^^^ The rain was torrential here for a while this morning and was accompanied by very strong winds and 2 very close lightning strikes, one of which apparently damaged railway signalling equipment at Watford Junction. It was all part of a very potent trough that swept up from our south/south west earlier this morning.

Damage to properties and vehicles on Hayling Island at about 7.30am is thought to have been caused by a tornado, this should be confirmed once a site investigation has been carried out.

Things have calmed down a notch now, but there is another area of heavy rain and thunderstorms down to our south west which may affect parts of London and The South East later this afternoon.

The next few days are likely to remain unsettled though mild for this time of year.

Moley.

Didn't cycle to badminton this morning due to weather, but it's looking up for this afternoon to Ruislip lido, but I expect to get quite muddy

^^^ I take it you haven't seen the rainfall radar then BG ?!

http://www.raintoday.co.uk/

This little lot is pretty much heading straight for us as I type, with some torrential downpours and further thunderstorms a certainty in the next couple of hours. I am already picking up frequent lightning interference on my trusty detector. ( a £3 mw/am radio ! ).

The above website is an excellent tool and is based on actual live radar returns, I often use it in situations like this, and based on what is currently happening and about to happen, I certainly wouldn't be heading to The Lido anytime soon. Seriously.

Moley.

Yup, husband has just shown me on bbc website hence cycle ride cancelled I wonder if the fireworks will still go ahead

I sincerely hope BG followed my earlier advice to avoid Ruislip Lido this afternoon. As the crow flies I live about 2 miles from the Lido and the weather deteriorated rapidly from around 1.30-2.00pm onwards, as per the radar link I posted.

Frequent lightning and torrential rainfall occurred in the area for about 45-60 minutes, and the rain has only just died off here in the last 20 minutes or so. The radar is currently showing a slight gap in the conditions, but more showers are forming behind the earlier system and once again I am picking up recent lightning activity locally.

Whilst I expect the situation to gradually improve we are still under the influence of a very volatile and unstable airmass for the next few hours.

In the meantime qualified Site Investigators have confirmed that the damage on Hayling Island earlier this morning was caused by a tornado. Not as rare as you might think in the UK.

Be careful out there. Moley

Safely tucked up at home with the wood burner roaring

Well I am glad to hear you made the sensible decision BG. As for this evenings firework display I would say there is still some doubt regarding the weather. Things have settled down quite a bit in the last hour or so but TORRO still have a warning out which is valid until 9pm tonight.

http://www.torro.org.uk/site/forecast.php

Looking at the radar, further rain is possible this evening, but not on the scale we had earlier. Hope this helps.

Moley

Yup note on Facebook has just confirmed cancellation such a shame

^^^ It is a shame the event has been cancelled but a sensible decision given the weather conditions to be honest. I hope the organisers gave good warning of the cancellation given that it was known since the early hours of this morning that severe weather was being predicted ?

More news on the Hayling Island tornado:

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-10-2 ... d-tornado/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24601190

Moley.

This has not a good weekend to find my car is leaking and the footwell resembles a swimming pool - A slight exaggeration - but the carpet is sodden and water squelches through when weight is applied on it.

Haven't got a clue where the water is coming from, but the car has not been used much lately, so its unlikely to have penetrated the car when driving in rain

I could do with a couple of good sunny days Moley to dry it out. Perhaps around 26 to 28C would be fine if you can manage it!!!!!!!