Had a couple of bif fires down here recently in Bournemouth. Would probably not have gone up in flames so quickly this early in the year is it had not have been so dry. This is the sort of thing we nornally get down here at the hight of summer.
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9626084.Stray_firework_sparks_clifftop_inferno/
I remember reading about that at the time. I may ahve to start a heath fire thread soon. That'll guarantee rain
Thats an impressive fire.
Not unless torrential rain falls over reservoirs for long periods of time.
Autumn and winter/early Spring are going to have to be wet or very wet or otherwise we're in serious tourble next year without a doubt. Severe water restrictions for most if not all.
MMMM-i think we might be in serious trouble this year-although its worth mentioning that in 2007 when we had the extreme dry spring it eventually started raining in may and then here in rutland we had over 100mm in may ,june and july-each and there is a photo on the rutland sailing club website showing rutland water full to the very top in july-so it could happen .but what are the chances???
Its just mind boggling how persistant high pressure has been around the uk for well most of last year and all of this year and when we do get an unsettlled spell high pressure is often close enough to make the rainfall amounts meagre.in this part of the uk at least.Most of our unsettled spells are now fairly dry!!!!
East Sussex Fire Officer (on Radio Sussex) saying aprpopos Ashdown Forest fires that March and April are his biggest worries, as all last year's bracken is there as dried-up fronds, and fire can spread very fast is there's no green growth to damp it down
There isent a lot of green in the Ashdown forest, I was there last Sunday when they had a fire
The IMBY rainfall stats for January to March highlight just how dry it's been this year;
The top three driest years in reverse order (values in mm):
January February March Total
2011 86.6 49.4 10.5 146.5
2005 41.1 25.9 51.0 118.0
2012 42.0 15.2 24.5 81.7
It really is extraordinary.
Very similar here in 2012
Jan 47.9mmFeb 17.2mmMar 22.2mm
Total 87.3mmOnly 1.4mm has fallen since 8 March
Heathrow has been even drier
Jan 34mmFeb 17mmMar 16mmTotal 67mmThen again some parts of Scotland have been very dry this year
LeucharsJan 26mmFeb 19mmMar 10mmTotal 55mm
Edited by user 02 April 2012 21:42:18(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
It's interesting to see when this drought ends, will it herald flooding rains?
I have noticed that as well.
In March 2011 we had 8.2mm compared to 31mm in March 2012, of which 19.7mm fell on 18th March. In February 2011 we had 32.6mm, compared to 8.1mm in February 2012.
It leaves to be seen what this month can produce, but April 2011 won't take much beating as we only had 5.6mm.
South Coast remains a desert while Scotland gets snow and northern England a bit of everything! One brief light shower here late evening despite forecasts of prolonged rain moving down from the north.
Well beaten already
And for us too! It can carry on like this all month as long as someone remembers to turn off the tap at the end of April!
"despite forecasts of prolonged rain moving down from the north."
Still virtually no rain here, still in the desert 0.9mm only so far
Edited by user 04 April 2012 12:08:27(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
My rain guage was knocked over during the night, much to my dismay.
However, I was woken by heavy rain drumming on the (flat) roof during the night and when dawn came the road was wet and there were puddles! I think we must have had a few mm here as a result.
It sounds like the rainfall was a bit localised in the SE anyway, as I don't think you're a million miles away from here...
A dam good soaking here today and plenty more to come, 22mms and rising.
The soil its soaking it up nicely and the Brooke is rising.
19mm here today!
Nick - I don't think it's anything to do with the impending hosepipe ban being effective. It's because I chose today to have a new central heating boiler fitted! It's the coldest, wettest, foulest day of the year and after all the warm sunny days we've had, today we're without hot water and heating!
If I'd known that's all it would take to get rain, I'd have had the boiler fitted sooner!