The latest model runs are suggesting a colder blast of air from the east/north east as we head towards next weekend. I still have my doubts.

Further updates nearer the time.

Moley.

**UPDATED THURSDAY JANUARY 23rd 2014 @ 18:15 hrs**

First of all I would once again like to thank everyone who reads this topic, and remind you all that your posts are very much appreciated. Due to health issues I am not able to post in as much detail as I would like, but I do hope to keep this topic running.

So.... The outlook for the next few days shows another spell of unsettled weather which is probably best summed up in this forecast :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/25862953

More rain for areas that really don't need it, but hopefully not on the scale we saw late December and early January. Localised flooding is still a concern for some parts of The South East as weather fronts head in from The Atlantic on Friday, and again on Sunday.

The Met Office issued warnings for this yesterday, but have since downgraded the warnings for our region.

Beyond the weekend the easterly winds are likely to deliver a brief spell of colder air, but nothing of note in what has been a very mild winter so far.

Thanks for reading. Moley

I've noticed on my drive into leafy Surrey that there are stretches of road by open fields that must be waterlogged. If it rains then the road has stretches where he water is running out of the fields and across the road.

_________________
Lets be careful out there !

Good point Kremmen, the ground in some areas is so saturated that it takes very little in the way of additional rainfall to increase the flooding risk again. I'm housebound so not able to get out and about checking the local area but I wonder how the situation currently is in places like Staines/Egham/Runnymede/Kingston etc which were flooded last week ?

It's even worse in some parts of the country, Somerset in particular where a 'Major Incident' has now been declared.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-25876309

Some villages down there have been virtually cut off since the start of the New Year and according to the video clip at least one village has been ( temporarily at least ) abandoned altogether. Personally I think thats a shocking state of affairs in this day and age.

Thankfully the local communities are pulling together but what are the government doing to provide practical assistance ? Nothing it would appear, and that's with current resources available. To add insult to injury they are planning to slash 15% of the Environment Agency workforce. The very agency that is responsible for, amongst other things, dealing with flooding issues.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weath ... -cuts.html

Apologies for getting political because I have always tried to keep the weather topic seperate from politics but I had to get that off my chest.

Back in realtime, another weather front is currently heading towards London and The South East and whilst it would normally be of no concern, it is intensifying as it heads east, so more rain in areas that least need it.

Thanks as always for reading and posting. Moley

I flew into Gatwick yesterday afternoon and the approaches to Gatwick looked really bad in places -even apparently away from obvious rivers

You carry on making political comments Moley as they affect every one of us. For example cuts have recently effected the environment agency, local authorities, Police & Fire Services, the military and the NHS A&Es. This is most definitely not the best time to have a natural or 'man made' disaster!

Many thanks for posting SOT, and your flight into Gatwick obviously gave you a birds eye view of just how bad the flooding is in some locations. It backs up some of the many reports I have read from folk in the affected areas.

The worst of the flooding is on the Somerset Levels and what I can't for the life of me understand is how the communities in that region have been left to pretty much fend for themselves since the the flooding first started several weeks ago.

The local authorities have now finally declared a Major Incident which should lead to a response from the government. I wouldn't count on it though.

The local authorities and environment agency have finally started to install pontoons, but it's taken them 3-4 weeks.

The MP for the region says the following:


Somerset declares 'major incident' over floods as more heavy rain forecast

By Western Daily Press | Posted: January 24, 2014
Somerset declares 'state of emergency' over floods as more heavy rain forecast

A state of emergency has been declared on the Somerset Levels
Comments (1)

Severe flooding in Somerset has been declared a “major incident” by Sedgemoor District Council.

Preparations have been made to evacuate up to 300 if needed following predictions of heavy rain in the next 48 hours.

Ian Liddell-Grainger Bridgwater and West Somerset MP said: “This is the right thing to do. It has been made a little late but I am delighted. Support is coming from other councils within Somerset and we now need to work closely on an emergency plan and all Somerset MPs will work together on this.”

Read more: http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Some ... z2rN6Sevv3


Local MP Ian Liddel-Grainger says " This is the right thing to do. It has been made a little bit late but I am delighted "

A little bit late ?? How about 4 weeks too late, and I very much doubt his manor has been affected ?

He certainly has some history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Liddell-Grainger

I wonder if any of the readers of this topic were out and about earlier today ( Saturday January 25th ) and witnessed first hand the cold front/squall line that swept right across most of the country ?

It was pretty spectacular by all accounts. The Midlands seem to have borne the brunt of it with quite a few reliable reports of tornados in that region. The front eventually reached north west London around 4.30pm and I thought I was prepared to record it on video. Camera battery fully charged, all I had to do was open the front door and start filming, or so I thought.

I opened the door and was nearly knocked off my feet by the strength of the wind and rainfall the likes of which I have never before witnessed in the UK. The intense rain only lasted for about 5 minutes, but the wind went on a lot longer.

The lightning that followed the rain was stunning. Vivid pink and lighting up the whole sky. Nature at it's best !!

Moley

I've seen similar posts from East Anglia to Shropshire with the same info - suddenly arrived then suddenly stopped.

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Lets be careful out there !

About 40 minutes after the storm I was travelling south past Hillingdon Station & saw a huge high level horizontal deep black cloud in the distance over Surrey. There was a large gap of blue sky under this black cloud. But the impressive part was that a wide portion of the black cloud extended down to the ground.

OK, it's not unusual to see a part of a distant cloud with part of it falling as a shower, but usually the falling part is much lighter in colour. Yesterday's 'falling cloud' was as black as the remaining higher part and certainly resembled a wide tornado. Scarey stuff!


Also, it looks like souf London got it really bad, including in Croydon where a tower crane partly collapsed. The media say it was due to lightening. Mmmm - really? I would suggest it was the strong & sudden winds that were to blame
http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/Cran ... story.html

Good evening all, thanks as always for reading and thanks to Kremm and SOT for their recent posts.

Call me thick, but 27 days into the New Year I have only just noticed the bright red banner running across the top of this website and reminding people to read my weather updates I feel bad now because I haven't been updating them as much as I would like. I need to raise my game.

With that in mind, once again our weather for this week is being determined by Low Pressure Systems and there is currently one sitting approximately to our north west, hence all the rain on Sunday. In the usual scheme of things that system would drift eastwards and over into mainland Europe, but it's progress is blocked by an area of High Pressure on the Continent, so the Low just sits around and slowly drifts south in the next few days.

That suggests a continued spell of unsettled weather with heavy showers at times for London and The South East. Some of these showers may contain hail and thunder, especially along southern coastal areas.

Later in the week if the Low continues to drift south it may well draw in some cold easterly winds, and I wouldn't rule out snow showers for a time on Thursday. As we head into next weekend the models are showing a return to milder Atlantic weather, with yet more rain for areas that least need it.

Many thanks for reading and posting. Moley.