Southwest & Central Southern England Regional Discussion 18th December 2012>

[Evening thunder]

about 10mm from this front up until now, less than the 25mm the NAE forecast last night again. Still more rain to add to this months total though. River rising but not flooding of course as it would need more rain even with the saturated ground as it drops quite quick after previous rain.

Got some good pics and video of the River Exe flooding yesterday morning, including the railway near Exeter. Liscombe on Exmoor recorded 75.6mm of rain in the 24 hours from 21:00 on the 21st to 21:00 on the 22nd, with rain before this and more rain overnight after this. The Exe and tributaries drain much of Exmoor and according to the Environment Agency website the upper Exe around south Exmoor and especially the Barle broke their highest record since April 1966, which resulted in the flooding downstream.

Edited December 24, 2012 by Stormmad26

[kev238]

In gloucesterr the rain is significantly worse that on Saturday, when we were quite sheltered by hills to the west. It has been hammering it down for the last two and a half hours, and before that rain was moderate and persistent. It is very dark out there!!

[Lyn-M]

After 9mm overnight and a dryish start (just drizzle), it's been tanking down for the last hour. Not ventured out to the gauge yet! Radar show that it's pretty much clear behind this lot.

[Coast]

Rain has returned to south-west England, bringing a renewed flood risk to areas already saturated by heavy downpours. Forecasters predict the rain will sweep across England and Wales to Scotland, where it could be heavy and prolonged. There is major disruption to trains in south-west England.

Operator First Great Western is advising customers not to attempt to travel west of Taunton in either direction. It says trains are unable to operate between Tiverton Parkway Station and Exeter St Davids, and between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot. Services from London Paddington towards Exeter and the West of England are terminating at Tiverton, with limited road transport continuing to Newton Abbot via Exeter St Davids.

Services from Penzance and Plymouth, towards Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, are terminating at Newton Abbot, again with limited road transport on to Tiverton via Exeter. It says the road replacement service is limited "as this is being hampered by flooded roads and only a reduced number of vehicles being available". The closed section of line is not expected to reopen until Friday.

The Environment Agency (EA) has issued about 120 flood warnings and more than 250 flood alerts for all regions in England and in Wales, with most in place across the Midlands and south-west England.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20835094

[Wynn D Woo]

Truely vile day out there, rain lashing down and the playing field behind us is rapidly becoming more waterlogged - even the sea gulls look fed up sat on the field.

I can't remember a more miserable year wether wise and am beyond fed up with the no stop rain of 2012.

But it is Christmas Eve so Merry Christmas everyone and if its too wet to g o out...why not stay in and drink

[Bumpkin]

Absolutely piddling down again. Lets hope for a pattern change soon, nice big ridge of high pressure. I don't care about the temperature, we just need a really good dry spell. The moat around the house is back, I feel quite regal

[Nights King]

Soon we shall all have to adopt the new mehod of transport here in the west country....

Far safer...

[Mapantz]

It looks like the heavier stuff went further north this time.

The far south west was right to stay on the warning, not sure about warnings Dorset and east were needed, had hardly anything here.

[A.J]

It's been dreadsful here.....Steady rain overnight and into this morning, and a recent squall line type feature has passed through, the A3102 Lyneham to Wootton Bassett road is flooded which is unusual, a pretty horrific and scarey drive back on it from Swindon!

[MP-R]

Mostly moderate rain this morning bar a period of very heavy rain for a time between 10-10.30am. Now the sun is finally coming out after what felt like a very dark morning!

[Mapantz]

Yellow warnings added for Boxing day and Thursday.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=map&map=Warnings&zoom=5&lon=-4.50&lat=55.74&fcTime=1356264060

[Mapantz]

Wow, just looked at my graphs, the temperature just after 5am rocketed!

[offerman]

Hi all,had very heavey rain here in frome but stopped about 2hrs ago. Rained right through night and heavy to. More on the way. Happy christmas and especially to any flood hit people.hoe the new year brings better weather for you all.

[cerneman]

Sun out, Been up to Cerne giant, Looks bit washed out, River high and fast, Think area not too bad, seems main rain belt missed us here, Happy Christmas and New Year to all,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hope weather brings us some change for mid January

[Andy Bown]

Ok so onto the next rain maker, aside from some showers tomorrow.

Is it due to arrive late Boxing Day or will the system speed up and arrive earlier in the day?

It's a vital question for local sport which, although not as important as losing your home etc due to flooding, is a large Bank Holiday

impact financially to many local clubs/people!

[AWD]

Ok so onto the next rain maker, aside from some showers tomorrow.

Is it due to arrive late Boxing Day or will the system speed up and arrive earlier in the day?

It's a vital question for local sport which, although not as important as losing your home etc due to flooding, is a large Bank Holiday

impact financially to many local clubs/people!

NAE has it here by midday Boxing Day;

[ARTDEMOLE]

8c.Calm Cloudy...So glad no need to go out in todays rain and strong winds,,

[AWD]

Interesting to note that whilst the NAE shows nothing much inland tomorrow in respect to shower activity, with most modelled around coastal areas:

The Meto invent map shoes a large cluster of very heavy cells over southern England tomorrow morning;

The GFS also showing thunder potential along southern counties;

A thundery Christmas Day for some?

Edited December 24, 2012 by AWD

[Mapantz]

A thundery Christmas Day for some?

I was just looking at this myself!

Cold ELT's around the -40°C mark should give rise to some hail development so thunder is a distict possibility in those showers on southern coasts during mid-morning.

[tinybill]

hope you all have a happy Xmas and stay dry with the forecast as it its fingers crossed

[Andy Bown]

Goodness me what a pulse of heavy rain moving over the SE quarter at present, with some downpours on its' Western edge affecting S.Wiltshire/Dorset!

AWD, thanks for that info re Boxing Day's rain! I'd rather it be delayed until mid pm.

[lfcdude]

Well its not looking good for people at risk of flooding, just looked at meto forecast... grim

Edited December 24, 2012 by lfcdude

[Evening thunder]

Quite a heavy pulse moving into the SE this evening, didn't expect that. Looks heavier than the last two lots of rain in my location.

I thought the outlook was mainly showers or a few bands of rain moving through quite quickly, so I don't think that Met Office forecast summary summarises things too well? the one for my location is mainly showery looking.

I am hoping the worst has passed and although the rain/showers this week should make rivers go up and down a bit it shouldn't be enough to cause major problems again hopefully.

[Bumpkin]

Well i can use my 100th post to wish you all a very merry Christmas.

As for the weather I really hope that the next lot of rain due on Boxing day holds off until late in the day as we are visiting family in North Wiltshire and I'm driving back.

[AWD]

Happy Christmas guys. This time of year there are far more important things than the weather.

Hope you all have a good'un and may all your wishes come true.

Stay safe too, yet more rain forecast over the festive period.