Stay safe all.

Really does feel a world away here on a warm and still Christmas Eve afternoon in Sydney.

Drat it, the squall line is now completely stationary. The good news is that it's weakening somewhat now.

EDIT: Really frustrating - it's been stuck over Dartford for half an hour now. At this rate the trough following behind will catch it up. I cannot understand why it's ground to a halt?

EDIT2: That explains it, a wave has formed on the front. The new cold front has appeared right at the western edge of the NW radar map... the countdown starts all over again then. :/

EDIT3, delayed as the mobile tower is having problems with its uplink: The squall line is definitely moving eastwards again and it's intensified again. Dartford's about to get another pounding!

EDIT4: And another kink, the squall line stalls yet again. Lights have started flickering again here after a relatively stable spell. The wind is still howling away outside and TBH I just want this hellishly long night to be over...

EDIT5: The squall line has reached Gravesend. However yet another kink has developed and it's still no closer to ending this spell of gales here.

EDIT6: It now looks like the squall line is dissipating, breaking up... it's still stuck tantalisingly 30 miles or so to my west but I've a funny feeling it won't actually make it here as anything other than a slightly heavier burst of rain. The wind, at long last, seems to be easing slightly. It remains to be seen whether the remnants of the squall line have any squalls associated with them!

---

Drat it, the squall line is now completely stationary. The good news is that it's weakening somewhat now.

EDIT: Really frustrating - it's been stuck over Dartford for half an hour now. At this rate the trough following behind will catch it up. I cannot understand why it's ground to a halt?

EDIT2: That explains it, a wave has formed on the front. The new cold front has appeared right at the western edge of the NW radar map... the countdown starts all over again then. :/

EDIT3, delayed as the mobile tower is having problems with its uplink: The squall line is definitely moving eastwards again and it's intensified again. Dartford's about to get another pounding!

EDIT4: And another kink, the squall line stalls yet again. Lights have started flickering again here after a relatively stable spell. The wind is still howling away outside and TBH I just want this hellishly long night to be over...

EDIT5: The squall line has reached Gravesend. However yet another kink has developed and it's still no closer to ending this spell of gales here.

Annoying innit? But it does appear to be trying to taper away and while it is still gale force, it has become a SW so that hilly bit is providing a windbreak.
At least the roof is still in one piece and as far as I know, damage has been kept to a minimum around the town. Helped that the trees are now bare anyway, unless it's an evergreen.

Well, won't forget this one in a hurry.

---

Heavy rain again now, 20.2mm since midnight

---

Heavy rain again now, 20.2mm since midnight

I think you've had almost double the rainfall up there! 

A second tree down now...

The wind's getting up again now, much to my disappointment - it was supposed to ease off by now!

EDIT: The "good riddance" trough is now moving across London. The remnants of the squall line are still pretty much stationary near Gravesend.

EDIT2: Remnants are now approaching Medway. ETA here - around 20 to 25 minutes. And then, at long last, it should be over. Incidentally the temperature is rising now, it's up to 11.6C. Funny how there always seems to be a boost in temperatures just before a marked cold front!

---

Well the only thing that woke me up was my daughter about 4.15. I think the squall probably woke her up but I didn't hear it (I usually sleep through anything!) Havin said that I also slept through the 1987 storm when our garden fence and gate totally disappeared!

When I went to bed around 11.30, though, the wind was far far louder than anything from the St Jude gales. It's a totally different order of magnitude - I don't know why the media leapt on that one so much while this storm, so much more powerful and destructive, got relatively little attention beforehand?

Oddly looking up the peak gusts at Odiham they were 78mph on Oct 28 but only 71mph today. I think the difference is that St Jude only had a short spell of strong gusts whereas this one just kept on blowing for hours.

---

Oddly looking up the peak gusts at Odiham they were 78mph on Oct 28 but only 71mph today. I think the difference is that St Jude only had a short spell of strong gusts whereas this one just kept on blowing for hours.

Not only that, but around here at least the sustained wind speeds were (are) around 10 MPH higher than the St Jude storm - that had one or two really strong gusts but aside from that was barely a gale. The current system, on the other hand, is a full gale, something which is remarkably uncommon around here.

---

Oddly looking up the peak gusts at Odiham they were 78mph on Oct 28 but only 71mph today. I think the difference is that St Jude only had a short spell of strong gusts whereas this one just kept on blowing for hours.

Not only that, but around here at least the sustained wind speeds were (are) around 10 MPH higher than the St Jude storm - that had one or two really strong gusts but aside from that was barely a gale. The current system, on the other hand, is a full gale, something which is remarkably uncommon around here.

Yes certainly sounded that way here too. Noisiest sustained winds I can remember.

A brief look outside suggests no damage that I can see, fortunately. The fence I put up 8 years ago is still standing as far as I can tell!

---

The temperature's started falling at the other end of the Isle and it's coincided with a large gust of wind... it's close now. :)

EDIT: Here we go - a "whoosh" and some heavy rain splatting against the window. And now it's absolutely lashing it down, it's whipping around under the streetlights like a wet version of a snowglobe.

---

No trains on the SWT network before 10am due to 28 trees down and 6 areas of flooding.

Looks like I will be driving up to work in London. I'll try and get a couple of hours' kip first. Hope the winds die down soon for those still getting battered. It's all gone quiet here now (both outside and inside thankfully!)

---

And... it's through! Temperature's dropping slowly, the rain has eased and the relative silence is deafening. Phew, just run-of-the-mill 20 or low 30-something gusts now.

At a quick glance it looks like everything's intact although it's pretty dark out there, a full check will have to wait until daylight.

As this trough exits stage right, it's now the turn of the north and west... good luck guys!

---

Roughest period of sustained winds for many a year. I've spent most of that windy spell at work in Basingstoke so haven't undertaken any damage assessment at home yet. Hopefully I'll manage to get home OK!

What promised to be a quiet night shift was far from it. Fww, all the issues here have been water related(as usual) !!!

Up early after going to bed late following this storm. Walked onto landing and there's a line of dampness where water had been coming through the loft hatch......wondering if tiles have gone or if the wind has just forced water into the loft void. Can't get up there till daylight as kids asleep.

Edit....downstairs our door mat and carpet are sodden as the wind literally forced the rain under the front door. Never seen anything like this before.

---

And... it's through! Temperature's dropping slowly, the rain has eased and the relative silence is deafening. Phew, just run-of-the-mill 20 or low 30-something gusts now.

At a quick glance it looks like everything's intact although it's pretty dark out there, a full check will have to wait until daylight.

As this trough exits stage right, it's now the turn of the north and west... good luck guys!

Not so fast Retron! Here in SE Kent we are entering our 20th consecutive hour of gale force winds, and its lashing down. When it is light and the cold front has passed, I will assess the damage.

---

Not so fast Retron! Here in SE Kent we are entering our 20th consecutive hour of gale force winds, and its lashing down. When it is light and the cold front has passed, I will assess the damage.

Doh, it looks like the trough finally caught up to the cold front in your neck of the woods and as a result it's pepped up again. Hope your survey reveals nothing of note later!

---

Not so fast Retron! Here in SE Kent we are entering our 20th consecutive hour of gale force winds, and its lashing down. When it is light and the cold front has passed, I will assess the damage.

Doh, it looks like the trough finally caught up to the cold front in your neck of the woods and as a result it's pepped up again. Hope your survey reveals nothing of note later!

Cheers. There were Some sleep breakingly loud crashes in the night. I managed about 6 hours of sleep. We've had a power cut. It's back on now. Made the kids sleep downstairs as was worried about the chimney stack. I think the CF has passed...

---

Heavy rain again now, 20.2mm since midnight

I think you've had almost double the rainfall up there! 

A second tree down now...

All quiet now. 23.0 today + 36.0 yesterday.  I note Kenley airfield has had 69.0 mm in the past 24 hours.  I think they caught more of the sqall line around 03:30.  A PWS, just off the A22, at Kenley recorded 43.7mm since midnight, presumably under the squall line for a fair length of time and 36.3mm yesterday. 

---

Reading through the BBC live text/twitterf feed , reports of people from aircraft ! Sounds like a true nightmare: people hovering over airports in this storm for up to an hour, aborted attempts at landing (luton) and reports of 'Magician' pilots being able to land in this weather. Well done to all

---

Interesting journey home from Basingstoke to Alton. Many trees down but the chain saw gangs are out which is just as well. Quite a few places where only one car can pass but the drivers are being sensible as they were after the stingjet in October