2012 by dodgeredee

[iand61]

Yes, really was a washout last Friday. You may be getting another heavy shower breaking out up your end, really dark skies here too, but the darkest clouds appear just a little to the north of here.

does look a bit dark to our south, possibly Rochdale's getting hammered from that.

the showers have been a bit hit and miss today but they certainly packed a punch.

we even had a few rumbles of thunder at one stage late afternoon but suprisingly, no rain came from it

[4wd]

Just finished doing silage here and thought we had got away with reasonably dry weather today until 3pm.

Then we had a shower and little showers kept coming but not quite enough to stop the work - and it got to the point with only a small field left let's just keep going no matter what.

So muddy gateways and more soggy grass in the clamp than is ideal, but at least it's done now and next week still looks rather poor with more rain at times.