The Weather of Wales (and other parts of the United Kingdom)

For the last couple of days, Scotland has been living up to its status as a hard and biting land with some areas having seen six inches of snowfall (which thanks to the winds up there has been drifting) and causing traffic problems (as seen here)

However, for Scotland, this is an annual occurance and of no great consequence to the rest of the United Kingdom, starting today however it will become of consequence to the United Kingdom as this chart demonstrates:

The second “Beast from the East” in three years has started today and will see the whole of the United Kingdom experience below freezing windchills with the eastern coast experencing windchills as low as -10°C (14°F) and if you are unlucky enough to live in the mountains (where any precipation will fall as snow and settle) windchills could range from -14°C (7°F) to -18°C (0°F) and there is even a suggestion that here in coastal Western Wales we could get an inch of lying snow (and that’s after the protection of the Cambrians)

So in the next few days do not be suprised if you see headlines like these from this side of the pond on your evening news broadcasts and remember the only reason is that London and the South East is having to experience what Scotland experiences every winter

The day after Christmas Day is called Boxing Day in the United Kingdom, named, not because people went around to other people’s houses drunk from all the sherry drunk the previous day and roar “Do you want some?” before delivering a right hook, but because in the Victorian era it was the day that boxes of gifts were given to the servants in the house.

As a result there are a large number of things that happen on Boxing Day that could only happen in the United Kingdom including: regulated gatherings of people on horseback to take part in largely ceremonial hunts (regulated in the United Kingdom since 2005), stores holding sales where items are reduced by up to 75% and especially since the 1990’s, storms.

The first one of note was on Boxing Day 1998 which made landfall in north western Ireland with winds peaking at 65mph (making it in American terms a Cat 1 hurricane). This was followed in 2010 by the thaw storm, that turned a month of sub zero temperatures (leading to records being broken all over the country) into a generally speaking dismal December day, then you had Storm Erich in 2013 which saw parts of Wales receive Cat 3 hurricane strength gusts and this year is no exception as Storm Bella will cross the country over the course of the day

BBC Weather Report about Storm Bella

The Republican Party must hate the Atlantic Hurricane season with a vengeance.

In 2008, the convention (being held in Minneapolis / St. Paul) found itself on the forecast track for Hurricane Gustav.

In 2012, the convention (held in Tampa, Florida) has its first day curtailed because of Tropical Storm Issac which saw the convention chairman call the Convention to order, explain what was happening, and then start a clock showing the American national debt before placing the convention in recess ten minutes later.

And now in 2020, Hurricane Laura (as will be) and Hurricane Marco are both forecast to make landfall no further than 400 miles from each other within a timescale of 60 hours which (although I have only been focused on hurricanes since 2003) has to be the closest two landfalling hurricanes have landed and the shortest amount of time between them.

because, boy, do we need it

This forecast map generated by WXCharts (a Met Desk product) shows the end result of a storm that is forecast to form on Sunday morning at 6.00am GMT (1.00am EST) off the coast of North Carolina where, thanks to a supercharged jet stream travelling at over 200 knots (245mph), the storm will experience not one, not two, SIX periods of explosive cyclogenesis (where the central pressure drops by more than 24mb in a 24 hour period) and arrive in the UK producing sustained Cat 1 hurricane winds and Cat 2 hurricane gusts of over 100mph making it the most damaging storm ever to hit the UK since the “Great Hurricane of 1987”.

However, the BBC (unlike then) have raised concerns and even mentioned the fact that something could happen in yesterday’s seven day forecast (which is updated every twenty four hours and broadcast on the BBC News Channel at 9.55pm GMT daily).