I am genuinely shocked by this video of a cliff collapsing in Hastings earlier this afternoon.
( January 3rd 2014 ).

I have friends down there and have been lucky enough to spend many weeks in their company over the last 2 years recovering and recuperating from operations. I often used to park my car exactly where those folk in the video are standing ( It's a car park ). It was theraputic just sitting there in my car watching the tides ebb and flow through the seasons. I have never seen anything like this though.

The South Coast is still in the firing line for the next 3-4 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp2f6HEpR98

Moley

As shocking as that video is, I have found these images of reckless parents taking their tiny kids onto a pier during a storm. There are no words that can adequately describe their extreme idiocy more than the photos do......

http://swns.com/news/uk-storms-family-w ... ast-42478/

I am with you 100% on that SOT it defies belief, and whilst the parents had a choice of being there or not, their young children didn't. Shocking. It was nothing short of a miracle they weren't all washed away with fatal consequences. Sadly there are many examples of similar reckless and irresponsible behaviour all over the internet at the moment.

I am generally opposed to the 'nanny state' and the introduction of more laws and regulations, but I would support a new law which would charge people with wilfully endangering lives, which this couple have clearly done. ( In my opinion ).

As a weather enthusiast I realise I may sound a touch hypocritical. To be honest there are times when I have tried to witness and capture the power of nature BUT........like the vast majority of true enthusiasts, I check with the experts first and pay heed to their advice and warnings.

The warnings were made public well in advance by the Met Office, The Environment Agency and the Emergency Services. They were clear enough.....STAY AWAY from coastal regions and rivers where there was/is a risk. Just 6 inches of flood water can be enough to knock a fully grown adult off their feet, and a vehicle can be swept away by less than a foot of fast moving water.

Phew, that's my moan out of the way. Sorry but it had to be said.




So, looking at the prospects ahead. Further spells of wet and windy weather are predicted for London and The South East for the next few days, though probably not as bad as we have recently experienced. There are tentative signs that the Atlantic/Jet Stream conveyor belt may ease down later next week giving a chance for High Pressure to build as we head towards the middle of January.

My personal thoughts are that conditions should ease considerably by January 8/9th, with much less in the way of wind and rainfall though it will become gradually colder.

Thank you as always for reading and posting.

Moley

Glad to hear of an easing

Roll on Spring and Summer

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Lets be careful out there !

Things like this really annoy me. The various agencies issue warnings for a reason, then you get idiots like this who think it's a 'laugh' to not only put their own lives in danger, but also the lives of the emergency services who have to go and rescue them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEQtSBy8yhc

Unbelievable that these folk are laughing, joking and filming as someone is in grave danger of being swept away.

How about this smirking muppet as another fine example ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... jetty.html

He's grinning like a cheshire cat after being rescued by the unpaid volunteers from the RNLI. His parents must be so proud of him. Maybe between him and his parents they should be made to pay the cost of this rescue operation ?

I know I have gone slightly off topic but it is weather related.

Moley.

I notice that closer to home the fire brigade were scrambled to rescue a dog from the river Colne off Willow Lane new Denham today at 3.45pm. Gerrards Cross and Hillingdon crews supported by a specialist water rescue team from Beaconsfield wore dry suits in the flooded river in order to rescue the pooch.

There is no suggestion that this incident was due to carelessness, but there are numerous examples of pet owners failing to look after their pets during inclement weather - such as letting dogs on frozen ponds. It's clear from even these basic details, that if the dog today had been suitably controlled, the emergency services would not to have been placed in such risk, and the emergency resources used would have been available to the local community if a real emergency had occurred.

Torrential rain and a thunderstorm here in Northwood and across most of London at the moment.

Looking at the radar we could be in for further heavy showers and possible thunderstorms across London and the South East for the next 3-4 hours.

I could hear it battering the patio door

Outlook looks slightly better according to the Beeb

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Lets be careful out there !

Unfortunately the very latest projections now suggest any improvement is likely to be short lived, and restricted to just a few days as we head into, and through next weekend.

The ridge of high pressure responsible for any brief respite is now predicted to leave the Uk by the end of the weekend and plant itself to our east over the European mainland. This would leave us wide open to further stormy incursions from The Atlantic early next week.

I wish I could offer something more positive, but I'm just basing my predictions on what the computer models are showing and they seem to be pretty much in agreement that more wet and windy weather is heading our way.

Moley.

I'm currently trying to collate some recent facts and figures from various weather stations and websites, but the the overriding theme so far is that the last few weeks have been exceptionally wet across much of Southern England, and coastal areas in many parts of the country have suffered extensive damage.

Haven't they just, coastal rock formations destroyed by waves. got to be the most fierce for a century ?

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Lets be careful out there !