Lightning

I’ve been keeping an eye out for thunderstorms and lightning after they were forecast for us for the weekend, but apart from some heavy-ish rain tonight, which caused one of the cats to come in looking like a bedraggled wet otter, there hasn’t been much in the way of storms or anything else.

I do check the weather forecast online and noticed as each day came and went the rain symbols dwindled. But I also look at a website called blitzortung.org which shows real time thunderstorms and tracks them with detectors so you can virtually see lightning strikes within seconds of them happening. The strikes are also colour coded so you can see strikes from two hours ago in red, changing to orange and yellow for more recent ones and finally white for the last twenty minutes. So you can actually track where they have been and what direction they are heading in. I think it’s interesting.

I just looked at the UK which was blank. Then Europe where there seems to be a big storm over the toe of Italy. Then I looked at the overview map of the whole world and saw many storms scattered across North America. I hope they are providing much needed rain and are not as severe as the ones that caused major flooding recently.

Drought?

It might rain today, but most of England is parched. The south east, south midlands, and eastern counties look dry and brown from satellite images. We are in the same heatwave that has affected the rest of western Europe. Forecasts say the weather is due to break soon. But with thundery showers due there is not the persistent rain for many days that would replenish the ground water and because the soil is so hard and dry it is compacted and heavy rain could cause flash flooding…. Oh well, Brits always discuss the weather!

Inside out!

The wind was blowing as we walked round Trentham lake today. That was fine, the weather was cool and cloudy but dry. We walked past the reopened miniature railway which had a diesel train running on it with happy children and adults riding on it. We did think about taking a ride but decided to head towards the end of the lake to the cafe to get an ice cream. We noticed strong gusts of wind and the clouds darkening but it wasn’t bad and I had a large umbrella that I was using ad a walking stick.

We sat and had an icecream but felt the patter of rain. So we decided to walk back the way we had came. Then we fought a head on blast of wind and rain! The brolly was being buffeted, twisting in the air. Its handle and stem were bending in the strong gusts of wind. Suddenly it turned inside out! We both fought it back into a sort of shape because it was still raining, but a couple of spokes are hanging down and the cover has pulled away and is sagging. Sadly it was disposed of when we came home… Mm

Hotel view

Looking out from the hotel over the Channel she worried about her son. Where was he? Anxiety weighed like a heavy stone on her heart. What if she never saw him again?

The dinghy had not been seen since sunset, when it had been out on the sandbar fishing for mackerel, but no one had called the lifeboat and they were not that overdue. Still, a mother can have a sense about these things. She knew in her bones… Something was wrong.

A shadow fell across her as the sun started to set again. She turned her head to look. She heard his voice…

‘Mum?’….

‘Can you do my washing this weekend?’

I want thunder and lightning!

I want the skies to darken, the winds to rise, I want a swirling storm, dancing leaves. Gusts and gales and the patter of heavy raindrops! I thought we were having that earlier but realised it was water pattering down on the kitchen roof from the hose! Instead of watering the plants he was watering the roof! He thought it would cool the air. Its 15°C cooler today than yesterday! We need relief for humans and the countryside. But not just here, worldwide. The trouble is its not just one country suffering.

Thunderstorms were forecast but haven’t happened yet. I’m watching www.http://blitzortung.org to see where the storms are. They seemed to be concentrated around France and Switzerland earlier on…..

Air Con?

Three frozen bottles in front of our fan. It’s not air conditioning, but it’s creating a cooling breeze. It got up to 27°C today so far in our living room. Last night it was 24.7°C. I got up at 5am to open up a indow and the back door to achieve that it had been a degree higher. We have the windows shut and the curtains closed. I know this temperature is nothing compared with other places, but I don’t travel to hot places so it’s a bit of a shock to my system.

In other news it is the hottest day in UK history. It is at 40°C at Heathrow Airport.

We are complaining, but wild fires are burning in France, Spain, Portugal and Greece. If you don’t believe in Global Warming think again.

There’s an old song ‘mad dogs and English men go out in the midday sun’. It’s due to cool down tomorrow.

Pet Health Warning as UK Temperatures set to Soar

The UK’s leading feline charity has issued urgent advice on keeping pets sun safe as temperatures continue to soar. Following a red warning for extreme heat from the Met Office, Cats Protection is urging people to take extra precautions to protect their pets. Sarah Elliott, Central Veterinary Officer for Cats Protection, said: “White and pale-coloured cats […]

Pet Health Warning as UK Temperatures set to Soar

Reblogged from Katzenworld

Skyscape

When the wind blows the sky changes. Heat is coming and clouds may be fleeing this weekend. Warnings of temperatures above 30`C are expected. High UV is predicted.

The British don’t really do ‘heat’, we go abroad for it, but we are more used to summers of wet weather, music festivals in mud, Wimbledon or cricket rained off. A summer can last a day as far as we are concerned. We even have Saint Swithens day. A day in July? If it rains on that day we can expect continuous rain for the next forty days and nights… And sometimes that seems to come true! One year I joked with friends that we should build an ark on high ground it rained so much….. Sunshine, nice for a day or two, but Britain appear to appreciate clouds. X