Climate chaos

Floods and gales bring chaos and misery to UK

Britain mops up after downpours and 70mph winds cause damage and disruption with more rain forecast for weekend

The Guardian,

22 November, 2012

Homes and businesses were flooded, tens of thousands of pounds of damage caused by high winds, and journeys by road and rail disrupted as the UK was battered again by rain and gales.

A band of heavy rain accompanied by winds of 70mph trundled across much of the country from the north-west, bringing with it chaos. Forecasters said on Thursday night that there was likely to be a reprieve on Friday before another weather front arrives at the weekend, this time from the south-west. Next week it is likely to turn calmer but colder, and there could be snow on the way.

The Midlands and south-west England bore the brunt on Thursday. In the Sparkhill area of Birmingham, a roof blew off a mosque, damaging three cars but missing passersby.

People in Halberton, Devon, were evacuated after a section of the 200-year-old Great Western Canal crumbled, allowing water to pour into fields.

Hundreds of homes were left without power in parts of the south-west as lines were brought down by the high winds and dozens of schools were closed. Christmas light switch-ons in Exeter and Plymouth and Cardiff's Winter Wonderland festivities were postponed.

Trains between Somerset and Devon were cancelled or delayed because part of the track was flooded and there were also problems in Hampshire after a train hit a branch that had fallen across the line.

An RNLI lifeboat stood by on the Somerset Levels amid concerns that more rain falling on ground that has been sodden for months combined with a high tide could lead to severe flooding. Parish councils across Somerset were asked to turn village halls into makeshift shelters.

People were evacuated from Billing Aquadrome campsite in Northamptonshire, while in Devon the coastguard warned people to stay out of the sea after a canoeist got into difficulty off Burgh Island, sparking an air and sea rescue effort. He managed to get back to shore under his own power.

The weather also made it into the House of Commons when the Tory MP Roger Gale raised the case of a shipment of livestock that had made it halfway across the Channel before being beaten back by the weather. "This is absolutely intolerable and it is done in the name of free trade," said Gale.

It all made for difficult driving conditions. The M48 Severn crossing was closed to all traffic while the Tamar bridge between Devon and Cornwall was shut to high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorcycles. The AA said it had experienced record callouts this week, receiving 900 breakdown reports every hour. On a typical Thursday it attends around 9,500 incidents. This Thursday it was expecting to reach the 13,000 mark.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for Thursday covering much of England, Scotland and Wales. By nightfall, Anglesea had suffered the worst of the downpours with 42mm of rain falling in 24 hours.

Paul Gundersen, the Met Office's deputy chief forecaster, said: "The current unsettled spell of weather is set to continue with further spells of heavy rain expected across the country over the next few days.

"There has been some torrential rain and squally winds on Thursday as a cold front moved across the UK, but another deep depression developing off Iberia will head towards us for the weekend. This is expected to bring more heavy rain and strong to gale force winds to many parts of the country."

There is some uncertainty about exactly what track the low pressure will take at the weekend and so where the strongest winds will be. Currently, The Met Office is forecasting the potential for gusts of 60 to 70mph for south-eastern coastal counties of England overnight Saturday and into Sunday. The Environment Agency warned there could be severe flooding across England.

By Thursday night more than 80 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – had been issued for England and Wales. Of them, 36 were for the south-west and 29 for the Midlands. In addition there were more than 180 flood alerts – meaning flooding is possible.

Ian Tomes, Environment Agency area flood risk manager, said: "We have mobilised teams across the country to check on flood defences, clear any river blockages and closely monitor river levels.

"We will do everything we can to warn and inform people about the risk of flooding from rivers but we cannot always prevent it, so people need to take action to prepare now."

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Storm slams Pacific Northwest with record rain, wind; at least one dead

Britain mops up after downpours and 70mph winds cause damage and disruption with more rain forecast for weekend

NBC News,

21 November, 2012

The heavy winds and rain that pummeled the Pacific Northwest, flooding roads and highways and leaving at least one person dead, eased on Tuesday though showers remained in the forecast for much of the Thanksgiving holiday week.

Rain and wind pounded Washington and Oregon on Monday, flooding streets, toppling large trucks and cutting power to more than 20,000 people.

Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in six hours in one Seattle neighborhood — a total that Seattle Public Utilities meteorologist James Rufo-Hill called "extraordinary."

By late Monday night, 2.13 inches of rain had fallen for the day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, shattering the record of 1.23 inches for Nov. 19 set in 1962.

Other areas of Western Washington fared even worse. More than 7 inches fell over a two-day period in Potlatch, Mason County, more than 6 inches in Bremerton and nearly 4 inches in Olympia, meteorologist Jay Neher said, according to The Seattle Times.

The drenching caused widespread flooding of roads and highways and some residential neighborhoods, and even sewage overflows in parts of Seattle and Everett, Wash. Several blocks of downtown streets were briefly flooded in Port Orchard, west of Seattle.

Wet weather was expected to continue through the week, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jay Neher in Seattle said that the "heavy rain is over."

"We're into showers now," he said.

Weather Service meteorologist Ted Buehner said he had one "screaming message" for those traveling across mountain passes for Thanksgiving: "Be prepared for hazardous winter weather — and that includes coming back," Buehner told The Seattle Times.

On Oregon's northwest coast, an elk hunter was killed Monday morning when a tree crashed on his tent near Nehalem. Two hunters in an adjacent camp heard the tree snap as gusts reached more than 70 mph, and saw it lying across the tent. They cut it away in an attempt to rescue the man, to no avail.

Nearly 44 million people in the U.S. will travel this Thanksgiving week with a whopping 90 percent driving. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

Tillamook County Sheriff Andy Long identified the hunter as Nathan Christensen, 52, of Seattle.

A Portland police officer was seriously injured during all-terrain vehicle training when a tree fell. Sgt. Pete Simpson said the accident on Hayden Island in the Columbia River appeared to be weather-related.

In southwest Washington, a Washington State Patrol car and another vehicle were struck by a tree carried by a mudslide on U.S. Highway 101 near Naselle.

The patrol car started burning, and the trooper had to break a window to crawl to safety. The trooper was unhurt, and the female driver of the other vehicle was OK except for neck pain. Both vehicles were destroyed by the fire.

Strong winds overturned large commercial trucks on two highways Monday. One tractor-trailer rig tipped over while crossing the Astoria-Megler Bridge that carries U.S. 101 across the Columbia River. That caused a lengthy traffic headache.

Another tractor-trailer rig was blown onto its side in the middle of the Chehalis River Bridge in Aberdeen, on the Washington coast, Aberdeen police said.

Peak wind gusts in Washington reached 101 mph on the Astoria bridge and 61 mph at Hoquiam on the coast. They hit 114 mph on isolated Naselle Ridge in the mountains of southwest Washington, the Weather Service reported.

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Thousands of people in Oregon and Washington were left without power on Monday.

Flood warnings were issued for a handful of western Washington rivers, with moderate flooding expected Tuesday along the Chehalis River in the Centralia area. Residents there were told where to find sandbags and were directed to move any endangered livestock to higher ground.

The Weather Service reported 24-hour rainfall totals as of Monday evening that included 4.09 inches in Bremerton, west of Seattle; 2.97 inches at Hoquiam on the Washington coast; and 6 inches at Cushman Dam on the Olympic Peninsula.

Ice Age Cometh? Coldest weather for one hundred years coming to Britain

Britain will grind to a halt within weeks as the most savage freeze for a century begins. 

 

Sott.net

21 November, 2012

Temperatures will fall as low as minus 20C in rural areas, forecasters warned last night, while heavy snow and "potentially dangerous" blizzards will close roads and cripple rail networks.

James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather, said: "We are looking at some of the coldest and snowiest conditions in at least 100 years. This is most likely to occur in the December to January period with the potential for widespread major snowfall across the country.

"Parts of the North, Scotland and eastern England are likely to experience a run of well below average temperatures, which will include some potentially dangerous blizzard conditions at times."

He warned the South faces a bout of "unusually heavy snowfall" in December.

Leon Brown, meteorologist for The Weather Channel, said snow could arrive as early as next weekend, with temperatures falling to minus 5C in the North.

"There is a 30 per cent risk of some snow over lower levels in Scotland on Friday."

But before the big freeze arrives the problem will be torrential rain and strong winds gusting up to 80mph. The Met Office last night issued severe weather warnings for heavy rain in parts of the North-west on Monday and Tuesday.

Forecaster Dan Williams said: "Low pressure is going to bring rain and some strong gusts to parts of the country on Sunday night and into Monday. It is going to be a very unsettled week after that with bursts of rain and strong gusts throughout. Apart from Sunday, the weather will be very changeable so that is when to make the most of it."

Jonathan Powell, of Vantage Weather Services, warned: "The ground is already saturated from the wet summer, so flooding is a definite risk next week." He said the worst of the big freeze would hit in January and February when winter delivers a sting in the tail.

"We are looking at January and early February for winter to really bare its teeth. Extreme low temperatures in rural areas, especially in the North where minus 20C is not unlikely, with the possibility of significant snow events."

Britain's "roller coaster" November has so far seen freezing temperatures followed by almost spring-like conditions. Temperatures rose by 22C in just 24 hours as milder weather triggered heavy rain in Scotland and the North.

Temperatures topped 61F (16C) in England, while parts of Scotland enjoyed their warmest November day since 2001. Just a day earlier Aboyne in Aberdeenshire shivered in minus 6.1C.