Heat in June

June 30th saw the hottest day of the year so far -and the hottest for nearly 3 years. Wisley (Surrey) saw 31.3C reached as heatwave warnings were widely issued by the Met Office.  Thunderstorms broke out  overnight into July 1st with reports of hail and flooding around the Blackpool area along with gusty winds too. The storms  initiated over NE Wales and then ran NNE across coastal NW England. There was a report of  90 flashes per minute occurring on the coast at Fylde; when this occurs the sky literally 'strobes' with lightning and it is more reminiscent of tropical storms. Two properties in Southport (Lancs) were struck with one strike causing a fire and eight more fire brigade call outs were received in the area. A house in Bispham, Blackpool was also struck by lightning causing a roof fire.

Snow in June 

As colder weather moved south, June snow fell on the 5th in places across the north. In particular in England it fell on the Pennines, & was reported at Alston in the NE Pennines, also in Weardale, Upper Teesdale.  Though snow is rare in June there have been a few occurrences; high parts of the Sussex Downs reputedly reported snow on June 12 1791 but the most memorable snow in living memory was on June 2 1975, when sleet & snow showers fell in many parts of the country and as far south as Portsmouth. On June 7 1985 too, sleet fell at Birmingham. Later on, on the 5th heavy rain with thunder fell in parts of the Midlands and Herefordshire; an inch (25mm) fell in an hour at Wigmore (Herefordshire).   

May 2009 summary

May was a generally fairly average month is respect of sunshine and rainfall but temperatures ended nearly a degree above average though across England and Wales. There was a very warm start to April but the 29th was the warmest day with the average maximum near 24C, some 7C above average. The maximum temperature of the month was in Scotland at Invercassley on the 29th too, when 26.5C was reached. However, a cold spell midmonth from the 11th-14th saw some low temperatures in Scotland and Kinbrace recorded -4.7C on the 11th. Until midmonth it was quite dry nearly everywhere but on the 14th it become more unsettled, dull and wet, Scampton (N Yorks) reported 33mm on the 14th, the average E&W total being as high as 10mm. After the 20th though it generally became drier and quite sunny, as high pressure dominated for many and there was an average of 15 hours sunshine across E&W on the 29th but this only managed to bring sunshine back to just about the expected average overall. Frosts were rather above average for May overall but winds a little below average. 

'Natures Fury' with UKww's Lorraine and Paul

We had Stu’s feature on TV about his stormchasing and now it's Lorraine and Paul's turn. Mother Nature is more powerful than any man-made bomb and is more ferocious and destructive than any army. Film-maker and adventurer Chris Terrill is fascinated by extreme situations and in this brand-new series for ITV1 he confronts nature head-on, going right to the core of the world’s greatest storms to explore unique human experiences of severe weather.

Without a crew, Chris goes alone, with just his camera, into life-threatening situations, confronting high-speed tornados, ferocious hurricanes and deadly firestorms and he meets the people who live and work in the path of these killer natural forces. 

Chris says: “I suppose if I’m honest I’d have to admit that I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, there are those that think I’ve got a death wish, but I haven’t, I’m as terrified as anybody else of what storms can actually do. But I’m also fascinated and beguiled by these extraordinary forces of nature, that’s why I wanted to get as close as I could to look them in the eye, feel their heart beat, really try to understand them from the inside.”

In the first episode of the series Chris takes on the tornado – braving giant fist-sized hail, high speed winds and skin-piercing rain as he risks his life to get up close to a twister as it hits the ground.

 Chris’s film provides a view of tornados from very different perspectives: capturing the excitement and wonder of the awestruck storm chasers and weather tourists who are drawn to their power, drama and beauty, which contrasts sharply with the fearfulness of the people living in the path of twisters that continually threaten to destroy their communities and even claim their lives.

The programme features more striking footage as Chris ventures into the path of another storm and leaves his car to film an atomised rain storm - which herald the arrival of a twister. The effect is like thousands of tiny pins piercing his skin. Chris and a group including Lorraine and Paul who are the hunt for a twister, with their guide (who has seen more than 400 twisters in his time), get to experience a full tornado  

The first programme is on Tuesday the 2nd June 2009 at 8pm on ITV1

 UK to USA Storm chasers Update 2

The 2009 season has been one of mixed fortunes for the chase teams, perhaps this could be a late season show. Our teams have reported rather chilly conditions at times, although the storms have still occurred and some successful chase intercepts have been had. Paul Sherman and the netweather team have had success and you can view their reports and images via the UK to USA chase forum. They have also had a live streaming cam that has given the members a chance to watch the chase as it happens  real time. You can view the other team threads via the links below:

Steve Lansdell & team news thread 

Vicky Redwood & team news thread 

John W news thread 

As we look toward the end of May and the last team leaving, the pattern is looking less than encouraging but storms are still going to happen somewhere out there, they just might require some longer driving distance to reach (not to mention copious amounts of patience and determination) As ever, things can change quickly and we will continue to update the forum with reports and images from the chasers so continue to stay tuned!

A wet and windy spell in mid May..
 
A rather deep low of 991mb formed overnight NW of Cornwall and brought very rain, strong winds and thunderstorms with it to the far SW. Slow moving fronts brought as much as 45mm of rainfall at St Mary's, on the Isles of Scilly in about 6 hours from 6pm and 36mm at St Ives on the mainland. Local flooding was reported and initially there were thunderstorms too. Sadly a number of people lost their lives as a car was washed away into a stream near Zennor in severe flash flooding. As the pressure gradient developed exposed parts of the far south west saw gusts to 62mph at St Ives Coastguard and 60mph at Polruan Coastguard (nr Fowey) on the 25th, St Ives and Seven Stones lightship reporting a mean wind speed of 50mph at 0300 

UK to USA Storm Chase 2009

That time is upon us again as several UK chase teams prepare to leave for storm chasing trips across the Mid West of America, writes Lorraine Evans.  The Great Plains are a notorious breeding ground for some of the largest and most violent thunderstorms in the world and here at UKww, we aim to document and follow the teams progress as they seek out and pursue severe storms Stateside. This will be the sixth year that UKww has hosted its annual UK to USA storm chase forum and we are expecting another lively season. Storm chasing is growing in popularity year on year and a range of people both from differing backgrounds and nationalities are coming together to share their unique fascination and passion for severe weather.

Our teams will be sending back reports and images which we will post on the UK to USA forum so be sure to keep an eye out for their reports!

All that is left for us to say is good luck to the teams and we look forward to another active season!

April 2009 Summary

April was a generally fairly sunny, fairly dry and fairly mild month overall. The first week was especially dry and sunny nearly everywhere. Temperatures ended up about 1.7C above average overall but the east of England saw as high as 2.5C in places and even the far north was around 2.0C above average with N Ireland the most chilly with its positive anomalies closer to a degree. East Malling (Sussex) was the warmest spot on the 15th seeing 22.1C, not an especially high overall maximum temperature for April but pretty warm nevertheless. The coldest spot was at Kinbrace (Sutherland) on the 19th with -5.8C but the month was notable for a high number of ground frosts, these probably exacerbated by the relatively dry ground. It was another notably dry month in places especially down the eastern half of the UK, East Anglia seeing its 6th dry month in succession and the NE seeing only around 25% of the expected average. Northern Ireland was again the exception to the dry rule, seeing around 130% of average. The far SW saw a notably wet day on the 25th when 65mm fell at the Scilly Isles giving flash flooding in Penwith area. Plymouth saw 33mm on the 15th as well. Sunshine was near or slightly above average for most areas but especially across east Anglia where around 140% was recorded. As mentioned it was a fairly frosty month inland, especially in central and eastern parts but not particularly snowy; some was reported though in upland Wales as late as the 27th of the month    

March 2009 summary-another two halved month

 March was a month of two halves again; a cold wet start then drier and somewhat milder by day after around the first week, and dominated by high pressure. Though it ended just 0.3C above average across England & Wales this belied notable differences and was partly the result of a period of cold nights due to the anticyclonic conditions with relatively dry ground; the NE of England was up to 1.5C above average (and parts here were notably dry after the 8th). The cold start saw Bramaer (Aberdeenshire) fall to -9.6C on the 4th/5th. Temperatures rose somewhat though during the rest of the month and the highest monthly temperature of 18.5C was also in Scotland at Altnaharra (Sutherland) on the 20th, even more notable for its daily range of 23.0C (see below). Rainfall was above average in north & west Scotland but well below elsewhere. In fact parts of the east saw their 5th successive dry month; East Anglia saw less than half of its expected rainfall, exacerbating the increasingly dry ground. However, the month will probably be best remembered for its large sunshine amounts. Large areas of the UK, except N Ireland and N Scotland, saw in excess of 150% of the average, parts of the north of England seeing up to 175%. Parts of the southwest & Channel Isles were especially sunny from midmonth onwards.  It was windy initially with 77knts (88mph) reported at Foula (Shetlands) on the 8th but much less so for the rest of the month.

March brings 'surprise' southern snow

As a shallow low pressure area moved across the SW overnight on the 4th March, air and ground temperatures (and air thicknesses) in light winds were low enough to bring sleet initially, that turned to heavy snowfall and icy conditions that blocked roads and forced schools to close across parts of Devon & Dorset.  The A37 at Wardon Hill near Dorchester was blocked by a number of lorries that became stuck on ice, similarly on the A35, Raymond's Hill on the Dorset/Devon border was also impassable due to heavy snowfall and around Bere Regis the A35 was blocked by numerous tree's and branches due to the weight of the snow. Schools were also closed due to the conditions, as local authorities deployed gritting lorries and snow ploughs. In Devon, there was about 8cm of lying snow measured around Tiverton but reports of 10 to 15cms on the hills nearby and as much as 15cm at Barnstaple further north.  Again, as the snow was very 'wet' tree damage was much in evidence. 10-15cm was reported around Chard, Tatworth and the Ilminster area in Dorset, and as much as 18cm near Cerne Abbas. Closer to the coast Poole saw around 8cm of very wet snow which caused flooding and brought many branches of tree's as well as electricity lines down.

February 2009 summary-a cold wintry start then mild

Winter has ended meteorologially now. February was another variable month like January, that started cold, the first half being 3C below average across England & Wales but became notably milder, the second half being 3C above average here, so ensuring it saw about average CET temperatures. 

Unlike January, it was mainly rather dull though, with only East Anglia seeing above average sunshine; the north of Scotland seeing just 60% of the average and NW England 65%. Though a wet month at first, it was well below average by the end, but with some notably wet spells in places. The exception was SE England which saw yet another wet month, though most fell in the first two weeks, with around 145% of average, whilst Wales and NW England were notably dry with just 30% in the NW of the February verage.
 
A lot of the rain fell as snow in the south and SE especially; around the 2nd there was 41cm at Wisley, 39cm at Epsom Downs & 33cm at Leatherhead (all Surrey). This was the deepest snow in this area for around half a century, since December 1962. There was a snow depth of around 15cm over most of inner London which was the greatest depth here since early February 1991. Parts of North Yorkshire also had a lot of snow. On the 6th more snow fell over an area from Cornwall right through to Norfolk; generally about 10cm, but up to 25cm across Dartmoor and again across upland south Wales and the SW Midlands on the 10th.  

There were some notably cold nights in February, as low as -19.4C at Grantown on Spey (unofficially) and -18.4C at Aviemore on the 9th, helping lead initially to rather negative soil temperature anomalies at the near surface but these had returned to near normal by the month's end.