Looking out of our office window, the sky is almost black, all the windows nearby are lit up, and there's thunder rumbling about. The Telecom tower, less than a mile away is completely invisible.
I can't believe it's noon on a late July day. More like 5:00 on an April evening.
So much for Summer!! :-(
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
97 Ford Fiesta 1.4 16v Chicane (for sale)
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DP
You've got about another hour or two of quite heavy rain/thunder heading your way. Nothing desperate; [on the Sheffield scale,] but enough to cause a few flooded roads.
It's now cleared up down in Sussex and the sun's out - well at least for now....
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This site always an interesting in times of 'severe' weather.
www.nowcast.co.uk/lightning/
Having seen Bombay Railway when 1m of rain fell in 12 hours we have some way to go to claim "severity".
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I can't help thinking that the whole 'severe weather warning' thing has been blown out of all proportion by the Met Office. It seems that anything above a light drizzle
You're obviously not in the Thames Valley then. I have got flooding in my garden and surrounding areas, the likes of which I have never before seen, even in Autumn 2000 which was pretty bad. The lane outside my house has never before been flooded and is now a river !
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Roly93
Has extensive new construction, plus paving of gardens etc., contributed to increased surface run-off in your area? Just curious.
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Roger - this is a contributory factor, but certainly around where I am in Yorkshire we have had so much rain the water table is at max, aquifers are full and the ground is soaked through. We need weeks of dry weather to let the underground water levels subside.
We've had a couple of short thunderstorms and cloudbursts this week - nothing unusual for the summer, but the wet ground results in immediate flooding on any flat surface. This is why the Midlands, Filey and North Yorkshire are now flooding so quickly - within minutes in Tenbury Wells it went from nothing to a foot deep on the main street.
The additional rain is like pouring water on a fully wet sponge. The south east has had the rain but due to the previous dry years this has merely filled the aquifers, this latest downpour is now tipping it over the edge.
No sign of any rain here yet, but I expect it to arrive at about 3.25pm as I need to go out at 3.30pm and have a walk to the car!
If anyone is due to drive take care.
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Roly93 Has extensive new construction plus paving of gardens etc. contributed to increased surface run-off in your area? Just curious.
Not at all, it is a rural area with no new development to speak of within a 1000M radius in the last 10 years plus, though I can see the rationale behind the question.
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I can't help thinking that the whole 'severe weather warning' thing has been blown out of all proportion by the Met Office. It seems that anything above a light drizzle
Tell that to the people to the west of london, Maidnehead town is under several feet of water, and a lot of business's flooded.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Lots of serious problems in my area.
Kingston one way system is out of action due to a car sunk under the railway station bridge.
Another main road closure in Kingston.
New Malden in trouble.
M25 has been shut this morning due to the rain / flooding etc. etc.
TV coverage of some of this lunchtime
The warnings were correct.
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Tell that to the people to the west of london Maidnehead town is under several feet of water and a lot of business's flooded.
The problem is that although this rain is bad it is as nothing compared with what fell on Yorkshire a few weeks ago. From the look of it the rain experienced in the Thames Valley this morning is as heavy, but it seems to be clearing already. Where my parents live it rained at that intensity for 30 hours. The level of "Severe Weather Warning" was the same but this is hardly on the same scale as Hull or Sheffield.
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It's horrendous in Malvern today. Many of the roads have more than an inch of water on them and the drain covers have all lifted. As someone who has to Police Tenbury Wells, I'm glad I'm off today. I feel a long day ahead for those on duty.
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If people occupy valleys and flood plains then this will happen. One would think the letters 'flood' in 'floodplain' might be a clue. Someone had better tell Mr. Brown.
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" I can't help thinking that the whole 'severe weather warning' thing has been blown out
of all proportion by the Met Office. "
I live in N Staffordshire : almost on the Cheshire border. The rain we had 2-3 weeks ago produced the worst floods I've seen in 25 years.
If today's forecast is correct, it will be worse around 6-7pm than 2-3 weeks ago..
I think the Met Office track record on the whole is pretty good nowadays... and fairly accurate..
(I'm waiting to hear the Thames Barrier is unlikely to hold.. which I expect will happen in the rest of my lifetime:-(
madf
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the localised flooding being experienced in many parts of the south today is nothing to do flood plains.
it is due to :
a) heavy rainfall - a month or two month's worth falling within two or three hours.
b) the drains being unable to cope.
contributors to the drainage problem are:
1. over development - too many new houses where ther used to be gardens, too many new shopping centres and superstores and their massive car parks, too many front gardens paved over for parking, etc. but the drainage sytem not being improved to cope.
2. the drains not being maintained as regularly as they used to be, and getting clogged up with fat deposits.
3. in a sudden downpour, the already inadequate drains getting clogged up with debris.
the situation in floodplains is of course worse, as witnessed in yorkshire and the severn valley.
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It must be utterly miserable to have your property under several feet of water and then endure the long period ahead putting it all to rights.
Apparently the really bad weather in the London area was responsible for a long break earlier today in the Open Golf transmission, affecting the reception of satellite signals from the course.
I saw some shots on News 24 of Maidenhead which was under well flooded in the area shown.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Kingston-upon-Thames is badly flooded as well. One of our marketing guys has been stuck for hours now trying to get to a meeting.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
97 Ford Fiesta 1.4 16v Chicane (for sale)
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Kingston-upon-Thames is badly flooded as well.
>>
There was some coverage of some of the areas on London ITV local news.
It looked like an X5 floating under Kingston Station Bridge.
Complaints by residents of idiots making bow waves in the sewerage/ flood water.
As soon as the flooding in North Kingston had subsided ...
A traffic warden was out doing his bit ticketing cars in the area.
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Completely agree, a bit of rain is hardly severe weather. The Met Office appears to issue these warnings simply to cover their you-know-what's as far as I can see. I resent their nannying style, every weather forecast is accompanied by some kind of advice - slow down in the spray, watch out for icy patches, make sure you scrape your screen, don't go out unless absolutely necessary, put a coat on, etc etc etc. Who on earth are they to tell me what to do? Just tell me the weather forecast, I'll make my own mind up what to do!
Sorry for the rant, feel better now...:-)
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... a bit of rain is hardly severe weather ..
of course it may seem a "bit of rain" to you if you happen to hail from the monsoon regions.
otherwise, for britishers, it is an unusual weeather event when two months worth of rain fall in two hours.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/5223...m
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6907316.stm
BBC weather forecaster Kirsty McCabe said: "We have had some quite extraordinary rainfall."
but then you don't have any respect for professional weather scientists.
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Just got in after an interesting journey, returning home from a relative who lives in Shipton Under Wychwood. Not too bad as far as Chipping Norton but once we headed to Moreton it started to get worse with plenty of small patches of flooded road.
By the time we passed by Halford the A429 was starting to look bad in places. We stopped at a petrol station on the A429 and there was panic as the diesel had been contaminated with water and a couple of guys were inside complaining they had broken down further up the road. As we left, we passed 3 cars, a van and LGV all stranded not too far from this particular station. We pressed on, what else can you do? But shortly after the junction for Stratford there was a massive hold up. This was caused by major flooding midway between the previous junction and Wellesbourne.
I cringe now to think that I drove Mrs E's little MX5 through what looked around 2 feet of water. Plenty of times throughout the whole journey we were swamped by passing vehicles ploughing on regardless of the conditions. But this particular section was a bit dicey. Fortunately the worst bit was negotiated by following a caravanner doing about 2 miles an hour, so it kept the bow wave down. We discussed after if we should have turned around but there seemed to be standing water building up everywhere, so it probably would have been pointless.
Not an experience we would like to repeat.
As a foot note the MX5 stayed watertight throughout.
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Following on from Dave E's post - it's very bad around the north cotswolds. I left home (just outside Chipping Campden) and only got as far as Moreton on the A429 before I'd had enough of being 'swamped by passing vehicles ploughing on regardless' so I turned back!
At lunch time in the village pub every other person was busy on their mobiles trying to find out how they could get where they wanted to go!
The rain is slowing now, so hopefully things will improve later.
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I think I spoke a bit too soon about things improving later in the north cotswolds - we now have stranded motorists staying in our two spare bedrooms!
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Plenty of times throughout the whole journey we were swampedby passing vehicles ploughing on regardless of the conditions.
>>
This is what 4x4 owners long for, as a sort of rite of passage into 4x4 ownership, along with heavy and unexpected snowfall of course !
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Eek. Just sent brother and s-in-l off home to Epsom down the M40 in their Morris Traveller. Worst of the rain seems to have passed here in Warwickshire but doesn't sound too pretty further south.
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IIRC the M40 was closed earlier.
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THREE hour delay on M40 .
tinyurl.com/2oeyls
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Congratulations to the bloke in the rain coloured Astra who was tailgating other cars in phenominally heavy rain on the motorway with no lights on. He started giving the finger to everyone who flashed their lights at him...
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Congratulations to the bloke in the rain coloured Astra...
When and where?
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>Just sent brother and s-in-l off home to Epsom down the M40 in their Morris Traveller.
Half an hour after I posted this, the doorbell rang and there they were. Seems they couldn't even get onto the M40; got as far as Gaydon on the old road, then sensibly decided to turn back. Warwickshire police tell me this morning the M40 is OK, so we've just sent them off again.
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WillDeBeest - obviously I don't know the circumstances but it does seem foolhardy to undertake a journey in what must a fairly fragile vehicle unlikely to cope with conditions that were known to be severe. I'm glad they came back safe, but was their journey essential?
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I tried to get off at Gaydon. Believe it ot not, there was more chance of traveling on a closed Motorway than the roads round it.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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This is what 4x4 owners long for...
I must admit, I was driven across the M62 in truly ferocious rain a few weeks ago in my BIL?s new VW Toureg and it was absolutely unruffled.
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It rained quite hard for about an hour this morning, causing rubble to be washed down gutters and the odd front area to get flooded.
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Right... other half left Gatwick at 5:30 tonight, heading round the M25 to the M3 - am I going to see him any time soon?
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It's been fine most of the day here.
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Like madf I live and work on the Staffordshire/ South Cheshire border, and while its rained solidly all day, its not as bad ago as it Monday before last. I work in a place called Kidsgrove and the manhole covers were aboput 4 feet off the ground with the pressure from the water. It was simply unbelievable.
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Just taken over two hours to do a (normally) 25 minute journey. A lot of the delays were compounded by poor discipline at junctions and roundabouts. People would doggedly block other people's paths to the (other) clear exits. Those who did act as if there was an imaginary yelllow box and let crossing traffic past were in a minority.
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Right... other half left Gatwick at 5:30 tonight heading round the M25 to the M3 - am I going to see him any time soon?
>>
Try the link I posted earlier.
A3- M3 looks bad.
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Midlands flooded 3 times in a month, Yorkshire and Humberside £1bn damage three weeks ago with deaths, London and S East get 1 day of heavy rain causing flooding and today's events according to ITV have lead to the 'Flooding of Britain'! No it's the flooding of the South and Midlands (again). As far as I'm aware Northern England and Scotland have seen very little rain.
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So going back to the OP's original point, and slightly playing devils advocate here, for the last couple of days we have been getting warned of severe weather, flooding, etc.
So how many of the people stuck in jams, floods etc changed their plans based on the weather warning?
Some people regularly criticise "big brother" and being told what to do but if everyone heeded the advice and stayed at home, and left the roads clear then
a. emergency services etc would face less hold-ups
b. people would not return to their houses "surprised" to see them flooded
Now I know this is being simplistic and employers probably wouldn't accept it as an excuse and there are many peoples jobs mean that they can't just stay at home, but how many people have now got problems that, if they put hand on heart, know they could have easily avoided being in the situation they now find themself in!
Carrying on with my devil's advocate hat (I quite like it), how many folk in the areas badly hit by the floods a couple of weeks ago are now cheesed off cos they have been totally forgotten about as far as the news is concerned and will remain that way now that London has been hit!
Meanwhile, where I am in Scotland, just need to decide whether there is enough daylight left to maybe cut the dry grass..... :)
--
2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Well at least down south we wont be moaning for long and blaming the government for not doing anything, because we pay for house insurance.
I get really fed up with this "everyone ignores us up north" PFD. For as long as I can remember they get most of the grant and development aid.
Yet they still moan.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Well at least down south we wont be moaning for long and blaming the government for not doing anything, because we pay for house insurance.>>
Lets wait and see!
--
Fullchat
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>Meanwhile, where I am in Scotland, just need to decide whether there is >enough daylight left to maybe cut the dry grass..... :)
The rain will be with you in about 6 hours..................
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>causing ... the odd front area to get flooded.
Don't worry about it, Lud. Could happen to any of us in a stressful situation.
}:---)
Glad to report relatives safely home in Epsom, where they report it seems reasonably dry.
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> Completely agree, a bit of rain is hardly severe weather
Well bazza your "bit of rain" has left me stuck on the m40 for 4 hours, becuase it was flooded -
I think severe weather was fairly apt.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Hard luck TVM, bummer.
Where was it flooded?
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Watching an excellent BBC programme about the Indian State Railway, they filmed a day where a meter of rain fell. Now that's severe.
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It was lashing down when I woke up and it's still lashing down now. End of the road now flooded, so I'm stuck in the house with my Magners and crisp! (run out of bread though :) )
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Magners and Crisps.......where do you live ? Look out for the Defender relief convoy !
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Yup. A tropical downpour is quite heavy rain, but it shouldn't cause a song and dance. The drains are quite good already. Keep them clear and improve them where necessary. At least we can afford to do it.
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The difference with a metre of rain in India v 2 inches in the UK? In India, where husband grew up, downstairs all stone/marble and come the monsoon season they moved everything upstairs - downstairs just needed to be hosed down after the rains. Not quite the same in Maidenhead or Hull.
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Btween Junc 12 and 11 in a short dip. Very deep in lanes 1&2 (too deep for lorries) passable after a while in lane 3. Backed up to Junc 15. Warwick services was chaos - 4 hours to do 12 miles.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>>>>>Well bazza your "bit of rain" has left me stuck on the m40 for 4 hours, becuase it was flooded -
I think severe weather was fairly apt.>>>>>
I stand corrected!! It does seem you guys to the east and north of here (S Wales) have had an exceptional downpour. We seem to have missed it here, sure, it's rained today but that's not unusual in these parts! Glad you're home safe anyhow.
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Not too far away from you
Nearly 200 people in Chobham may have to be moved from their homes
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/6909292.stm
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5 hours to get from Faringdon (Oxon) to Bristol.
Took 3 hours to get the 12 miles to the M4 - and about 45 minutes to do the remaining 40 miles. Not a great day but at least I got home unscathed and at least my house isn't flooded like some poor souls.
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Sorry mean't to add that I spent the other hour trying to take a short cut down various country lanes but they were all impassible at various points so I just gave up and sat in the queue of traffic like everyone else.
Umbelievable what 70mm of rain in a few hours can do.
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I spent the other hour trying to take a short cut down various country lanes but they were all impassible at various points so I just gave up and sat in the queue of traffic like everyone else.
Normally with O/S maps we "dive" off down white roads etc to avoid traffic /Motorway problems.
With this amount of rain about, if I was out and about I would be inclined to sit it out on the main roads ( and hope I did not get swamped by some idiot creating a bow wave)
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HenryK
Closer than that mate, the Rive ditch exploded, and flooded the station car park at west byfleet. Lots of cars filled with sewage apprently.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Lovely clip on the London news tonight. Parking warden in Kingston on Thames, wearing wellington boots putting tickets on cars on the flooded streets.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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> Completely agree a bit of rain is hardly severe weather Well bazza your "bit of rain" has left me stuck on the m40 for 4 hours becuase it was flooded -
Oh dear. As opposed to 16,000 homes in Hull rendered uninhabitable.
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Oh dear. As opposed to 16 000 homes in Hull rendered uninhabitable.
what was the point in that post?..........if i was stuck on a motorway for 4 hours because of a flood, that would be severe weather to me...the fact that others (in Hull) had more severe weather doesn't change much...does it?
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what was the point in that post?
The point is that we are in the midst of a discussion about whether or not the weather was severe. It was, but it's relative. These floods generated a lot more fuss than the ones a couple of weeks ago, but they were not in the same league.
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I would probably guess that after the event (rising river levels,) etc will mean that a similar number of homes will be affected the same. Just not all in one place.
The interesting thing about yesterday and last night was the motoring chaos. Major routes closed M4, M5, M40 M42 M6. Thats close to complete national gridlock,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I would probably guess that after the event (rising river levels ) etc will mean that a similar number of homes will be affected the same.
We have visitors from London whose journey took 9 hours yesterday (normally 4 with a decent break). The main difference seems to have been the effect on transport. Last time it hit major population centres more dramatically than it did the roads and rails, plus there was the sheer length of time it went on a couple of weeks ago. Heaven knows what will happen when the rainy season starts in October.
On a related note, I was recently researching an event that took place in July 1907. And guess what. Record rainfall, terrible summer, flooding, deaths. Back then they blamed it on the environmental effects of Krakatoa.
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Back then they blamed it on the environmental effects of Krakatoa.
Obviously, environmentalist spin isn't just a new phenomenon. Krakatoa exploded some 24 years before then.
It rained on St. Swithin's Day - we've got another 33 days of this still to go.
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Obviously environmentalist spin isn't just a new phenomenon. Krakatoa exploded some 24 years before then.
Indeed it isn't. Krakatoa had such a strong effect on the environment immediately after the 1883 eruption that it was blamed for weird weather for many years afterwards, especially by journalists writing "How weird is the weather these days?" columns in regional newspapers. It wasn't so much spin as folk-tale.
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Dust in the upper atmosphere did alter the weather for several years after the Krakatoa eruption. Remarkable sunsets were the longest-lasting effect in this country.
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>>M4, M5, M40 M42 M6. Thats close to complete national gridlock<<
Please tell me you had your tongue firmly in your cheek when you wrote that!
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Is there Motorways anywhere else then?
Youll be telling me they have cars up norf next
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Hells teeth
SWMBO just got back with the daily papers - Front page news - London suffered a rain storm - you mark my words the rest of the country will suffer over this - congestion charge on standing water - tax on rainfall just hope they don't get 1/4" snow this coming winter as Brown and co will slap a tax on cold weather coats. - congestion charge is spreading across the UK - 4x4's are now classed as Chelsea tractors and taxed accordingly - why should we all suffer because of London. The bane of the UK - might improve if Boris gets in. - Naw don't think so.
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> London suffered a rain storm
Oh here we go, more northern "We are so hard done by up here" carp.
Go choke on your whippet or play with the ferret down your trousers.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Go choke on your whippet or play with the ferret
I can hardly applaud your tone TVM, provincials being so touchy. Why make trouble?
Still, they do need to understand that floods are far more damaging in the bureaucratic centre of the financial world than in some dung-splattered cattle or sheep town somewhere near Hadrian's Wall. Surely these people have rubber boots?
Suppose the telephones stop working or, worse still, the ink runs on all the important documents we generate and supervise in the capital. If the whole world spiralled out of control these chaps at the ends of branch lines would be the first to complain.
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Still they do need to understand that floods are far more damaging in the bureaucratic centre of the financial world
Isn't flooding the reason for having tall buildings in the City?
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We have things like the M62. Men's motorways.
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Just driven along a bit of the Fosse way near Halford that was underwater last night. A few cars still abandoned including a 56 reg Merc E Class estate, 03 reg Merc S class and an 03 reg BMW M3 - so that'll be a few expensive repair bills then!
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Left Gloucester at 15.40 pm this Friday to travel up to J7 M5.
Could not get to north M5 junction due to flooding but managed to follow signs to M5 south. Went through flood, joined M5 south, spent a couple more hours getting to J12 (Which was flooded so could not exit) so eventually got to J13. Turned round so now heading North.
Reached J11 at 11pm. M5 shut so had to head off motorway and park up at Travel lodge. Managed to get a coffee, a pint of Boddingtons (Figured going no where for at least 4 hours!! and 2 pack of crisps) Slept for a few hour, left at 5pm this morning. Qued around 45 min to get round the M5 entry rounderbout to be told its still closed. Then headed back to Cheltenham, Then towards Evesham and then headed off to Tewsbury to rejoin the M5 at J9. got hom at 07.50 this morning (J7 M5 Worcester)
Nightmare!but I really felt luck that I did not have my 3year and six year old kids with me as some other families had young babies, tolders.
I feel for anyone still stuck out there today!!
Jlo
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The lesson I learned from being stuck is about comfort factors.
I hit the rear of the jam at 13:30 with just under 1/4 tank of gas, and no food or water. Feeling distinctly uneasy.
12 miles down the road and 2.0 hours later i managed to get into Warwick services. Despite complete chaos there (people fighting over parking spaces) I managed to fill up with diesel, and water, chocolate milk shakes and crisps.
Once with a full tank, and goodies on board, it all becomes a much more relaxed experience. Listening to the Golf on R5 live helped pass the time. Phones dont work well, network glogged.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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chocolate milk shakes and crisps.
Mmmm Chcocolate - I like the way you think.
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Chocolate, crisps, and golf on the radio.... digestive system in stasis or even reverse.
Not my idea of heaven, but it takes all sorts (they insist).
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1/4 tank of gas????? When did you get the lpg conversion??
Sure it wasn't potato chips you bought???? :) Your cell phone wasn't working????
And slightly ironic you filled up with water????
:)
--
2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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