Too Much Weather !!!

Well ... perhaps I should have called this 'Too Much Rain' ?

We had a lovely Christmas spending time with family, and with Boxing Day falling on a Saturday many of us have tomorrow off work too!

I had to go out today to get a few bits and pieces, including some lovely salmon fillets - they are cooking as I type this!

But looking at an earlier news broadcast my heart goes out to those who have been affected by the terrible flooding - I have even seen it referred to as 'Biblical Flooding'!

However, it is described those poor folks will need help and support for some time to come, I just hope that they do get it ...

Even further afield from the UK - Australia has been hit with fires as to has California. Has anyone got the answer to our changing weather patterns, are they changing - I think records may show we have experienced severe and unusual weather patterns before ...

What do you think  

All the best Jan

PS I do hope all who read this will have enjoyed a good Christmas and early good wishes for 2016 - the way the days go it will soon be here

Well, the sun was shining earlier today ... a good time for a walk !


I see our Prime Minister visited some of the flood affected areas today - I also see the weather forecasters are already talking about Storm Frank coming our way ...

What is it with these storms having to be named? And who gets to name them?

All the best Jan

Sitting and watching Sky news the floods seem pretty bad with all the flooding.
I think this is confined to the north ?
For my own info, does the Thames ever get flooded by rain storms, I know high tides can be controlled ?
Has London been Flooded ?

RANDBURG wrote:Sitting and watching Sky news the floods seem pretty bad with all the flooding.
I think this is confined to the north ?
For my own info, does the Thames ever get flooded by rain storms, I know high tides can be  controlled ?
Has London been Flooded ?

The floods and weather have been bad ... so far London has not been flooded. I think the last time London was badly flooded was back in the 1920's, and of course we now have the Thames Barrier which can be raised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Barrier
However, some areas in Surrey and along the Thames in Maidenhead have suffered flooding in recent years.

But today, according to the news even Prince Charles favourite Balmoral Bridge has been destroyed by our latest Storm Frank.

I do feel so sorry for the families affected by this weather system we are facing.

I guess you are enjoying sunshine out in SA, and Shhh, I will not mention the cricket ...

Keep well and an early Happy New Year Wish

All the best Jan

So far I think London has got away with it thanks to the Thames Barrier, but many rivers that run into the Thames, and parts of it further upstream, flood quite regularly. The problem is all the houses that were built on the flood plains, older houses are less often affected.

Here in the East our rivers semi-regularly burst their banks but run onto watermeadows and grazing marshes which no-one has been foolish enough to build on - yet! Flooded towns/houses and roads are only occasional.

I think there can be no doubt that climate is changing - you only have to look at the redistribution of many species of birds, flowers and insects and ever earlier nesting seasons. How much this is down to human factors is less well established, but there's a LOT more energy currently in the system which is leading to ever more "extreme events" all over the world.

Talking of houses being built on flood plains what are the odds of this development going ahead

Scary isn't it?

Round these parts we have more to fear from the sea. There was a severe flood back in the fifties, which also hit Holland and Belgium, when a tidal surge and storm coincided in the north sea. Parts of north Suffolk, and Norfolk, and also Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, regularly fall into the sea, and longshore drift redistributes the remains, carefully sorted, from the nice sandy beaches of Southwold right down to the shingle spit at Shingle Street. Some of our estuaries are actually miles inland, after which the rivers go back into their channels and out to sea through all the newly deposited land. 

Floods mainly occur if the sea wall is breached or overtopped. So far our planners are less dumb than in other places.

Looking out of a window it's once again quite a grey, dull day.

Looking around at low carb news I see the 2016 'low carb cruise' is being mentioned.

Diet Doctor featured this image ... which is quite nice to look at on a dull day!


If you should fancy doing the low carb cruise see more at Diet Doctor
http://www.dietdoctor.com/join-us-for-the-9th-annual-low-carb-cruise

Or Jimmy Moore
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/2016-low-carb-cruise-final-guest-speakers-lectures/25730

_________________________

>.>.>.  Apparently snow may be in the forecast for parts of the UK next week ...  

Meanwhile on a recent visit to the South Coast daffodils were flowering! What is it with the weather at the moment

The river is over its banks here and there are warnings of potential flooding in the town, which hasn't happened since the seventies or so. I didn't go out to see how bad it was, maybe tomorrow. It was about a year ago that I drowned my old car. Well the first few puddles were only a few inches deep, how could I know the next one was three feet deep?

Meanwhile the roses which only just finished flowering are covered in new leaf buds, before I got around to pruning them.

...Yes, nature is finding it hard to cope, but I'm sure it will ... eventually !

Meanwhile people are having to help these ...


"numbers of wind-blown little auks appearing in Scotland have been "unprecedented", a bird conservation charity has suggested.

Thousands of the small seabirds have been driven from wintering grounds off Scandinavia by stormy easterly winds.

RSPB Scotland said the event was on a "massive scale" and auks have appeared as far inland as Lentran near Beauly.

While large numbers of birds have survived the ordeal, others have been found dead including at Rosemarkie.
The birds discovered at Rosemarkie in the Black Isle were thought to have tried to find shelter among large clumps of seaweed on the beach.

Stuart Benn, of RSPB Scotland, said many of the birds were finding shelter in the Moray Firth.
He said: "What is going on is on a massive scale. I've never known anything quite like it."To get this number of birds so close inshore is unprecedented."

See more on this story here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35254105

Speaking to my brother on new years day he told me that he and his wife had spent boxing day helping neighbours bale out their houses, luckily their house escaped though it was a close call. They've had floods in the area before but never to that extent,

Our potential flood went down as quickly as the river went up, thus proving the worth of the watermeadows and marshes.

I walked along by the river today, you could see it had been up over the towpath and left debris in some overhanging trees, and caused several moles to relocate to higher ground.

No sign of the snowdrops and crocuses in the park yet, but the first of my spring crocuses are now out and I saw a roadside bank covered in snowdrops the other day.

A few more birds singing, including song thrushes and a skylark.

I walked a different bit of the coast a few days back, staying mostly inland of the sea wall but it didn't help much as the wind was coming up from the south and when I turned back towards the car I caught some rays but the full force of the wind in my face.

No Little Auks but a flock of about 50 Twite (two birdwatchers who don't get along

"Twite!"

"Bustard!")  

a Great White Egret and some Whooper Swans along with all the routine stuff.

I did some puddle stomping the previous day, to get some of the mud off my boots before it turned to concrete. Today I walked a different bit of beach, going south from Walberswick hoping to pass myself going the other way (previously north from Dunwich) but the cold and the loss of the light turned me back. The shingle shook off the last of the mud and the sand coated what was left. The car was registering 3° C on the way back, dropping briefly to 2° C. Cloud sprang up as the sun went down, if it stays away it will freeze tonight, first time that happened for a long time.

Saw a Great White Egret, and possibly a second one, and watched a poor Little Egret up to its belly in the water fishing. A cracking Marsh Harrier and a Barn Owl were quartering the reedbeds and I think there were three Bean Geese but didn't get close enough to be certain.

chris c wrote:I did some puddle stomping the previous day, to get some of the mud off my boots before it turned to concrete. Today I walked a different bit of beach, going south from Walberswick hoping to pass myself going the other way (previously north from Dunwich) but the cold and the loss of the light turned me back. The shingle shook off the last of the mud and the sand coated what was left. The car was registering 3° C on the way back, dropping briefly to 2° C. Cloud sprang up as the sun went down, if it stays away it will freeze tonight, first time that happened for a long time.

Saw a Great White Egret, and possibly a second one, and watched a poor Little Egret up to its belly in the water fishing. A cracking Marsh Harrier and a Barn Owl were quartering the reedbeds and I think there were three Bean Geese but didn't get close enough to be certain.

Sometimes it is great to do some 'puddle stomping' and Walberswick looks a lovely place to visit, I did a google search!
http://www.explorewalberswick.co.uk/

Wrap up warm January seems to be getting colder and colder ...

A nice bowl of soup is good after a walk ...
There are some good ideas here
https://lowcarbdiabetic.forumotion.co.uk/t448-soups-in-winter

All the best Jan

Miserable, cold and damp, the weather is about the same. Still, Saturday night and I have a bottle of Jim Beam's with my name on it. Montalbano on at nine and some great fishing vids to watch, things could be worse.

Jan, give me a top up!

Jan1 wrote:

Is it snowing where you are? Children love it

some prefer to look at if from the warmth of their living room ...

The important thing is to keep warm

Enjoy a bowl of soup or a warming cuppa ... did someone mention a glass of something different LOL ?
All the best Jan

Third day today there has been snow on the garden with temperatures on or near freezing all day. Snowed for a few hours this pm but up in the mountains the snow looks very thick.
Derek

Derek wrote:

Jan1 wrote:

Is it snowing where you are? Children love it

some prefer to look at if from the warmth of their living room ...

The important thing is to keep warm

Enjoy a bowl of soup or a warming cuppa ... did someone mention a glass of something different LOL ?
All the best Jan

Third day today there has been snow on the garden with temperatures on or near freezing all day. Snowed for a few hours this pm but up in the mountains the snow looks very thick.
Derek

After a fine sunny morning we had our first snow today not a great amount but left a layer on the ground.

Think the kids will be be disappointed though not nearly enough to build a snowman

The snows almost gone now my grandkids disappointed unable to get enough snow for a snowman   but it's still bitterly cold with a biting east wind as well.

We had a bit of snow, which turned to rain and washed away, then froze. We've had a bit more since and it's still lying on some of the north-facing slopes where the low winter sun doesn't reach.

I've been alternating between walking in the sunshine and the biting east wind, often on the beaches, wading through the shrubbery wielding secateurs desperately trying to prune the stuff that should have been done in autumn but was still growing or flowering, and staying in when the sun hasn't shown.

There are a few more snowdrops and crocuses out, and a few daffs here and there, and the birdies are doing more singing and chasing each other around, either with amorous intentions or reestablishing territories.

At least it's getting significantly lighter in the evenings.

Yes it is getting a little lighter in the evenings ...

Talking of walking ... we actually had blue sky and a little sunshine today ... so I wrapped up warm and had a very nice walk 'around the block' ... and as usual managed to stop frequently chatting to people  You can't do that if you are in a car LOL!

DON'T mention the lawn! It's almost up to my armpits, and growing over all the prunings I haven't fed through the shredder yet.

More daffs seen today, a few more crocuses and snowdrops out, and the robins are chasing each other, and me, around until I throw them some mealworms. They're singing more too.

Gorse has never really stopped flowering, and has now been joined by wild plum in several hedges.

Having failed to see the Cattle Egret at Iken, I failed to see it again in a different place. No matter, the walk along by the estuary was spectacular with masses of various waders and ducks and the bright sun shining through distant mists took the edge off the arctic blast.

All done on one buttered oatcake with smoked salmon, then about seven hours later I stuffed my face with a kind of bolognese sauce mix topped with grated cheddar and browned in the oven, with brussels sprouts and a glass or two of shiraz.