Thunderstorms

[thirdcrank]

Having read about it on the BBC www I was wondering if it really was as described in Bohemian Rhapsody or London-centric as usual?

[rjb]

Yes lots of crashing and banging but didnt see any big forks or striking the ground. Seemed to be all up in the air. I have known it a lot worse.

[Mick F]

No thunderstorms here, though there were lots of pale lightning flashes high up in the sky and very quiet distance rumbles of thunder. It rained, but not much more than dampening the dust.

[661-Pete]

Certainly plenty of lightning flashes visible through the bedroom window last night - many of them so far away that we didn't hear any thunder. I think the rain came later in the night.

And yes, I have to agree, news stories about weather tend to be very London-centric. In the sense that the Southeast's "tempest" is North of England or Scotland's "light breeze with scattered showers". Sorry, can't be helped!

[bovlomov]

I don't know how our metropolitan elitist storm compares with your provincial one, but last night's show was unusual in the frequency of the lightning flashes. The sky was being continually illuminated by flashes in all directions. Not the usual pattern of a flash and then a few seconds before the rumble.

There was heavy rain ('stair rods' according to the technical classification), enough to water the garden and refill the depleted water butts.

In summary: we had a storm, but, thanks, we don't need your food parcels or dinghies.

[thirdcrank]

The BBC www reported IIRC 15,000 lightning strikes. I took that to be different from 15,000 flashes of lightning, which would still seem a lot. In rough terms, one a second for four hours or four a second for an hour. Beautiful weather all day here in Leeds BTW

[[XAP]Bob]

Fairly impressive storms here.
Then this afternoon's downpour put a significant puddle up against the house (never seen it flood there before, and it was 2/3rds up to the damp proof course).
No idea when that water will go anywhere...

[Mick F]

Cloudless skies here this morning despite the Met Office forecasting yellow warnings of rain.

[661-Pete]

This may well be stating the obvious, but worth pointing out that thunderstorms are always more spectacular, and appear more 'continuous' at night.

I remember a particular instance in France a few years ago. I was having an 'astronomy' night, having set up my telescope under clear cloudless skies to do a bit of deep sky imaging. I noticed that towards the northwest horizon I could see a series of continual bright flashes - several every second - which puzzled me at first. I judged them to be about 15-20 miles away (the house is on a hillside and commands a wide view). I wondered if there was an immense fireworks party going on. They weren't interfering with my telescope session so I carried on.

Only later did it dawn on me that what I was looking at was an extremely localised, extremely intense thunderstorm. I couldn't hear any thunder, the distance was too great, but pointing the telescope in that direction I could make out the lightning flashes.

Strange that all that time the skies remained perfectly clear where I was. And no rain.

[thirdcrank]

The most spectacular I've ever seen was over the Med from the old youth hostel in Sète which was high up with a panoramic view. On an otherwise clear Summer evening there was a high column of cloud with lightning flashing inside. This went on for some time.

[Mick F]

Still absolutely cloudless, and 24degC already. Windless too, and the washing on the line is just hanging motionless.

I've been doing a spot of weeding and clearing up in the back garden, and I've given up it's so hot.

[Mick F]

Hang on a sec, there's a cloud!

[tatanab]

Sunday I was around Shrewsbury. Thunder and rain started at about 4 in the morning and eased off by lunchtime, only to pick up with a vengeance for a couple of hours around tea time. About 10 miles or so north they had only a little.

[[XAP]Bob]

All that water has gone this morning... so that’s good.

[Mick F]

Check out http://www.raintoday.co.uk
Not one bit of rain showing over the whole of the British Isles.
(Apologies to Shetlanders, my screen wouldn't show the whole of the Isles)

Only rain showing, is in Normandy.