Up north I missed out on the drama of thunderstorms
“Where have you been?” was the question my colleagues instantly asked when I returned to The Daily Telegraph offices sun-tanned and smug after the bank holiday weekend.
Nowhere more glamorous than Sheffield. For while thunderstorms have been lashing the south in recent days in the north (more or less) it has been glorious.
That is set to change. This weekend look markedly improved for the South East while in the far north and west of the country thundery showers are predicted. Yorkshire, I’m pleased to report from the selfish perspective of having a walk down into the Peaks planned, is spared the brunt of it.
The start of meteorological summer – for as of yesterday that is now where we are – is proving a precarious thing.
In truth, though, I am sad to have so far missed the thunderstorms. I love the brief thrill of a summer storm – except for one memorable occasion when my brother and I got stranded on a beach in the Isle of Wight with rain washing the clay paths away and the sea boiling up towards us.
And there was also the time I was camping in a field in Brittany and lightning bolts flashed down so close they lit the night sky like police sirens.
Such storms are most common in summer because of two reasons: moisture and rapidly rising warm air. Indeed the most typical time for a thunderstorm (on land) is between 3pm and 9pm when the heat of the day is drifting up into the atmosphere.
On one June day in 2012, more than 110,000 lightning bolts were recorded across Britain – 200 strikes a minute being the highest on record.
By contrast during the peak of the thunderstorms over the bank holiday weekend, 15,000 lightning strikes were recorded over four hours. Piffling in comparison. Perhaps I won’t even bother fetching my raincoat for my weekend ramble?