This bad weather!! batten down the hatches for 6+ weeks

[Martin Evans]

Judging by the lies they put out, I think the purpose of the Met Office is to train politicians. They are not capable of predicting what low pressure systems, especially, will do, otherwise why does the forecast change (If you put in a five day forecast, said forecast will change before the day arrives)? It is also true that for any given day, you will often find conflicting forecasts (Even within the Met Office website, you will find a different regional scenario, to that shown for said region on the UK page). Not all of them can be correct but if one of them proves to be correct, I am sure it will be the one chosen, as evidence of them doing a good job. I think all you can do is look at your barometer to give you a clue of what might be coming!!

For me, this “Winter” (You know, that’s when the nights are longer than the days) hasn’t been too bad. We have had very little ice and hardly no snow. Cycling to work, as I do, I notice things like that very acutely. By and large, the wind hasn’t been too bad, though I had a pasting on Tuesday night (Wednesday is my day off and I would have had a pasting yesterday). Rain isn’t a big deal, if you had good kit and mudguards and we have had our fill of that (But in south Wales, there are only two seasons; the wet one and the even wetter one).

I feel very sorry for the people (Some who’s businesses are flooded) flooded out (I really don’t think I could cope with that). When I bought my house, I paid attention to that (Even to the point of considering whether I would be flooded, if the reservoir at the top of the valley burst). When I rebuilt my garage, I ensured that the floor is well above the service lane behind my house. I think if I ever get flooded, there will be a bloke going around in a large boat, with an equal number of male and female passengers. I really think that planners should be extra careful about granting permission for building, where there is any chance of flooding (I have a feeling that there has been some corruption and back handers in this respect in some cases).

As to wet weather, I don’t mind it at this time of year and if we don’t want to be like the Sahara, we have to have it. However, when it’s like this in May, June, July & August, that’s when I get truly p*ssed off and I see clouds as incontinent pigs .

[JPB]

Sorry Terry old chap, I shall change that immediately. The plan had been to change it as soon as my p***ed off-ness with HRH had passed and the beer had worn off.


Seriously though. Weather eh? How dull is that?

[Martin Evans]

Barometer is saying Dry but it is 360 degrees out

[rich.]

i return to my previous statement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RIgs3eygo

[Martin Evans]

In south Wales, I reckon the storm of last night (Saturday) was worse than of Tuesday - Wednesday. My house is quite sheltered and you have to walk to the top of the grass bank behind it or to the rear of the houses opposite, to see what the wind is like. However last night, you didn;t need to do that; it was howling There's a lot of running water and towards the top of the valley, the various streams, that converge, to form the Sirhowy River, were well up. Luckilly the valley is quite narrow and steep, so if there is any flooding further down, it should be localised (Often if there are problems, it's down to blocked drains).

I noticed there is snow on the Brecon Beacons but I'd guess only above 2000 feet. It has gone colder for sure.

[UKJeeper]

In south Wales, I reckon the storm of last night (Saturday) was worse than of Tuesday - Wednesday.

And how's it looking today? Weather (wind) alerts not looking good for you.

[Martin Evans]

Tuesday night was a tad chilly but the wind wasn't too bad.

Wednesday morning dawned overcast and the wind had picked up. As it was my day off, I went into town about 11am, by which time is was crapping down and blowing like hell. My old mountaineering kit came in handy, along with my Wellington boots. My house is slightly sheltered from the wind, so you don't get the full effect of that until you have left the street.

This morning there was a dusting of snow and someone said that in Brynmawr (Two vallies east and a little higher), there was 7 inches of snow (Which I find hard to believe). Even at the top of our valley, where there is a pass into the Usk Valley system, there was no more than 2 inches and that has to be at least as high as Brynmawr. Down at the shop, there was no snow (Maybe a faint hint of it) and I can see that it has melted from the hill tops, apart from on the tops of the Black Mountains (Which today are the White Mountains), which rise up to about 2700 feet.

Recently I have been watching DVDs, of a series made by Alan Titchmarsh, in 2004. It is a natural history of Britain and in it (Towards the end), they suggest scenarios of the effects of global warming. One anticipated result was wet and windy winters and another was hot dry summers. So far only the former has occurred and one of them lasted from the end of 2006, until July last year .