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

[Somerset Squall]

Tis nice to have some drier weather but it is certainly doing it in a rather uninteresting fashion.

My local forecast says it all really http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2640834 Mild cloudy and dull with nothing happening.

my boring weather alarm bells are certainly ringing loudly..

Indeed, this upcoming pattern produces my least favourite weather in Winter. I can't imagine anything worse than mild, cloudy and dull. But if it produces the chance for the waters to finally go down around here and turn my 25 mile journey into work back to the normal 13 miles, and the distance to my local pub back to the normal 1.5 miles from the current 9 miles, I'll take it! LOL. I also relish the thought of not having do do part of my journey by tractor when I want to go anywhere.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Somerset Squall

[Coast]

Apart from a bit of drizzle this afternoon and possibly on the 5th, I can't see anything more exciting than the odd spot of rain around the 8th

and maybe some fog on the 9th overnight:

Like our part of the world, dull and mild by day for the foreseeable.

[Dorsetbred]

Oh so nice to see the nice DRY gloom today, no rain, even the inside of the car might start to dry out a bit now.

[littlemissy]

Yes the dry weather will give me a chance to wash the car and give me a chance to look at the swamp of a back garden! Lots of sand and grit to be added i think.It is very heavy soil .

[Coast]

Seems like the proverbial 'drop in the ocean' ???

Council to use £1m to tackle flooding issues

Shire Hall bosses are expected to set aside £1million to tackle flooding issues across the county.

Gloucestershire County Council’s Conservative cabinet is expected to take the decision when it meets on January 7 to consider its financial situation. Accountants at the authority have said there will be a significant 2012/13 financial year-end underspend. And it has left councillors looking to approve the use of a large chunk of the money it is not spending elsewhere on dealing with flood problems. If given the go-ahead, the money from the revenue budget will be used to address “immediate priorities†resulting from damage caused by the bad floods which have taken place over the past two months. The county suffered significant flooding woes at the tail end of 2012, with many areas of Gloucestershire underwater at the end of November and over the Christmas period.

Some residents, especially in Tewkesbury and the Forest of Dean, were particularly badly affected. And while the rain may have stopped, the effects are still being felt with river levels expected to peak today. Millions of pounds have been spent on flood alleviation schemes across the county since the severe flooding of 2007. The county council is currently forecasting a year-end under-spend of £2million which equates to about 0.5 per cent its net budget.

http://www.southwestbusiness.co.uk/news/02012013083138-council-to-use--1m-to-tackle-flooding-issues-/

[jethro]

Yes the dry weather will give me a chance to wash the car and give me a chance to look at the swamp of a back garden! Lots of sand and grit to be added i think.It is very heavy soil .

If you've got heavy soil, you'll do more harm than good doing anything to it for the foreseeable future. Stay off it until it's drained properly (early Spring at the earliest) otherwise you'll be digging sand and grit into the top 8 - 10 inches or so whilst trampling the lower layers, creating more drainage problems. Keep your fingers crossed for some serious cold weather, water logged ground which then freezes, is broken up into a fine tilth with the expansion of water into ice - it's brilliant for heavy soils.

[cerneman]

If you've got heavy soil, you'll do more harm than good doing anything to it for the foreseeable future. Stay off it until it's drained properly (early Spring at the earliest) otherwise you'll be digging sand and grit into the top 8 - 10 inches or so whilst trampling the lower layers, creating more drainage problems. Keep your fingers crossed for some serious cold weather, water logged ground which then freezes, is broken up into a fine tilth with the expansion of water into ice - it's brilliant for heavy soils.

Yes some decent frost in ground would help, Kill some bugs off as well

[Coast]

Keep your fingers crossed for some serious cold weather, water logged ground which then freezes, is broken up into a fine tilth with the expansion of water into ice - it's brilliant for heavy soils.

What about clay Dawn, my garden could make grey plates and pots for everyone? (when it's not under 3" of water!)

[ARTDEMOLE]

9c, Of grey all afternoon...

[cerneman]

What about clay Dawn, my garden could make grey plates and pots for everyone? (when it's not under 3" of water!)

Frost will work into clay soil, Best is leave well alone for now, Try not walk on it too much and hope for dry weather.

[Coast]

Frost will work into clay soil, Best is leave well alone for now, Try not walk on it too much and hope for dry weather.

Thanks for that; it's a swimming pool I wasn't expecting at the moment. Pity it's not heated and surrounded in Italian marble

[Dorsetbred]

Spoke too soon when I said "DRY" it's been drizzling most of the afternoon, so everything is wet again.

[cerneman]

Thanks for that; it's a swimming pool I wasn't expecting at the moment. Pity it's not heated and surrounded in Italian marble

Could always call it your wild life pond, Few pond plants and Hey Presto new garden feature

[Coast]

Could always call it your wild life pond, Few pond plants and Hey Presto new garden feature

There is a tortoise out there somewhere that has decided to use the garden for hibernating. I hope it went to sleep with a snorkel in it's mouth....

[Bumpkin]

Very pleased to see dry weather now although it would be nice to see the sun but can't have everything i suppose! I've bought myself a new hat and gloves so probably won't get cold enough to use them now, although I bought myself a lovely pair of purple muckboots in April and basically didn't take them off for months, a very good investment last year.

[cerneman]

There is a tortoise out there somewhere that has decided to use the garden for hibernating. I hope it went to sleep with a snorkel in it's mouth....

Hope found sheltered spot and safe, Would love tortoise but so expensive now,

[latitude]

"Profoundly Colder" second half of Jan. From someone on TV.

[AWD]

"Profoundly Colder" second half of Jan. From someone on TV.

All I can say is that's a very brave thing to say publicly so early. Further data such as their Glosea model must be showing colder scenarios as its far too early to forecast the end of the month on the data available to the public.

Nice to hear though, shows the professionals are considering colder solutions at the end of the month, which at this stage to me, is just as good as NWP FI output.

[fergieweather]

All I can say is that's a very brave thing to say publicly so early. Further data such as their Glosea model must be showing colder scenarios as its far too early to forecast the end of the month on the data available to the public.

Nice to hear though, shows the professionals are considering colder solutions at the end of the month, which at this stage to me, is just as good as NWP FI output.

I think someone needs to learn to quote from TV more carefully..... ;-)

Much conversation ongoing re how the SSW feeds-in. Or not.

More to follow on this.

[Mark Parsons]

So mild and calm, quite remarkable!! 11c at present.

[fromey]

interesting read.

http://theweathercen...s-confirm.html.

more for the usa, but good.

just click on home and that brings the page up

fromey

Edited January 2, 2013 by fromey

[jethro]

What about clay Dawn, my garden could make grey plates and pots for everyone? (when it's not under 3" of water!)

Especially clay - as Cerneman said, stay off it, completely if possible. The best approach with clay is work it in the Spring and Autumn, digging in as much grit, sand and especially humus/leaf mold as possible. I know it's too late for this year (actually, make that last year....) but if you can remember, in the Autumn roughly dig over the ground, literally just turning a spade's depth over, no need to break the soil down any further than that. Over winter, frost will break the soil down, saving you loads of effort. During soggy spells in the growing season, if you have to go on the soil try to lay a plank or large piece of wood down and work off that - it spreads the load of your weight and helps prevent further panning of the soil.

[Dorsetbred]

It's still drizzling, and everything is still wet, and very mild.

Currently 10.2°C, and almost straight-lined temp for the last 19 hours,

[Coast]

Especially clay - as Cerneman said, stay off it, completely if possible.

Thank you for that Dawn, I'll leave it as a wet wasteland for now.

[Evening thunder]

Indeed, this upcoming pattern produces my least favourite weather in Winter. I can't imagine anything worse than mild, cloudy and dull. But if it produces the chance for the waters to finally go down around here and turn my 25 mile journey into work back to the normal 13 miles, and the distance to my local pub back to the normal 1.5 miles from the current 9 miles, I'll take it! LOL. I also relish the thought of not having do do part of my journey by tractor when I want to go anywhere.

Blimey it does seem quite bad around your way! I am glad of a drier spell too just wish it could do it with a crisp sunny frosty high or something less dull. Not sure how much the coming weather will dry things out but hopefully any excess flood water should drain away a bit.

Mild and cloudy is all I can say about today, overnight low in double figures at 10.3C, now 10.9C with minimal temperature variation.