Metropol

For over a week now we have been warned about the storm that is coming. Apparently its the worst this winter, although i always thought winter was Dec - Feb. Anyway, this storm is being sexed up like all weather is. Depending on where you read, it would seem all hell will break loose tomorrow.

Weather warnings issued by the Met Office constantly change, which pisses me off. It seems like they dont have a clue, but then i have to remember weather changes all the time.

I for one am im hoping this storm turns out to be the worst ever. Its about time we had some proper bad weather. I mean god forbid we should have a dusting of snow which brings the UK to a standstill.

I went to Ikea in Edinburgh yesterday and found myself in a mile long tailback. What could be causing the taffic to slow to 10mph I wondered.

Turned out to be a 2 inch deep puddle across the road that all the city idiots in their land rovers were scared to drive over at speed. My little Astra went through it at 30mph with an angry honk of the horn at the twat in front who decided to "test his brakes" after attempting such a hazardous river crossing

onetrickpony wrote:For over a week now we have been warned about the storm that is coming. Apparently its the worst this winter, although i always thought winter was Dec - Feb.

Please don't drag that pathetic argument over from TVF where it was raging for days!

This supports the idea that everyone on tvf has aspies - they can't appreciate that winter isn't precisely defined!

nodnirG kraM wrote:Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way.

Don't worry, there isn't.

Well winter or not, i hope i get swept of my feet tomorrow

Now we're on one of my favourite topics.

The wind speed is only part of the issue with this storm.

The pressure at the centre of the depression is forecast to be in the region of 940 millibars. That's very low. Lowest ever pressure measured in the North Atlantic was 916mb in December 1986, details at the link below. Current reading here just outside Belfast is 991mb, so it's going to fall rapidly in the next few hours.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/p ... w1986.html

This very low pressure will cause the already very high spring tides to rise even higher owing to the atmospheric pressure above the country being so low (it is literally pressure pushing down on the surface of the earth - for every 1mb of pressure below 1013mb the sea level can rise by up to 1cm). In fact the tides could be in the region of 50cm higher than they would have been, and they were already going to be very high.

Add to this the effect the wind will add to the tides in terms of waves and you end up with a potentially nasty situation. Western facing coasts will be worst affected as the westerly winds will further push the water towards those coasts.

Here is the current Met Office warning:

The Met Office continues to expect an intense low pressure system to move east across the UK during Monday, bringing severe gales and potentially damaging gusts across some areas, more particularly the west and south of England and Wales. Southerly winds are expected to strengthen during the early hours of Monday to give severe gales for a time, coinciding with the morning rush hour in some areas. An additional swathe of severe westerly gales will follow through the morning and afternoon, principally affecting southwest England and the south coast of England. Gusts of 60 to 70 mph are likely with the possibility of 80 mph gusts on exposed coasts and hills. Disruption to transport and power supplies is possible and there may be damage to buildings and trees. In addition high waves and flooding may affect coastal areas in the south. This warning is likely to be superseded by FLASH messages.

The sea area forecast is, predictably, rather scarier! Currently the storm is out in the Atlantic and will move towards sea area Sole:

SOLE: Developing low moving rapidly east, expected 54 north 17 west 945 by 100000 UTC. Winds in the southern semicircle will reach storm force 10 at times up to 600 miles from the centre. From 091200 UTC, winds in the southwestern quadrant will reach violent storm force 11 or hurricane force 12 at times between 90 and 360 miles from the centre. In the northwestern quadrant, winds will reach storm force 10 at times between 60 and 400 miles from the centre. Winds in the east of Denmark Strait will reach storm force 10 at times until 100600 UTC.

nodnirG kraM wrote:Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way.

Haha, yeah, Michael Fish made a special guest appearance to put everybody's minds at ease.

Connor Sephton wrote:

nodnirG kraM wrote:Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way.

Haha, yeah, Michael Fish made a special guest appearance to put everybody's minds at ease.

And we all know that if Michael Fish says we have nothing to worry about we will be fine

onetrickpony wrote:Well winter or not, i hope i get swept of my feet tomorrow

Shaun, there are a number of ways that you could achieve this:

Stand on a slippery surface at 3am tomorrow morning in shoes with poor grip and pray for a gale force gust of wind
Stand in one lane of the A43 dual carriageway (facing away from on-coming traffic)
Play the "Vodka & Rohypnol" version of Russian Roulette with a person of your choice, hope that you 'lose' and that they take advantage of their 'win'.

In addition to what I said above, this is from the current shipping forecast... personally I don't remember the use of the word "phenomenal" to indicate the sea state before...

Sole Lundy Fastnet:
West 5 to 7 backing south gale 8 to storm 10 then veering west, perhaps violent storm 11 later. Rough or very rough becoming high or very high, occasionally phenomenal later in Sole and Fastnet. Rain or showers. Good becoming poor.

Shannon:
West 5 to 7 backing south gale 8 to storm 10 then veering northwest severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, perhaps hurricane force 12 later. high becoming very high or phenomenal. Rain or showers. Good becoming very poor.