South East & East Anglia Regional Discussion - December 19th 2012>

[john pike]

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/se/se_forecast_warnings.html

met office warning update

for saturday

sunday and monday

rain is not far away now

http://www.raintoday.co.uk/

[NO LONGER POSTING]

here it comes 24hr deluge?

[Ben_Cambs]

Morning all,

Wet start to the morning as expected with plenty more to come. Sadly, more flooding is likely today.

[scrat]

Windy with heavy rain here in Biggin :-(. Bring back the cold and crisp......please!

[NO LONGER POSTING]

Just been on a walk with my brother to the local river, water levels VERY high, river bourne is currently at 1.3m I think I over estimated it or what I was being told by people that live near it was a fib. The EA Say it's at 1 - 1.1m so no doubt it will rise further.

Surface water is very bad and drains are not coping here with flooded roads. Stay safe people!

[Mike Storm]

Oh look its... raining again and I work outside...

[Steve C]

Morning all.

Raining quite heavily here this morning. I'm just about to go out and face it.

John's rain gauge post made me laugh this morning! A cheery way to start the day.

As a postscript, I've seen K's heavy metal friends in concert. They are about as 'heavy' as it gets...

[classylady]

It's sooooo dark.........................

[Coast]

It's heavy believe me. The garden will be turned into a (very muddy) mosh pit as we speak.

Morning all!

Just checked my garden and it's a complete wash out now with all the grass under 2" of rainwater. We are on thick grey clay (you can make pots from it) and I'm not sure how it's going to soak away.

The whole country looks like it is under the progression of rain:

But just look at the conveyor of cloud coming:

What does it bring to us?

and some really gusty winds:

I've not seen a moisture transport vector chart quite like this for a long time, there's a lot up there and it's heading our way:

Time to hunker down or find some buckets and sandbags in areas of our region?

It's sooooo dark.........................

Who said that??!

Edited December 22, 2012 by Coast

[Coast]

16.8mm of rain on the last 4 hours - the worst is still to come

Edited December 22, 2012 by Coast

[Snowangel-MK]

Morning all,

surprise surprise...it's raining !

I was going to go out to get some fresh eggs and bits this morning but I think I'll leave it and see what tomorrow brings, probably more rain I guess

oh well, stay safe and enjoy the weekend everyone

[Coast]

Flooding brings travel chaos and evacuations

Motorists and rail passengers face travel disruption as millions attempt to getaway before Christmas due to heavy rain and flooding.

Flood warnings have been issued across much of the UK as heavy and prolonged rainfall is forecast to sweep across the country. Almost 200 residents in Helston, Cornwall, have been told to evacuate their homes as flood waters rose through the night. At least 50 properties in the area have already been flooded.

The emergency services said the flooding in Helston posed a serious danger to life, although some residents have been reported to have ignored the advice to leave their homes, moving to upstairs rooms instead. In Dorset a number of motorists have been rescued after becoming trapped in their vehicles by floods. One man was trapped in his car for five hours during the night.

The Environment Agency has issued 95 official flood warnings, where flooding is expected, across England, with the worst hit areas in the south west of the country. A further 275 flood alerts, where flooding is possible, have also been issued.

In Scotland flooding from rivers and surface water is also expected to hit areas many central regions of the country. The flooding and poor weather is expected to cause widespread delays and cancellations to travel plans on the busiest weekend on the roads and rail networks in the lead up to Christmas. A signalling problem on the train line near Brighton has caused severe disruption to trains south of London, including those going to Gatwick Airport. On Friday there were also major delays to services leaving Paddington, including connections to Heathrow Airport, due to a signalling fault, but these have now been restored.

Flooding between Taunton and Exeter St Davids and a signalling problem near Plymouth has also resulted in services being cancelled in the south west of the country, with trains being replaced by buses. On the roads, the Highways Agency warned that delays were likely on most motorways and major trunk roads due to the poor weather conditions and warned drivers to take care.

An estimated 15 million people are expected to take to the roads this weekend as they travel for the Christmas break. The M25, the M6 in the West Midlands, the M1 near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, the M5 near Bristol and the M62 near Warrington in Cheshire, are expected to be among the worst traffic hot spots.

The A38 from Bodmin towards Exeter is closed between the A374 Plymouth road and the A3121 because of flooding, and is expected to reopen at 8am, the Highways Agency said. The A19 is affected at the junction with the A139, with one lane on the southbound entry slip closed and the northbound exit slip road shut. There are also delays on the A27 eastbound between B2144 and A285 near Chichester because of flooding.

A spokesman for the Highway's Agency said: "Road users are advised to take extra care when driving on motorways and major trunk roads this weekend as heavy rain is set to continue across the country. "Heavy rain already affecting the south west will move quickly north and east across all areas through the morning and early afternoon, bringing the possibility of localised flooding. "The persistent rain will clear the east early afternoon, but will be followed by showers, which are expected to be fairly frequent particularly in the south west.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9762547/Flooding-brings-travel-chaos-and-evacuations.html#

[Coast]

Even the Eastern part of our patch doesn't escape:

More areas in the region were yesterday warned to expect flooding, with more rain forecast for today. A warning that Cambridge colleges were at risk of flooding issued by the Environment Agency was lifted yesterday after a drier day following torrential rainfall on Wednesday night. Water in the River Cam crept close to the top of the bank and a passer-by said: “It didn’t look as if it was in imminent danger of flooding over but I imagine if there’s a lot more rain there could be problems. I don’t think I have ever seen it that high to be honest.â€

A spokesman for Cambridge University said before the warning was lifted that it was only a low level one. “We are monitoring the situation regularly and it seems fine for the moment.†The Environment Agency put new flood warnings in place covering locations including Great and Little Shelford and Hauxton early yesterday, but lifted them later. Overall the number in force across the Anglian region fell from 13 to 12.

Cllr Charlie Nightingale, chairman of Great Shelford Parish Council, said: “The rec was waterlogged. I think there were two inches of water on the rec where I was. I just hope the bridges stay clear so we don’t get flooding like we had six or seven years ago.â€

There were also 41 flood alerts in force, indicating flooding is possible, rising from 37 alerts in force on Thursday night. Eleven warnings that were issued for areas including Bin Brook at Newnham and Ellington, Hamerton and the Alconburys are no longer in place. Residents affected by the flooding in Fairway, Girton, have seen the surface water ebb away – for now.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/More-flood-warnings-as-waters-rise-21122012.htm

[abruzzi spur]

Final food shop before Christmas done by 8:30 despite the supermarket having no trolleys left - madness! Dog to walk (in the rain). Youngest to take to party (in the rain). Mince pies to make (not in the rain, hopefully)

Stay dry all.

Party tonight - won't be staying dry then!

AS

[Ruthie]

Final food shop before Christmas done by 8:30 despite the supermarket having no trolleys left - madness! Dog to walk (in the rain). Youngest to take to party (in the rain). Mince pies to make (not in the rain, hopefully)

Stay dry all.

Party tonight - won't be staying dry then!

AS

We ve got the joys of food shop to come today, if only I can get the other half outta bed!! It's v nasty weather, defo a day for staying in and making mince pies!!!

[Bluebreezer54]

Good morning all and its a pretty grim one down here on the South Coast( Hastings ). I may venture out a bit later to see what local conditions are like, hope you are all managing to stay relatively dry and flood free.

[Keraunic]

Mornin each. Well, tickle my toes and call me Norah! It's RAINING.

Stay safe, warm and dry everyone...if you can. Have a good week-end.

[Keraunic]

And here are the boyz;

[Steve C]

It looks like a loud party K!

[gottolovethisweather]

I can't hear the music for the rain.

Only 9.4mm and counting but it does make things so miserable outside. Anyway a glimmer of hope for sunnier and crisp conditions come Christmas Day itself.

Edited December 22, 2012 by gottolovethisweather

[gottolovethisweather]

I can't hear the music for the rain.

Only 9.4mm and counting but it does make things so miserable outside. Anyway a glimmer of hope for sunnier and crisp conditions come Christmas Day itself.

EDIT: Scrap that, I would pick the 27th December as the driest and crispiest of days to go for a walk right now, at least according to the GFS 6z it is.

For example, see http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=10day;sess=

[ITSY]

Our ditch has rapidly felled up again this morning, it has come away from the bank and a small landslide is happening which will only elevate water levels. With 30-40mms expected in next few days, we may need to deploy sandbags for the first time ever.

[Keraunic]

It looks like a loud party K!

No doubt it was a tad noisy, Steve. Thankfully I was/still am in Norwich. :o And its still pouring with rain.

[Snowangel-MK]

The rain is relatively light here atm (I'm still not going out) but it's pretty relentless we've had 10mm since midnight...the mince pies are made so I might just make myself a coffee and have one for brunch

Stay safe peeps, keep checking the flood warnings here...

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31618.aspx

and the weather alerts here....

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=weather-alert-status;sess=

[gottolovethisweather]

Just a snippet of information I've posted on the CSE & SW thread.

http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/75317-southwest-central-southern-england-regional-discussion-18th-december-2012/page__st__260#entry2454367