The Weather

[Jack400]

I set off for a night shift on the same day, Katharine, with just a few spots of rain and a forecast of more 'later', so I put my coat in the boot zipped into a bag I take when I'm working. By the time I arrived the rain was as you described. For once I was glad to find that, yet again, someone had left an outside door open creating a short cut into the building!

[Wolfgang]

While we hardly had any rain recently, a town quite close to us (about 20km) encountered a thunderstorm with hail stones the size of golf balls.

[Katharine]

I set off for a night shift on the same day, Katharine, with just a few spots of rain and a forecast of more 'later', so I put my coat in the boot zipped into a bag I take when I'm working. By the time I arrived the rain was as you described. For once I was glad to find that, yet again, someone had left an outside door open creating a short cut into the building!

That was handy, hope you didn't get too wet in the short cut.

[Katharine]

While we hardly had any rain recently, a town quite close to us (about 20km) encountered a thunderstorm with hail stones the size of golf balls.

Ouch, must have been painful for anyone out in that.

I seem to recall we had something similar probably about 40 years ago. A girl I worked with was very upset as it dented the Mini that was her pride and joy.

[Jack400]

In the 1970s I experienced a hail storm that was quite painful and they were much smaller than golf balls.

No I only had to run about 10 feet so my T-shirt was remarkably dry!

[Boatbuilder]

I read this only recently about a toddler being killed by hailstones in Spain, although it happened a year ago. It may have been a link from a BBC page that was reporting another hail storm in the past few weeks, which is something the BBC tend to do.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62736383

[Chrissie777]

This was my rainiest summer ever since I immigrated to New England in 2002. I just hope and pray the rain will be gone by 17th of October, because we'll have a friend from Germany coming to visit on the 16th of October until 2nd of November. And we plan a 3 day trip to Niagara Falls/Buffalo, NY. She loves waterfalls, so this will be a big surprise for her.

[Darrell71]

Checking in from freezing Michigan, where it is currently somewhere between -17and -25 degrees. After a very mild December, winter decided to arrive with a ferocity I have not experienced in the 4 previous winters I have spent here so far. Feeling grateful to be indoors, warm, enjoying some spiked hot choccy, and on a rare Monday off because of a national holiday! How is winter treating you folks across the pond?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Good to hear from you, Sunskriti! Brrr - even just reading about the temperatures in Michigan makes me shiver! It feels pretty cold here and it's only -3 degrees. Up to this week we've had a mild winter here in Wiltshire. There's a sheltered spot by the river where daffodils were in full bloom at the end of December.

One of my favourite books to read at this time of year is The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, in which she describes how her family and their neighbours survived the harsh winter of 1880-81 in De Smet.

[Katharine]

Brrrr - like Anita, I thought it was cold here in the UK, but I won't complain after reading about those temperatures!

Apparently there was a dusting of snow on the coast of East Anglia today, but we didn't get any in land. I haven't ventured outside all day as I've hurt my back, and don't think venturing outside in the cold would do it any good.

[Boatbuilder]

Well it's currently minus 2 Celsius here in North Suffolk at 11:25pm, and where I am is on the coast (less than a mile from the sea) and although they did forecast some snow around mid to late morning today, nothing materialised thank goodness. Please don't send your temperatures over her, Sunskriti.

[Hannah]

That's really cold, Sunskriti. I don't know if I've ever been in such low temperatures. I felt very cold in Vaasa (Finland) almost exactly 16 years ago but it probably was windy so felt much colder than it was. It was the only time I saw the sea frozen. We went there by ferry from Sweden and it felt strange going through the ice. We were in Vaasa for only a few hours and ended up spending most of the time in a shopping mall because it was so cold (and our clothes weren't as good as those of the Finnish people) .

In Lübeck it's just below 0°C at night and a bit humid meaning that there have been some accidents due to frozen roads and pavements. When it was cold and snowy some weeks ago a colleague broke her hip when she slipped .

[Wolfgang]

Last week it was quite cold here, but nothing compared to what people in Sweden encountered - there were, according to the news, areas with -40°C.
Also according to news, in Russia around Moskwa the heating system broke down due to the cold, and the river is frozen as well.

[Courtenay]

Meanwhile it's snowing here in Cheshire this morning! But not too much and the roads should be OK for me to go out shopping shortly. It's just enough snow to make everything look pretty, especially with all the fresh snow clinging to the tree branches, but (hopefully) not enough to cause disruption. (I will only be driving on main roads today and they've all been salted.)

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hope your back will soon be better, Katharine.

I don't know if I've ever been in such low temperatures. I felt very cold in Vaasa (Finland) almost exactly 16 years ago but it probably was windy so felt much colder than it was. It was the only time I saw the sea frozen. We went there by ferry from Sweden and it felt strange going through the ice.

Sounds like an interesting experience, Hannah, though I appreciate that the wind must have been perishing!

The only time I saw the sea frozen was in the early-mid 1980s in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. Our teacher had sent us on a cross-country run, dressed in our PE kit (shorts, ankle socks, trainers, a short-sleeved top and a school jumper). Part of the route went along the promenade. We were so fascinated by the frozen sea and the huge icicles everywhere that we were pleased to be outside to be honest, but that didn't stop us complaining to our PE teacher when we got back! She didn't believe us when we told her the sea was frozen, but she had to believe it the next day as it was reported in the newspaper!