BECALMED... IN SWIRLING SEA OF MIST
WITH the landscape shrouded in a sea of mist, all looks peaceful.
But forecasters say another deluge is on the way.
The West of Scotland awoke yesterday to countryside white with frost and sub-zero temperatures leading to hazardous conditions for drivers.
But there were warnings of fresh road and rail disruption today as a 27-hour spell of torrential rain delivers another soaking to some areas.
There could even be more ‘thundersnow’, the noisy storm phenomenon that woke residents in Edinburgh on Friday.
Steven Keates of the Met Office said low-pressure in the North Sea is causing the East to suffer the harshest of the conditions.
He said: ‘Most of our weather usually moves from west to east. But we are stuck in a rut at the moment with a buckled jetstream bringing our weather in through the back door. On Monday and Tuesday, a low-pressure system will bring in wet and windy weather, particularly for eastern spots which have seen much of the lively activity recently. The air is slightly milder, which means the bulk of the snow will happen on the hills.
‘But it’s not without the realms of possibility that we may see a repeat of the thundersnow which hit Edinburgh last week.’
The main warning for the North-East is from 6pm tonight until pm tomorrow. The worst of the rain is expected overnight in Central, Tayside and Fife, Grampian and Highlands and Islands, becoming more showery through tomorrow.
Up to around an inch of rain (30mm) is expected, or up to two inches in the hills. The warning says: ‘With the ground saturated, this is likely to lead to flooding in a few areas.’
A second rain warning was issued for an area south of Edinburgh from 6pm tonight until 6am tomorrow.
WINTER scenes of settled snow could become a thing of the past due to climate change, according to the Met office.
An analysis suggests that by 2080, only very high ground and parts of northern Scotland could experience sub-zero daytime temperatures, and they will have vanished altogether in the South of England by the 2040s.
The Met office warned sledging and snowball fights could be consigned to history without action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
The full extent of the analysis is due to be revealed on BBC Panorama: Britain’s Wild Weather, this evening. Dr Lizzie Kendon, a Met office scientist who worked on the projections, told the show: ‘We’re saying by the end of the century much of the lying snow will have disappeared entirely except over the highest ground.
‘ The overarching picture is warmer, wetter winters; hotter, drier summers. But within that, we get this shift towards more extreme events, so more frequent and intense extremes, so heavier rainfall when it occurs.
‘It’s a big change... in the course of our lifetime.’ Projections for the uK assume global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. While the Met office has said they are credible, they may not be the most likely scenario. A reduction in global emissions would see the uK avoid the largest increase in temperatures. But forecasters warned there was still likely to be an increase in average temperatures.
Fears for Christmas dinners are growing after a further two turkey farms were hit by bird flu. More than 30,000 of the birds have been slaughtered in King’s Lynn and Snetterton, in Norfolk, after officials confirmed the outbreaks.
The culls could ignite fears of a shortage of turkeys if there are more cases. The news follows a government announcement that all hens, turkeys and other captive birds in Britain are to be kept indoors from 14 December to prevent the spread of bird flu. Last month, 10,500 turkeys were culled at a premises in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, due to bird flu.
If you treat people like cattle, don’t be surprised when they stampede