Weather Warning – Storm-force winds and heavy snow

[Crostorm]

A Weather Warning has been issued for the following areas: Scotland, N Ireland, N England, Midlands, Wales, SW England until 12:00 on 2 February 2008. This bulletin was issued by JSM at 11:00 on 30 January 2008

Valid from: 00z Thursday 31st January-1200z Saturday 2nd February 2008
Areas affected: Scotland, N Ireland, N England, Midlands, Wales, SW England


General evolution: Area of low pressure developing SE Iceland 996Mb 1200 Wednesday 30th will deepen explosively to become a vigorous depression expected to be centred near the Shetlands 956Mb by 1200 Thursday 31st and off the S coast of Norway 960 Mb by 1200 Friday 1st. Associated cold front sweeps across the UK on Thursday 31st introducing a cold polar airflow for all areas by 00 Friday 1st which then persists into Saturday as pressure gradually rises from the west.


Forecast: A band of rain, heavy in places, pushes southeastwards across the UK during Thursday daytime. Widespread strong winds with gales in exposed places. Severe gale to storm-force winds will affect areas from N Wales northwards with gusts of 70-80mph likely leading to tree and structural damage in places. The winds will ease off during Friday morning.

Showers into Scotland during Thursday will turn increasingly wintry with snow falling to low levels by the end of the day. These wintry conditions spread southwards into Friday with heavy snow showers affecting many western and northern areas. Troughs or polar disturbances that may develop in the northerly airflow could lead to more widespread areas of snowfall in which case over 15cm of snow could fall quite widely: in the absence of such features it is still likely that 10cm of snow could accumulate in western areas and either way travelling conditions will become awkward. Over higher ground there will be blizzard conditions with significant drifting and high-level roads will be best avoided. The snow threat draws back to the NE half of the warning area on Saturday.


Widespread ice can also be expected in many areas as the colder air moves southwards over ground still wet after Thursday's rain and sharp frosts will persist to the end of the warning period.

UKww will monitor this Warning and upgrade or update it if necessary.

Issued by JSM for UKww, 1100Z 30/01/2008
http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/

[Ed Mahmoud]

Those storm force winds over a wide fetch make this time of year interesting for the offshore oil workers.


Unlike the Gulf of Mexico, except for the supply boats, most traffic is by helicopter.

[Crostorm]

[Ed Mahmoud]

Nice comma cloud. Almost looks like it is developing a "pseudo-eye" seen on more intense Northeast winter storms offshore.

[Crostorm]

Here another image

[Crostorm]

[Ed Mahmoud]

Early warnings of severe weather
These are issued when severe weather is expected in the next few days.

Risk of disruption Warning Valid from Valid to


UK regions:80% Central, Tayside & Fife
80% Orkney & Shetland
80% Grampian
80% Highlands & Eilean Siar
60% East of England
60% North West England
60% Northern Ireland
60% Yorkshire & Humber
60% East Midlands
60% SW Scotland, Lothian & Borders
60% Wales
60% Strathclyde
60% South West England
60% West Midlands
60% North East England
40% London & South East England
Blizzards, Drifting Snow & Heavy Snow 0001 Fri 1 0600 Sat 2
The Met Office continues to forecast colder weather to spread southwards across the UK during Friday and at first on Saturday giving heavy snow in places. Areas most at risk include Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland from early on Friday, extending to northern and central England and much of Wales on Friday afternoon, and perhaps into southern areas on Friday evening. Northern areas could see accumulations of 10cm of snow, with up to 20cm on higher ground, and blizzard conditions and snow drifts could occur in strong winds. Southern areas could see accumulations of 2 to 5cm of snow by Saturday morning. Disruption to transport and power networks is likely and the public are advised to take extra care. This warning will be updated by 1200 Friday 1st February unless superseded by Flash warnings.

Issued at: 1058 Thu 31 Jan

[Crostorm]

TORRO TORNADO WATCH 2008/004

A TORNADO WATCH has been UPDATED at 10:55GMT on Thursday 31st Jan 2008

Valid from/until: 10:55-1400GMT on Wednesday 31st Jan 2008, for the following regions of the United Kingdom & Eire:

Parts of (see map)

Much of Wales
Midlands, E Anglia, Lincs and surrounding areas.
Southern England

THREATS Tornadoes, perhaps strong, hail to 2cm diameter, thunderstorm wind gusts to 65 knots, torrential rain, and cloud-ground lightning.
SYNOPSIS
Cold front with sferics across Manchester area will continue eastwards, with intense low-level shear ahead of it. Conditions favourable for low-level mesocyclones and perhaps tornadoes, although severe wind gusts the primary threat.

Forecaster: RPK

http://www.torro.org.uk/torro/forecast/index.php

[Ed Mahmoud]

TORRO TORNADO WATCH 2008/004

A TORNADO WATCH has been UPDATED at 10:55GMT on Thursday 31st Jan 2008

Valid from/until: 10:55-1400GMT on Wednesday 31st Jan 2008, for the following regions of the United Kingdom & Eire:

Parts of (see map)

Much of Wales
Midlands, E Anglia, Lincs and surrounding areas.
Southern England

THREATS Tornadoes, perhaps strong, hail to 2cm diameter, thunderstorm wind gusts to 65 knots, torrential rain, and cloud-ground lightning.
SYNOPSIS
Cold front with sferics across Manchester area will continue eastwards, with intense low-level shear ahead of it. Conditions favourable for low-level mesocyclones and perhaps tornadoes, although severe wind gusts the primary threat.

Forecaster: RPK

http://www.torro.org.uk/torro/forecast/index.php

How can an organization other than the UK Met Office issue watches for Great Britain.


BTW, checking SE England, temps below 10ºC, not the usual tornado weather. Hail, I can believe.

But maybe it is different there.

[Crostorm]

Ferry stranded and driver killed as Britain is battered by blizzards and Arctic gales

January blew out with a vengeance yesterday as 80mph winds brought chaos around the the country, caused a dramatic rescue of passengers and crew from a ferry stranded in the Irish Sea, and claimed the life of a lorry driver.
And today a new wave of weather misery will batter Britain, with much of the country facing disruption from blizzards and icy conditions.
Up to 4in of snow powered by winds of up to 60mph is due to blanket Northern England – and the South will see falls by tonight.
As Britain shivered into a freezing February, it was revealed that last month was the wettest January since 1995.
Only seven in the last 100 years have seen more rain.
But many parts of the country were still reeling from the last of the bad weather January had to offer.
The gales claimeed the life of a 45-year-old truck driver whose vehicle was blown over on the M6 near Tebay in Cumbria.
Nine other trucks overturned between junctions 36 and 44 of the same motorway.


Riverdance: The boat ran aground in high winds last night
And last night passengers were dramatically airlifted to safety from a ferry which ran into trouble in fierce winds on the Irish sea.
The Riverdance, a roll-on roll-off vessel, was listing at 20 to 30 degrees last night after running into difficulties on a bank known as Shell Flat off the coast of Fleetwood, Lancashire.
It was carrying four passengers - one a nine-month old baby - and 19 crew members as it took trucks and trailers from Northern Ireland to Heynsham in Lancashire. Rescue helicopters and lifeboats were scrambled to rescue those aboard from the perilous seas.

John Matthews, from Fleetwood RNLI, described the conditions they had battled in the Irish Sea last night as "horrendous". They faced seven-metre waves and winds of up to 60mph.

Treacherous sea conditions also forced shipping movements to be halted in and out of Dover, leading to a logjam of lorries on the coastbound M20.
In Scotland, the Forth Road bridge was closed.
In Birmingham, strong winds blew a toddler into a lake as she was feeding the ducks.
The 11-month-old girl was rescued by her mother, who jumped in after her.
And last night a tree fell on to a busy railway line at Witley in Surrey, disrupting train services to and from Waterloo.
Temperatures are expected to reach only 41f (5c) today across England today as the bad weather spreads southwards.
Forecaster Barry Gromett said: "January was fairly easygoing and we saw temperatures a good two degrees above the long-term average.

"But we are seeing a marked difference today.
"This week's strong winds and rain have introduced colder conditions and are bringing heavy snow and blizzards in the North and snow showers right down to the south of the country.
"There could be some tricky conditions."
A forecaster for MeteoGroup UK warned motorists to be vigilant.
"Most places will have a thin covering of snow and North Wales will get quite a bit," he said.
"It is going to turn very icy and people need to be on their guard."
The worst-affected areas will include Morecambe Bay, the Kent-Sussex border and eastern areas including East Anglia.

London will also be hit by this evening, with central and southern areas likely to see up to 2in of snow.
The Met Office warned that there could be further disruption to transport and power networks over the weekend.
Tomorrow, wind and snow showers will hit the Lake District and the North of England.

But by Sunday, the conditions should ease, with temperatures rising to the seasonal average of 45f (7c), and the weekend is expected to end with rain rather

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk

[HurricaneBill]

It's European Windstorm "Resi".

[x-y-no]

Wow ...

Great picture.

[Ed Mahmoud]

I see the UK Met Office has blizzard warnings up for about the Northern 3/4s of Great Britain, but their forecasts call for 2 to 5 cm of snow in some places. I know the US definition of a blizzard involves wind and visibility, and even a very light snow can theoretically produce blizzard conditions if it is cold and windy enough, the forecast for say, the Midlands, is rain changing to snow, so it appears this is an event of marginal temperature/wet, sticky snow. 2 to 5 cm is basically predicting 1 to 2 inches.


It seems to me that the Met Office has a lower standard for blizzards than we do in the US.

[P.K.]

They look pretty similar to me. The visibility criteria is actually half of that over there.

Blizzard --- Moderate or heavy snow accompanied by winds of 30 m.p.h. or more, with visibility reduced to 200 m or less; or drifting snow giving rise to similar conditions.

* Major routes impassable
* Local loss of power and telecommunication lines

Severe blizzard --- Heavy Snow accompanied by winds of 30 m.p.h. or more, reducing visibility to near zero.

* Transport infrastructure paralysed
* Regional loss of power and communication lines

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/guide/key_warnings.html

Blizzard
(abbrev. BLZD)- A blizzard means that the following conditions are expected to prevail for a period of 3 hours or longer:

* Sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles an hour or greater; and
* Considerable falling and/or blowing snow (i.e., reducing visibility frequently to less than ¼ mile)


Blizzard Warning
Issued for winter storms with sustained or frequent winds of 35 mph or higher with considerable falling and/or blowing snow that frequently reduces visibility to 1/4 of a mile or less. These conditions are expected to prevail for a minimum of 3 hours.

http://www.weather.gov/glossary/index.php?letter=b

On the TORRO forecast mentioned earlier in the thread, the Met Office don't issue tornado forecasts. ESTOFEX also issue tornado forecasts for the UK.

[Ed Mahmoud]

They look pretty similar to me. The visibility criteria is actually half of that over there.

Blizzard --- Moderate or heavy snow accompanied by winds of 30 m.p.h. or more, with visibility reduced to 200 m or less; or drifting snow giving rise to similar conditions.

* Major routes impassable
* Local loss of power and telecommunication lines

Severe blizzard --- Heavy Snow accompanied by winds of 30 m.p.h. or more, reducing visibility to near zero.

* Transport infrastructure paralysed
* Regional loss of power and communication lines

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/guide/key_warnings.html

Blizzard
(abbrev. BLZD)- A blizzard means that the following conditions are expected to prevail for a period of 3 hours or longer:

* Sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles an hour or greater; and
* Considerable falling and/or blowing snow (i.e., reducing visibility frequently to less than ¼ mile)


Blizzard Warning
Issued for winter storms with sustained or frequent winds of 35 mph or higher with considerable falling and/or blowing snow that frequently reduces visibility to 1/4 of a mile or less. These conditions are expected to prevail for a minimum of 3 hours.

http://www.weather.gov/glossary/index.php?letter=b

On the TORRO forecast mentioned earlier in the thread, the Met Office don't issue tornado forecasts. ESTOFEX also issue tornado forecasts for the UK.

I'm not sure 1 or 2 inches of wet snow over a several hour period, no matter how windy, will impact visibility that badly.

[Cryomaniac]

It's been windy as hell here the last two days, not much more than a flurry of snow here and there, and a fair amount of rain.

[Ed Mahmoud]

It's been windy as hell here the last two days, not much more than a flurry of snow here and there, and a fair amount of rain.

Nottinghamshire- is that anywhere near The Sheriff of Nottingham and the Sherwood Forest?

[Cryomaniac]

Nottinghamshire- is that anywhere near The Sheriff of Nottingham and the Sherwood Forest?

Yeah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottinghamshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwood_forest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_hood