BBC | 23 Degrees

System in Atlantic rapidly develops - Scotland braced for 90mph gusts

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 876'413'600 km

The depression is expected to bring gales and heavy rain from the west for Thursday.

Snow is likely for a time on Thursday morning across parts of central and northern Scotland, particularly affecting higher ground, but with some slushy deposits locally to lower levels, and all parts of the UK will have heavy rain for a time during the day.

But the main feature of this depression is the gale to storm force winds it will bring. Gusts of 60 to 70 mph likely to become quite widespread across northern and central Britain, but 70 to 80 mph are expected across much of Scotland with 90mph gusts are possible in exposed places, particularly central and southern Scotland. Elsewhere across England and Wales the wind will gusts of 50-60 mph. (Warnings issued by the Met Office)

As the storm passes through and moves away to the east of the UK on Friday north-westerly winds will bring in cold air which will see a drop in temperatures. This is expected to bring snow to northern and western parts of the UK, giving accumulations to low levels in the north. Accumulations will tend to be confined to higher ground across north Wales and much of northwest England. Untreated surfaces will also become icy at times. Other parts of the country will see a cold night on Friday with widespread frost.

The forecast for the rest of the month is for the unsettled weather to continue, with spells of wet and windy weather interspersed with brighter, colder periods when we can expect to see frost and snow showers - the heaviest of any snowfalls are expected across higher ground from North Wales northwards, but we could occasionally see some snow cover at lower levels as well.

Day 339: UK severe weather

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 871'482'400 km

Following the news that this Autumn was the 2nd warmest on record, last week saw a return to more normal conditions for the time of year.

It was a very windy, rainy week with heavy rain and gales every day somewhere in the UK. Tuesday saw gusts of up to 76 knots and 65mm of rain in 24 hours in Glasgow, causing major flooding and the closure of some roads. There were also reports of tornadoes in Stockport. On Wednesday the wind and rain continued with a gust of 97 knots recorded in Cairngorm and surface water flooding in Cornwall.

Temperatures were closer to normal than of late, dipping to a low of - 5.4 °C at Altnahara on Friday night. Showers turned wintry on higher ground throughout the week in Scotland, and parts of Northern England and Northern Ireland. On Sunday, several inches of snow fell on higher routes in Scotland, and there was a covering of snow as far south as Edinburgh.

Day 332 Severe weather watch: deep depressions

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 853'365'600 km

UK and World weather report:

The UK's recent quiet weather took a dramatic turn last week as fog gave way to gales and heavy rain. The foggy start to the week, with visibility down to below 50m in places in the south and east on Monday and Tuesday.

Despite a colder night on Tuesday, with a minimum of - 2.3 °C and widespread ground frost across England and Wales, temperatures remained a little above normal throughout the week, with a high of 15.9 °C at Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire on Saturday.

On Thursday, a rapidly deepening area of low pressure moved past the north west of the UK, bringing severe gales over the far north west as well as persistent and increasingly heavy rain that continued into Friday and over the weekend.

Storm force winds hit Scotland over the weekend. Image captured by Debbie Bozkurt Sunday 27 November

Cassley in Sutherland recorded 66.6mm of rain in 12 hours, gales affected northern Scotland, peaking with a gust of 90mph at Fair Isle on Sunday morning. The storms left about 400 homes without power in Orkney, caused landslides, and A cargo ship sunk after reportedly being rolled over by a wave and breaking in two in the Irish Sea.

Elsewhere in the world, heavy rain is continuing to cause problems. In the Philippines, six people were killed in flash floods after continuous rains in the area caused local rivers to overflow. In Australia, floods have left thousands cut off in the town of Wee Waa in New South Wales. The town will only be accessible by boat and helicopter for at least a week.

Meanwhile, Mexico is suffering its worst drought in 70 years. Due to the lack of rainfall the government has forced been to supply water to nearly 2.5 million people across eight states.

The week ahead

UK:

• A very unsettled week for the whole country, with several deep depressions moving in off the Atlantic.

Latest infrared satellite image of British Isles

• Periods of heavy rain, especially in the west of Scotland, could cause some flooding problems. Also windy at times, with a continued risk of gales. There is risk of snow over the higher ground of northern Britain at times.

Across the North America:

• A deep depression is moving eastward across Canada, bringing strong winds and snow to many areas.

GOES-EAST/WEST infrared satellite image 14:45 UTC. Data courtesy of NOAA.

By Tuesday, it is expected to lie over the Hudson Bay, with particularly windy conditions on its southern flank possibly affecting coastal Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec.

• Another depression, moving northwards towards the Great Lakes from the Gulf of Mexico over the next few days, will also bring heavy rain to places in between as it passes.

Across Africa:

• Cooler than average conditions extending from Saudi Arabia across Sudan, Chad and perhaps even reaching northern Nigeria. Conversely, warmer than average across much of Madagascar.

Across Asia:

• A spell of wet weather is expected for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the northern Gulf on Monday and Tuesday. Rainfall totals of 40-60 mm are likely, with flash flooding a possibility. This is the first significant rainfall since the spring in this area. It is also unseasonably cold, both in this region and more widely across the Middle East.

• Some rather windy conditions likely for Oman, especially coastal regions and particularly later in the week, in association with a deep depression. This is also likely to impact on coastal parts of Karnataka, Kerala and Goa in India for the next day or two.

Across Australasia:

• Some large temperature variations across southern Australia this week, with south western parts going from cool to warm and south eastern areas swinging from warm to cool.

• Heavy rainfall is set to continue in Australia and Asia due to a La Nina pattern in the Pacific Ocean.

Day 325: This week's extreme weather watch

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 835'409'600 km

It was another mild week across the UK, with maximum temperature reaching the mid teens every day and a high of 16.2 °C recorded at Gravesend on Thursday.

Provisional figures show that November so far has been very mild across the UK. The UK average temperature for 1-15 November was 9.4 °C, 3.5 °C higher than the long term average.

We would normally expect the first half of November to be warmer than the second as we transition towards winter (which, meteorologically speaking, starts in December). However, even bearing this in mind, the temperatures seen in the first half of this month have been much warmer than normal.

Some areas did see lower temperatures overnight, leading to air and ground frost in parts, particularly in the north west. A minimum temperature of -3.6 C was recorded at Drumnadrochit, on Loch Ness, on Wednesday.

The weekend saw extensive fog form in eastern areas. On Saturday this was very slow to clear parts of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and the East Midlands. While on Sunday areas from the Vale of York through the East Midlands to southern England saw dense patches of fog with visibility of around 50 metres in places. Fog thinned or lifted into low cloud in many places, however for parts of the Vale of York, Lincolnshire, East Anglia and the London area, it stuck around all day causing some flights to be cancelled at Heathrow Airport.

It's been a relatively quiet week of weather for the rest of the world. In Bolivia, a rare tornado damaged parts of the city of Cochabamba on Wednesday.

Thunderstorms moving through the region produced the tornado which reportedly damaged dozens of buildings.

There's been heavy rain in Taiwan, with some parts of the country seeing over 400mm of rain this week.

Heavy snowfalls affected parts of the Upper Midwest in the USA where a foot of snow fell on parts of South Dakota. A thick fog in Germany may have been a factor in a 52 vehicle pile up on the Autobahn near Muenster. Three people were killed in the crash and another 35 were injured.

The week ahead

The UK:

• A gradual transition to temperatures closer to average by the end of the week, when windy conditions will dominate with heavy rain at times in the northwest of the UK.

Across Europe:

• Temperatures in Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean continue to be cold for the time of year, with hill snow expected at times.

Across the Americas:

Tropical storm Kenneth is currently 500 Miles SSW of Manzanillo, Mexico, but is expected to move in a westward direction, away from land. This is the latest in the season that a tropical storm has formed in the eastern north Pacific basin since Hurricane Winnie formed on 4 December 1983.

• The unusually cold conditions are set to continue across Alaska and NW Canada over the next few days, spreading into northern areas of the USA such as North Dakota and Minnesota. Temperatures are 10 Celsius colder than average, remaining well below zero in many places throughout the day. By Tuesday temperatures should rise to nearer normal as low pressure pushes in from the south.

Across Australasia:

• New Zealand's South Island may see 250 mm of rain during the early part of the week in parts of Westland and Buller.

Day 319: UK and world weather report

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 819'651'200 km

Last week was quiet week weather wise for the UK. Most of the country saw mainly cloudy, drizzly conditions with some mist and fog.

Despite a few frosty mornings in the north west of Scotland, temperatures remained mild for the time of year. Double figure highs were reached every day and a maximum of temperature of 18.1 °C was recorded on Sunday at Otterbourne, near Winchester, Hampshire.

Elsewhere in the world, flooding continues to cause havoc in Bangkok, where the death toll has now risen to over 500. The weather has started to ease after months of monsoon rain, but the volume of flood water is continuing to cause problems.

Image credit: NASA

Heavy rainfall has also affected Italy, where thousands were forced to evacuate around the River Po in Turin when water levels rose by 4 metres. Seven people are thought to have died as a result of the storms and torrential rain in the country.

Over in North America, severe winter storms have hit both Canada and Alaska. In British Columbia a snow storm caused severe disruption to travel networks and power supplies, with ferries to Vancouver Island forced to stop sailing. Meanwhile, Alaska saw winds of up to 100mph combined with high seas and blizzard conditions. During the storm the rate of ice accretion - the process of ice building up on solid objects - was more than 15.6 inches an hour.

The week ahead

The UK:

• The quiet weather is expected to continue with temperatures remaining generally around or slightly above normal throughout. However, there is the potential for some heavy rain and strong winds across north-western parts of the UK later in the week.

Across Europe:

• Low pressure over the eastern Mediterranean brings strong northeasterly winds through the Aegean Sea early in the week. Severe weather warnings have been in place for much of Greece, with storm force winds forecast in some areas. Although the strongest winds are likely to be on Monday, it will stay pretty breezy in the area for the next few days.

• Bitterly cold weather continues in eastern Turkey, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, although temperatures should start to rise from Tuesday.

Across the Americas:
• Following the recent storms affecting the west coast of Alaska, the state is set to see temperatures falling dramatically over the next few days to be 10-15 °C below average by Friday. Night time lows of -35 °C look possible in places, with daytime temperatures at times not far above.

• In South America there's heavy rain, strong winds and some relatively low temperatures for a time in southern Brazil at the start of this week, before the associated low pressure system moves east into the Atlantic around Tuesday.

Across Africa:
• The same eastern Mediterranean low pressure that brings strong winds to Greece is also causing lower than average temperatures over large parts of Egypt, mainly the north east, over the next few days, with above average winds and precipitation as well at first.

Across Asia:
• A spell of unsettled weather is forecast for the Philippines over the next few days. The system causing this will move into the South China Sea around mid-week and may later affect parts of southern China.

• Some unseasonably low temperatures are expected in the Himalayas - Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal - with daytime temperatures at Lhasa, Tibet potentially around ten degrees below normal.

UK and World weather report: unseasonable snowstorms & monster icebergs

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 799'068'800 km

October was a mild month - with some exceptionally high minimum temperatures for the time of year - ending with another mild day on Monday. Several locations did not dip below 15 °C all day and a top temperature of 19.3 °C was recorded at Kinloss. As the week continued into November, the mild temperatures carried on, with a high of 18 °C at Heathrow and St James' Park on Thursday.

Rain dominated the week, with occasional rain on Monday turning into a band of heavy rain on Tuesday and widespread heavy and sometimes thundery outbreaks on Wednesday and Thursday. There were also some possible funnel cloud sightings, one of which may have touched down in Astwood Bank, just south of Redditch.

Friday bought more wet weather, with intense rain in parts. Alice Holt Lodge near Odiham, Hampshire, recorded well over 50mm of rain between midnight and 7am, and there were numerous reports of localised flooding in the Home Counties.

The weekend was slightly cooler, with a chilly start to both days and frost in many northern areas on Sunday morning.

Elsewhere in the world, flooding continues in Thailand. A third of the country has now been affected by flooding after three months of heavy rain. Over 500 people are said to have died and there are fears that the flooding could worsen in the capital Bangkok.

Image Credit Remko Tanis

Deadly flash floods also hit the Liguria region of Italy on Friday after heavy rain. Two rivers in Genoa reportedly broke their banks as floodwaters poured through the port city for the second time in eight days, killing six people. Much of northern Italy was affected by the heavy rain during the day, including Venice, which also suffered flooding.

Close to two million homes are still without power after an unseasonable snowstorm hit the US east coast last weekend. The storm, which brought up to 76 cm of snow in parts, has been blamed for as many as 19 deaths. At the storm's height, three million homes were without power, while states of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York.

Scientists are monitoring the birth of a monster iceberg in west Antarctica. The iceberg is expected to break away towards the end of the year or early in 2012. Currently, the crack is 30 kilometres wide and 60 metres deep and growing every day. Researchers from NASA expect the eventual iceberg to cover 880 square kilometres - an area the size of Berlin.

Image Credit NASA

Image credit NASA

The week ahead

In the UK:

• Monday and Tuesday will be dull and cloudy and occasionally damp across the country, but temperatures will be mild. Wednesday and Thursday see more persistent rain moving into western areas, while the east may become a little brighter. Staying mild, especially overnight, with light southerly winds. As we head into the weekend mild southerly winds should bring broken cloud to many parts.

Elsewhere in the world:

• There is the potential for a tropical cyclone to form in the Arabian Sea. A depression was centred about 700km east-southeast of Salalah on Monday and the system is forecast to intensify further into a deep depression and move towards the Oman coast over the next three days.

• A tropical depression formed close to Hainan Island in the South China Sea on Monday. China mainland provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, the island province of Hainan, as well as Taiwan, will be subject to the periods of heavy rain through much of the week.

• Unsettled periods of weather look set to affect the western Mediterranean, parts of Canada and northern Russia, although nothing particularly exceptional is currently signalled.

• Over the USA, an outbreak of potentially damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes looms for the southern Plains on Monday. The thunderstorms may ease for a time overnight and into Tuesday, but is forecast to increase once again on Tuesday afternoon with the threat zone stretching from central Missouri to East Texas and Louisiana.

• Unseasonably cold conditions are forecast across the Caucasus', spreading to much of the Middle East through the week.

Day 298 Severe weather watch: Cat 2 hurricane Rina intensifying

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 765'461'600 km

Image courtesy of Naval Research Laboratory

Over the Americas:

• A large area of low pressure will track eastwards through the Bering Sea and Alaska towards Nunavut in Canada from Sunday through to Thursday, bringing very wet and windy conditions, particularly to the more populated southern/western seaboard of Alaska and Canada.

• Hurricane Rina, Category two, is moving slowly at 3mph northwest over the western Caribbean - Belize, the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and adjacent Islands should monitor the progress of Rina. A hurricane watch is in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from north of Punta Gruesa to Cancun.

According to the National Hurricane Centre additional strengthening seems likely until increasing south-southwesterly shear halts the intensification process which is expected to occur in about 48 hours.

• A second area moving into the eastern Caribbean into the new working week, tracking eastwards past Venezuela before likely losing its impetus by Thursday.

• A deep area of low pressure is forecast to bring very heavy rain and strong winds to Uruguay and southern Brazil during the middle of the week.

Across Europe:

• Systems of low pressure near the UK will bring unseasonably wet and windy weather to Morocco, Iberia, Biscay and the UK at the start of the week.

• Further heavy rain from a second low pressure system is expected to affect Iberia midweek.

• High pressure is expected to dominate the weather across eastern Europe, bringing increasingly cool conditions to the Black Sea and Caucasus.

Across Asia:

• Cool and windy conditions should affect northeastern China at the start of the week. Moving westwards into Vietnam and Laos over the next few days, bringing further heavy rain to these regions.

Across Australasia:

• Significantly warmer and wetter than average over New South Wales and Victoria at the start of the week, with heavy rain and strong winds later affecting the South Island of New Zealand during Monday.

• Very heavy rain is likely to push into Western Australia around Perth from the Indian Ocean around midweek.

Across Africa:

• Becoming warm or very warm for the time of year over southeastern Africa, particularly Mozambique and Madagascar, whilst in contrast Namibia and the Cape region of South Africa should see cooler than average weather.

Day 290: World severe weather watch

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 745'308'000 km

At least four people are thought to have died in Mexico, when Hurricane Jova made landfall on Tuesday. A hurricane warning was issued for a 100-mile stretch of coast and Manzanillo, one of Mexico's biggest cargo ports, was shut down during the storm.

Guatemala was also affected by tropical rains, with flash floods and landslides reported to have killed at least 18 people. The storms have triggered widespread flooding, threatening several communities. Transport has been severely affected, with at least a dozen landslides and significant damage to roads and bridges.

The week ahead

Across Europe:
• Very heavy rain in central and southern Scotland on Monday, with up to 60mm of rain likely in places. The rain will turn to snow over ground above about 400m in the southern Grampians. Strong winds are also expected, with the potential for 60mph gusts on the Irish Sea coasts causing some damage.

• For the rest of the week, the UK can expect cold and windy weather with sunny spells and blustery showers. Some rain may fall as snow over high ground in the north.

Over the Americas:
• Heavy rain continuing across parts of western Mexico and Central America.

• Heavy rain and strong to gale force winds are also expected over north east Canada and the USA, brought by a complex area of low pressure. There is also the risk of snow on the western flank of the low pressure around the Hudson Bay area and also over the Great Lakes.

• A tropical disturbance in the western Caribbean may develop into a tropical storm over the next few days.

• Persistent rain and thunderstorms around Paraguay, North Argentina, Uruguay and the Santa Catarina.

Across Asia:
• Very wet and unsettled over Japan next few days as well as parts of eastern China associated with active fronts and developing lows.

• High probability of heavy rain in north of Bay of Bengal and adjacent land areas. Low to moderate probability of a tropical cyclone forming.

Across Australasia:
• Warm across Adelaide and southern parts of Australia for the time of year, while northwestern parts of Queensland can expect very unsettled conditions.

• Also becoming very unsettled over New Zealand once again.

Across Africa:
• Heavy showers and thunderstorms affecting parts of the far north - mainly north Libya and perhaps also the far north west of Egypt - for the next few days. Showers becoming lighter by midweek but temperatures well below normal.

UK and World weather report: Jova strong cat 3 hurricane moving east

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 727'298'400 km

After a period of record-breaking settled weather last week, most of the UK saw a return to normal autumn conditions by Tuesday. A band of cloud spread across most of England and Wales, and showers continued in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Wednesday and Thursday saw strong northwesterly winds for many, reaching gale force on higher ground in the north. On Thursday a yellow warning was in place for gusts of up to 65mph for parts of the North West and Northern Ireland, with winds in excess of 40mph recorded widely. The strongest gust at low levels was 66mph at Machrihanish in Scotland.

Temperatures fell compared to last week but were still above average in many areas for October, with a high of 22.1 °C in Bridlington on Wednesday. Although on Friday it was a chilly start for many, with temperatures falling into single figures and a low of -1.5 °C at Cairngorm in Scotland.

Elsewhere in the world, Winnipeg in America has also been experiencing warm autumn weather, with temperatures 18 °C above what is seasonally normal. It reached 31 C on Thursday, the hottest October day in Winnipeg since records began.

Several days of heavy rain in central Algeria have caused the deaths of eight people and widespread damage to roads and bridges. There has also been heavy rain in Haikou, China, where 17,000 people were evacuated after days of torrential rain raised the level of the Nandu river higher than the warning line.

One man has been killed and 12 injured in a massive pile-up after a dust-storm rolled across an interstate in Arizona. The collision on Interstate 10 near Picacho - midway between Phoenix and Tucson - involved 16 vehicles.

In Australia, almost 11,000 homes are without power after severe thunderstorms battered Queensland. However, damage from flooding has been minimal, with only 22 calls made to the State Emergency Service for leaking roofs.

Severe weather watch: The week ahead

Across Europe:

• Unsettled conditions are expected to continue to affect some northern parts of Europe through the start of the week.

• Warm and quiet conditions are expected to return to many areas from midweek as high pressure builds once again across Europe.

• The former Hurricane Philippe is set to head well north across the Atlantic, bringing gales and heavy rain to Iceland and East Greenland. In so doing, Philippe will give the UK a wide berth and will have no direct weather impact here.

Over the Americas:

• In the eastern Pacific Hurricane Jova and Tropical Storm Irwin are both moving towards Mexico. Jova is a Saffir-Simpson Category 3 Hurricane moving East (winds ~120 mph) and is expected to make landfall somewhere near Manzanillo on Tuesday.

Irwin is forecast to approach the west coast of Mexico on Thursday or Friday. Maximum sustained winds 35knots; 40mph moving east at 7mph.

Across Asia:

• There are unsettled conditions to the east of the Philippines at the moment and this may develop into a typhoon this week.

Day 277 severe weather watch: Atlantic depressions and tropical storm Nalgae

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 710'146'400 km

Across Europe:
• A marked change in the weather is expected across the UK and much of northern Europe this week as the high pressure gives way and allows Atlantic depressions to bring much more unsettled weather in from the northwest. Ophelia is now a post-tropical storm and is expected to be swept up in to a normal autumn Atlantic depression. This area of depression is forecast to bring gales to parts of the North and West of the UK on Wednesday and Thursday. So it is not Ophelia that is bringing the wind and rain.

• Many parts of England and Wales can expect a drop in temperature of between 10 and 15 degrees by Friday compared to last week with severe gales for a time affecting the northwest of Scotland for a time on Wednesday and Thursday.

Over the Americas:
• High pressure looks set to bring much drier weather to the northeast USA during the week. The area has been experiencing unsettled conditions recently but the weather is expected to improve through the week, with dry conditions dominating by the end of the week.

• Pacific fronts are set to bring some early season rain and snow to the west of the USA during the week. An active cold front is expected to arrive Tuesday night into early Wednesday with rain and high mountain snow becoming widespread throughout the region. Rain may make it as far south as Southern California by midweek. Gusty winds will accompany the storm and temperatures will drop off dramatically as the week goes on.

• Some heavy tropical downpours are expected across northern coastal areas of Brazil, through the Guyanas to Venezuela in the first parts of the week.

Across Asia:

Minimal tropical storm Nalgae

• Nalgae is bringing torrential rains and winds of up to 56mph to south China as it makes landfall over Hainan island. Nalgae will continue to move westwards into Vietnam and Laos over the next few days, bringing heavy rain to these regions.

This week's weather watch: UK 'Indian summer' and Nesat moves Westwards

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 693'316'000 km

Across Europe:

• Much of the UK is set to experience 'Indian Summer' conditions this week as high pressure over Europe draws warm southerly winds and sunny skies north from France. Temperatures are expected to reach the mid to high 20's Celsius in many areas from Wednesday onwards. The last time we saw similar temperatures to this was in September 2006 when central and eastern England had highs of 27 or 28 Celsius widely.

• The high pressure system is also expected to bring very warm conditions over northwest Europe, with highs of 30 Celsius expected in Biarritz, France, on Thursday while 21 Celsius can be expected in Gothenberg, Sweden.

Over the Americas:
• Many parts of Canada and northern USA are expected to have some very warm weather for the time of year, with the warmest conditions gradually extending E'wards by Wednesday.

• Cool, wet and windy conditions are expected to affect Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the start of the week but conditions should improve again from midweek.

• Winter holds on in the south of South America and the Falklands at times this week - the maximum temperature at Port Stanley is expected to be close to zero Celsius on Thursday with heavy rain and strong winds.

Across Asia:
• There is better news for Pakistan where the weather is forecast to be generally much drier over much of the country following last weeks flooding - however it is expected to be notably cooler than normal through much of the week.

• Tropical Cyclone Nesat is moving steadily westwards across the South China Sea, perhaps intensifying into a Typhoon by Thursday. Nesat will bring torrential rain and severe gale force winds as it passes by.

More info on this image > Navy Research Lab

For Australasia:
• The cold and unsettled weather that has been affecting New Zealand looks set to be loosing its grip as an anticyclone area over the Tasman Sea extends a ridge of high pressure over the country bringing mostly fine weather.

UK and World weather report: hurricanes/typhoons and heavy rain

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 689'564'000 km

The UK experienced a relatively quiet week of weather compared to recent weeks, but tropical cyclones continued to affect some parts of the world.

Scotland and Northern Ireland saw the most unsettled conditions over the UK, with further spells of heavy rain and strong to gale force winds at times. Southwesterly winds peaked at 60mph on Wednesday over exposed coasts with 60mm of rain falling at Cluanie. Across England and Wales the weather settled down with temperatures reaching 21 Celsius in East Anglia on Tuesday and Kent on Wednesday before peaking at 23 Celsius at Gravesend in Kent on Sunday - a pre-cursor for warmer conditions this week.

Early in the week the Alps in Europe experienced very early season snowfalls with 50cm on fresh snow being reported quite widely.

Typhoon Roke brought torrential rain and winds of up to 100mph across central and western Japan as it made landfall on Wednesday. Evacuation advisories were issued to a total of 1.14 million people nationwide and auto giant Toyota said it was temporarily shutting 11 of its 15 Japanese plants, which lay in the path of the approaching storm.

While Hurricane Hilary didn't make landfall on Mexico's southwestern Pacific coast, it was a powerful Category 4 storm on Friday and brought strong winds, heavy rain and surf to the coast. Search teams recovered the bodies of three fishermen caught in the storm.

Heavy rain and flooding hit Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India over the weekend with two million people displaced, and with 80 people reported drowned. Cyclone Nesat threatens Luzon Island in the Philippines.

Day 262 severe weather watch: Tropical storm Roke aims for Japan

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 673'323'200 km

UK and world weather report

Last week brought typically varied conditions over the UK and while around the world tropical cyclones continued to dominate the headlines.

In the UK the week got off to a stormy start as post-tropical storm Katia made her presence felt particularly across the northern half of the UK. As forecast by the Met Office, a deep area of low pressure which contained post-tropical storm Katia reached the UK on Monday, bringing severe gales and heavy rain to Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Northern Ireland bore the brunt of the storm, with widespread wind speeds of 60 - 70 mph and gusts of up to 98 mph in the most exposed mountainous areas. There was also heavy rain in parts of Scotland, which resulted in localised flooding in some areas of Central Scotland.

As post tropical storm Katia moved away and winds gradually eased we were left with a rather unsettled and autumnal feel to our weather. It remained breezy with further outbreaks of showery rain and blustery winds in the west, whilst further south and east there were brighter spells. The autumnal feel continued with temperatures falling into single figures overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Temperatures fell as low as 1.7 Celsius at Topcliffe and Exeter airport, and 0.8 Celsius at Redesdale camp.

Across the world flooding continued to dominate the weather - Pakistan's commercial capital, Karachi, has been paralysed by floods as torrential rain continues to lash southern Sindh province. Schools have shut down, many markets were forced to close and commuters had to abandon their vehicles as rain water flooded the streets.

The floods have come at a time when many parts of South Asia expect heavy rainfall as part of the region's summer monsoon, but it has been particularly heavy for the affected areas and it has come late in the season. Observations show there has been a series of low pressure systems passing over Pakistan from northern India over the past two weeks, with little respite in between. This has given no time for water to flow away or seep into the ground, causing a build up of floodwater.

The week ahead
• In the UK, we will see another mixed week with rain across southern parts of the UK through the first part of the week. Once this clears away midweek A northwest-southeast split developing, with the northwest often rather cool and breezy with showers and sunny spells. Further southeast, it should be mainly dry but rather cloudy, with nearer-normal temperatures.

• An intense NE Pacific storm looks set to bring a spell,of very wet and windy weather to NW parts of N America from Tuesday, peaking in intensity on Wednesday.

• Turning very unsettled over much of western Europe and the central Mediterranean.

• Colder than normal in parts of southern Chile and Argentina by mid-week as Antarctic air streams northwards. Risk of frost and snow over the higher ground.

Sonca stays in the Pacific but all eyes on Tropical Storm Roke
Tropical Storm Sonca is expected to turn north and track close to eastern Japan today before turning away east as it becomes absorbed into the mid-latitudes. The track should stay far enough E not to have significant impact over Japan.

Tropical Storm Roke is potentially more dangerous. The track over the next few days brings it into the area between southern Japan and Taiwan. There is a strong signal for the track to then turn north and NE across the length of Japan later in the
week.

Image courtesy of Japan Meteorological Agency

Day 256: This week's severe weather watch

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 657'404'000 km

Remnants of Katia hit UK but warnings now cancelled:

• In the UK, the gales and heavy rain resulting from the deep area of low pressure which contained post-tropical storm Katia will slowly ease across northern parts and a couple of fine, quiet days can be expected later in the week.

Image courtesy EUMETSAT. Latest satellite imagery. Central Europe. MET9 RGB-3-3-1 2011-09-13 10.00 UTC

• Northwestern Europe will also be very unsettled as the low pressure area moves across Scandinavia. Some areas can expect to have unusually strong winds with southern Scandinavia, Denmark and far north of Germany most at risk of severe gale/storm force winds.

Tropical storm watch for Bermuda whilst Nate dissipates:
• Tropical Storm Maria is expected to move towards the Bahamas during the first half of the week before turning northeast and heading out over the open waters of the Atlantic.

Image courtesy of National Hurricane Center/NOAA. The Bermuda weather service has issued a Tropical storm watch for Bermuda. Maria is moving toward the North-NorthWest near 5 mph.

• Meanwhile Tropical Storm Nate has dissipated over Mexico but will continue to give heavy rains for a time.

Possible tropical formations:

• There is the risk of further tropical cyclone formation later in the week to the northeast of Taiwan and southwest of Japan.

• Potential for tropical storm formation in Arabian Sea with heavy rainfall risk adjacent land areas of Pakistan.

UK and World weather report: Typhoon Talas worst to hit Japan since 2004

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Distance travelled ~ 655'367'200 km

Last week brought typically varied conditions over the UK and while around the world tropical cyclones continued to dominate the headlines.

It was unsettled across many parts of the UK last week. In a theme that would be repeated later in the week strong winds caused some disruption on Tuesday as an Atlantic depression crossed northern Scotland. Winds reached 80 miles per hour at the Needles on the Isle of Wight as ferries were cancelled and trees uprooted in Dorset, while over 80 mm of rain fell in Snowdonia.

From midweek temperatures started to rise in eastern areas as warm air was drawn north from the continent. Highs of 24.8 Celsius were recorded at Wainfleet in Lincolnshire on Friday and 25.0 Celsuis at Leconfield, North Humberside and Weyborne in north Norfolk on Saturday.

The wind started to pick up once again on Sunday with gales developing across Scotland and cloud and rain spread from the Atlantic. This was the pre-cursor to today's particularly stormy weather as a deep area of low pressure which contained post-tropical storm Katia brought gales and heavy rain to parts of the UK. The strongest winds were recorded in exposed areas of Northern Ireland, Southern Scotland, North Wales and parts of Northern England with gusts of 76 miles per hour at Malin Head and 73 miles per hour in Glasgow.

Across the world tropical cyclones dominated the weather last week - Typhoon Talas struck the west of Japan early in the week, Tropical Depression Kulpa gave heavy rain and flooding over southern South Korea. Tropical Storm Lee drenched New York leading to complete loss of a days play at the US Open Tennis, Tropical Storm Maria passed by the islands of the northeast Carribean, Tropical Storm Nate affected the southwest of the Gulf of Mexico leading to the closure of Mexico's two main crude oil export ports.

Typhoon Talas nears the southern islands of Japan in this NASA MODIS image from September 2, 2011

Typhoon Talas was the most destructive typhoon to hit Japan since 2004. The typhoon swept through the west of the country on Sunday, dumping heavy rain and bringing winds of up to 68 miles per hour. Entire villages have been flooded, with bridges and houses destroyed.

Tropical Storm Lee caused catastrophic flooding on the US coast, flooding streets, homes and businesses, reportedly leaving eight people dead and causing more than 130,000 people to be moved for their own safety. The storm struck Maryland to New England and dropped up to a foot of rain outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which declared a state of emergency. Eight feet of water covered the river towns of Tunkhannock and Shickshinney. Elsewhere, the strong winds spread wildfires that destroyed homes and killed two people in Texas.