23rd May - Today's News: Britain On Track For Rare Cold Spring

This will be the last news blog until the end of next week as I'm away home to Moidart tomorrow.

No surprise to hear that spring on track to be coldest for 30 years - despite what many think and want, it can't be warmer than average every year .....

Personal stories and images from Moore as five tornado victims still missing after storm found alive whilst mayor of Moore pushes for shelter law

And beautiful pictures of a very foggy Chicago as it gets blanketed in morning mist

Gretna border closes as North Dakota grapples with flood

In Norway, hundreds evacuated and damage spreads as flood waters rise

A weakening of the QBO may be a tropical upper atmosphere 'fingerprint' of global warming

Volcano project scours Iceland  for early warning signals

Good idea, wrong location: Ministers approve plans for world's biggest wave farm in Western Isles but at present the inforastructure isn't in place to carry the electricity produce to the mainland.  So, er, why not find a more suitable location closer to centers of population?

Forecast for Saturn's moon Titan: wild weather could be ahead as spring arrives

22nd May - Today's News: Oklahoma Death Toll Now 24

Oklahoma tornado: search for survivors nears end - with some good news in that the death toll has been downgraded to 24, including 9 children.  Meanwhile, severe weather moves to the eastern third of the US.

After a cold spring, apples and pears shaping up enjoy strong harvest

Cairngorm Mountain's snowsport's season finished - a little earlier than in recent years

Norway flood warnings issued, railways hit

NZ turns into a lightning rod

Hong Kong stock market opens after heavy rain halted trading

And more flooding hits southern China

World's largest tropical glacier shrinks

High blood pressure is linked to cold, wet weather

Origins of human culture linked to rapid climate change - though I'm not sure that that is anything new, climate change long having been the 'mother of invention' for homo sapiens.

And concnerns grow on the impacts of climate change and wildfire

21st May - Today's News: Deadly Tornado Strikes Oklahoma; Over 90 Dead

Don't let anyone ever tell you Britain has bad weather.   Britain almost never has bad weather.   This is bad weather ....... :(

Oklahoma tornado: dozens killed in Moore

The dead include many pupils from an infant school flattened by the mile and a half wide tornado.  The death toll looks likely to rise with many still missing.  

Seven children found drowned in pool amid fears 24 more classmates may have persished

Current live coverage here

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France sees tornado, snow and stormy weather

'Freak' spring storms dumps record 58cm of snow on Gander, Newfoundland

Waterspouts twirl in Auckland

In Western Australia, remote Lombadina community under water after 180mm deluge

In Bangalore, six trees fall in 60 minutes as evening rain floods city whilst heat wave cripples North India

Worst drought in decades brings crisis of unprecedented proportions, says Namibian president

Northern hemisphere losing last dry snow region, says CU study

And the Clovis Comet hypothesis finds more support:  how cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

20th May - Today's News: Rash of Tornadoes Hit Central USA

Oklahoma ravaged by deadly tornadoes with the usual run of pictures from the Daily Mail as man, 79, killed and at least 21 injured as tornadoes hit Kansas and Oklahoma.   With the storm system continuing, the lastest is that a new tornado strikes Missouri as rash of central US twisters kills 1.

Apparently, flooding hits northeast as one month's rainfall of nearly two inches falls in just 24 hours - I'm pretty sure most parts of the NE see more than 50mm of rain in May (even Evesham has an ave of 53mm) and the highest total for the NE that I can find for the 24 hour period to 15.00 on Saturday is 40mm at Albermarle, near Newcastle.   So more like and inch and a half.....   Notwithstanding which, it was a wet day up there and there was local flooding as a consequence.

Late snow hits Iberian peninsular

Climate slowdown means extreme rates of warming 'not as likely' - in other words, the world is warming, but not so fast as it was previously though it would.  Which is pretty obvious really.   Of course, precipitation pattern change - in my opinion the bigger threat - is not dependant just on atmospheric temperature, but on landuse change and, especially, deforestation, as well. 

18th May - Today's News: 53 Killed in Chinese Storms, Floods

53 killed by rain and floods in S China

There could be a bumper crop of apples because of cold spring but it also means UK's rare spring butterflies put on a late show


Spring floods in Latvia the most powerful and destructive in the last two decades


Japanese cloud seeding tests work for second year in a row

Global warming has not stalled, insists world's best known climate scientist - and he's right.

And a good piece by Graham Readfearn on how zombie climate sceptic theories survive only in newspapers and on TV


Antarctica's 'bleeding glacier' is kind of terrifying - of course, 'they' tell us it's just caused by simple microbes in an iron-rich environment, but we all know it's really Shoggoths ......

Alert after Alaskan volcano erupts

Earthquake rattles residents in Ontario, Quebec  and an earthquake measuring 2.8 on the Richter Scale hits parts of Highlands causing consternation in Poolewe


Weather on outer planets only goes so deep

And cue more end of the world panic on the silly paranoid conspiracy forums as asteroid nine times the size of the QE2 to pass Earth later this month.

17th May - Today's News: Texas Tornadoes Kills 6

On Wednesday, 13 tornadoes wallop North Texas; 6 dead.  As usual, lots of photos of the desruction from the Dail Mail as mother of four describers her horrific ordeal in aftermath of Texas tornadoes.  And there are 7 still missing from deadly storm

Snow-covered Shropshire hills are a white surprise as two inches of snow, a month's rainfall in a day and 65mph winds hit Britain.   We had about a third of a month's rainfall (and no snow nor strong winds) and the month's total here is close to average. 

In Wales, Minera mudslide clean-up begins

Omaha goes from record low temperature to record high temperature in two days whilst in Minnesota, 100-degree temp in Austin shatters all-time May record.  In contrast, record low temperatures recorded over interior Alaska (though these are only date records).

There's a sunny summer forecast for desperate Danes - interesting to see Denmark has had above average rainfall every summer since 2001.  A trend, perhaps?

As cyclone Mahasen  comes ashore, Bangladesh rides out weakened storm

Hot weather rages through central Viet Nam

Dramatic video footage as St Petersburg TV tower struck by lightning

World's melting glaciers making large contribution to sea rise but it's possible world's biggest ice sheets likely more stable than previously believed - assuming tectonic movements rather than just sea level rises are responsible for anicent, higher, shorelines.

And is there really a  scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change?   Looks like it .....!   Though Wattsy and Co would beg to disagree,   But then, they'd disagree on pinciple, even if their god Himself told them so.  And no doubt throw about a few more childish ad homs in the process (here's a hint Wattsy: if you want people to take you seriously, trying reasoned argument, not childish ad homs - even if The Princess Bride is one of the greatest movies of all time!)

15th May - Today's News: May Storm Brings Snow to Dartmoor

Well we managed 14mm yesterday and another 3-4mm this morning bringing us up to about 23mm for the month - still below average for the first half of May ......  But elsewhere, snow and winds of 65mph hit Devon and Cornwall and there was also snow on high ground in Wales with flooding call-outs in Wrexham and Carmarthenshire.   Radar suggests some places may have seen around 200mm of rain.

At the weekend, teenagers rescued girl from swollen river and forsook rain-swept Ten Tors challenge to help dozens of competitors to safety

In the Tyrol, melting snow causes massive landslide onto mountain roads - it's not clear why rescue services fear a car may be underneath it.

Last year's drought dried up tornadoes in southern Wisconsin and it's been a low tornado count across the United States so far in 2013

Cyclone Mahasen: Bangladesh orders coastal evacuations

New rround of rain wreaks havoc in Central China

EU funded Scientists produce their 'best estimate' for impact of melting ice on sea level rise - and despite the inevitable tabloid fearmongering/lying, there's a 95% chance that the worst case estimates won't be reached and the London flood barrier won't be breached every ten years ......   Furthermore, the highest estimates are somewhat lower than some previous studies have suggested.    Until the next study ......