Just another brief update from me as I battle on with computer problems. ( No thanks to PC Doctor who advertise in the Thomson Local. They failed to keep an appointment yesterday, but thats another story.)

Well the short lived heatwave here in London and the South East is definately over, but the remainder of this week doesn't look too bad for our region. Temperatures returning to around average for late August, so in the low 20's C, with occasional showers for some of us. Cooler on coasts as normal.

There has been some recent interest on weather related websites about Hurricane Gordon because it has followed an unusual track. Having formed off the West Coast of Africa some days ago, it followed the usual pattern by heading westwards across The Atlantic. Then it took an unexpected right turn and headed east towards The Azores.

Current indications are it will soon be downgraded from hurricane status, but it still looks like heading towards the Iberian Peninsular. At one point there were suggestions its remnants MAY have affected the weather here in the South of the UK, but thats highly doubtful now.

Far more likely to concern those of us interested in the weather for London and The South East as we look further ahead to the late August Bank Holiday weekend, is an area of Low Pressure heading our way over that weekend. Its not looking too good for anyone planning outdoor events to be honest.

Current models are showing this area of LP sitting more or less right over the UK, and delivering some heavy rainfall and cool temperatures as the BH Weekend progresses.

Beyond that the patterns are showing some very Autumnal weather as we head into.......well, Autumn really ( Official meteororological start date is September 1st ).

Thanks as always for reading and posting.

Moley

With apologies to Lord Byron who wrote:

THE ENGLISH SUMMER ENDING IN JULY,
TO BEGIN AGAIN IN AUGUST.

Seems appropriate somehow

If there is one thing predictable about the weather on our small and crowded Island, its the fact it is unpredictable beyond a few days !!

Moley

Well by all accounts Saturday was a 'lively' day for many. Unfortunately my night shifts meant I slept through most of it, but I did eventually stir from my slumber at about 4pm in time to witness almost constant thunder, frequent lightning, and some torrential rainfall here in the north of the Borough.

I was still too tired to go out chasing, but even from my very restricted viewpoint it would rate as one of the best thunderstorms I have seen and heard in recent years. I really would appreciate comments and reports from the readers of this forum. Its all helps to build a picture.

I have seen the radar scans which include lightning detectors, and up until 8pm Saturday night just under 15,000 ( yes 15 thousand !! ) lightning strikes were recorded across the UK. Thats impressive.

The area of activity seems to have extended from around the Devon borders and west Wales in the west, through to East Anglia in the east. The northern and southern limits of this immense storm system appear to be from north Yorkshire down to Surrey. Suprisingly, the rest of the South East ( Kent/Sussex and large swathes of Hampshire ) missed the thunderstorms altogether, unless you know otherwise. At its peak this system was producing over 3000 strikes an hour.

The Low responsible for this has now crossed the UK on its eastward track, so today ( Sunday ) should see a lull in the conditions. Isolated showers will still be popping up in London and the South East, but nothing like yesterdays widespread outbreak. All in all a much better day, and if you are thinking of any outdoor activities, today will be the best of this Bank Holiday weekend.

Monday sees the arrival of another Low Pressure system from the Atlantic, and while I dont expect it to be as lively as the last one, its still set to deliver some widespread rain, and generally unpleasant conditions for many areas. We might just hang on to the best of the weather here in London and the South East until later in the day.

Thanks as always for reading and posting, and whatever the weather, enjoy the rest of the long weekend. I will be working

Moley

.... as summer rolls on ..............

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Lets be careful out there !

And it may just do that, into September in fact. My earlier suggestion that the weather will become more autumnal as we head towards September may well prove to be wrong.

The rest of this week looks like being a bit of a mix and match weatherwise, but Im looking a bit further ahead than I usually do and its not looking at all bad for London and the South East from this weekend onwards.

High Pressure is on the march towards us, and looks like hanging around for a while. I would hazard a guess that the the first week of September will be mostly dry, with temperatures and sunshine levels above average. Not a bad start to Autumn if it pans out.

Moley

6°C this morning !!!

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Lets be careful out there !

^^ It came as a bit of a shock to the system !!

It's a great day today so off out to sit by the river, few beers and a nice lunch with friends

^^ Good choice Chris, and apart from a slight blip this afternoon ( Tuesday ) as a front heads across London and the South East, we should see a return to sunnier and warmer conditions for the rest of this week and hopefully into the weekend.

The Atlantic hurricane season is still in full flow and throwing up some interesting developments, and its been an unusual year in some ways. The last 3 or 4 tropical storms have shown a marked tendency to swerve eastwards, away from the USA and into the North Atlantic. Tropical storm Leslie seems to be following this same pattern. Quite unusual in my humble opinion, as is the major system system forming in the Mediterranean at the moment. Computer problems allowing, I will try and keep an eye on this.

On a slightly different note some respected weather watchers and forecasters are now beginning to offer their thoughts and prospects for our ( UK ) winter, and currently its about 70/30 in favour of a colder than average winter based on current signals.

Thanks as always for reading and posting. Moley