Drought UK 2010

[journeyperson]

Now here's a thing.

 

Having been up to the summit pound on the Rochdale recently (low water levels as you would expect) and the Leeds and Liverpool closure has hit all of the local media around here for the last 24 hours, I was somewhat surprised a couple of hors ago to see the amount of water flowing down the Rochdale Nine:

 

 

Where can this surplus water be coming from?

 

 

The Rochdale, The Ashton, Peak Forest, Huddersfield Narrow? There may not be much water at the top but a lot of water from those canals ends up going down the Rochdale Nine. And it has rained hard today around Manchester.

[mayalld]

Now here's a thing.

 

Having been up to the summit pound on the Rochdale recently (low water levels as you would expect) and the Leeds and Liverpool closure has hit all of the local media around here for the last 24 hours, I was somewhat surprised a couple of hors ago to see the amount of water flowing down the Rochdale Nine:

 

 

Where can this surplus water be coming from?

 

The Rochdale 9 has additional water from the Ashton, which in turn gets water from the HNC and Peak Forest

[journeyperson]

The recipient of all this water is MSCC, i.e. Peel Holdings and there's a stop lock at Dutton which lets a bit more BW water in at the other end from the Trent and Mersey.

[Josher]

And it has rained hard today around Manchester.

 

And today - St Swithin's day!

 

However ...

 

St Swithin's day rain curse dismissed by forecasters BBC

 

The UK is unlikely to be cursed by rain for 40 days following showers on St Swithin's day on Thursday, forecasters have said.

 

According to legend, there will be downpours every day for more than a month if it rains on 15 July.

 

But BBC weather forecaster Matt Taylor said: "There's no meteorological basis for it. It's purely folklore."

 

He said it would become slightly drier over coming days but there would be no return to recent heatwave conditions.

 

The Met Office has severe weather warnings for heavy rain across north-west Scotland which will continue until lunchtime on Thursday.

 

Heavy rain and strong winds will reach the far south-west of England in the afternoon.

'Remains moved'

 

St Swithin was a 9th Century bishop in the Saxon kingdom of Wessex, whose feast day is on 15 July.

 

Legend has it that he asked to be buried humbly outside Winchester Cathedral when he died but his remains were dug up in 971 and moved inside the building.

 

The act was said to have coincided with 40 days and 40 nights of violent storms, indicating his displeasure at being moved.

 

The Met Office says St Swithin's day folklore is just a myth, but there is evidence that some weather "old wives tales" do have a scientific basis.

 

For example, "red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" relates to the sun illuminating either clearing or approaching clouds.

 

Thursday also sees the rededication of the the grave of one of the UK's greatest meteorologists, George James Symons.

 

Members of the Royal Meteorological Society renovated the site at Kensal Green cemetery in north-west London after it fell into disrepair.

 

Symons founded the British Rainfall Organisation at the age of 22 and published detailed annual summaries of rainfall over the British Isles for the next 40 years.

 

Some 110 years later his system is still the basis for observing and recording rainfall in the UK.

[Athy]

[quote name='Josher'.

 

Symons founded the British Rainfall Organisation at the age of 22 and published detailed annual summaries of rainfall over the British Isles for the next 40 years.

 

.

 

Gosh, what an entertaining dinner guest he must have made. I bet he usually ate alone.

[romarni123]

Where we live, red sky at night means your barns on fire, : red sky in the morning means its still burning

[JohnD]

yeah we have a similar one here "Red Sky at night ,Corby is alight" lol

[Josher]

Does the hosepipe ban apply to boaters?

Edited July 16, 2010 by Josher

[mayalld]

Does the hosepipe ban apply to boaters?

 

Yes, boaters too are banned fromm using hosepipes to wash their cars, or water their gardens.

 

However, there is no ban on using a hosepipe to fill a freshwater tank on a boat. Neither, so far as I can see is there a ban on using a hosepipe to wash a boat.

 

Interestingly, blue badge holders are exempt from the ban, so I'll pop the car round to the M-i-L later for a wash!

[Josher]

However, there is no ban on using a hosepipe to fill a freshwater tank on a boat. Neither, so far as I can see is there a ban on using a hosepipe to wash a boat.

 

Thanks for that Dave - It will be the first job when I get to the boat this afternoon. If I get fined I may need some back up though!

[Josher]

And today - St Swithin's day!

 

However ...

 

St Swithin's day rain curse dismissed by forecasters BBC

 

The UK is unlikely to be cursed by rain for 40 days following showers on St Swithin's day on Thursday, forecasters have said.

 

According to legend, there will be downpours every day for more than a month if it rains on 15 July.

 

But BBC weather forecaster Matt Taylor said: "There's no meteorological basis for it. It's purely folklore."

 

He said it would become slightly drier over coming days but there would be no return to recent heatwave conditions.

 

Well, no heatwave - but it has rained every day so far since Hosepipe ban day and United Utilities own web site shows reservoir levels getting back to normal:

 

Reservoir Levels.

 

Enough water - just in the wrong place!

[Liam]

The recipient of all this water is MSCC, i.e. Peel Holdings and there's a stop lock at Dutton which lets a bit more BW water in at the other end from the Trent and Mersey.

 

Yep and all the water coming down from Wigan

[journeyperson]

Yep and all the water coming down from Wigan

 

Yes, I was forgetting the Leigh Branch. The water was absolutely cascading over the lock gates through Manchester on Sunday. Even when the lock was full there was still a strong flow into the lock and over the bottom gates. Surprisingly (and thankfully) the top gates would still open.

[mayalld]

Well, no heatwave - but it has rained every day so far since Hosepipe ban day and United Utilities own web site shows reservoir levels getting back to normal:

 

Reservoir Levels.

 

Enough water - just in the wrong place!

 

Very interesting!

 

So, according to UU;

 

Overall they are at 68% rather than the "normal" 77%

The worst affected area is at 54% rather than its normal 73%

 

Yet on BBC news they claim that levels are only 44%

 

Both pages are from yesterday.

 

Somebody is telling porkies!

[Grace and Favour]

Very interesting!

 

So, according to UU;

 

Overall they are at 68% rather than the "normal" 77%

The worst affected area is at 54% rather than its normal 73%

 

Yet on BBC news they claim that levels are only 44%

 

Both pages are from yesterday.

 

Somebody is telling porkies!

 

I find it so difficult to believe that there's a discrepancy between the revered organ of the BBC and the wholly trustworthy media spin information release made by a leading utilities company

 

I wonder how this could have happened

[matty40s]

Well, it hasn't helped the East Midlands. the Leicester Arm is very short (well, actually it's quite long, but there isn't much water left before you start).

I was up there Sunday and the Kilby flight was suffering from very low depths and drained pounds.

 

All the way up to the summit was low, there was a Canaltime hirer (or whatever they are called now) who was having to fill before they could get into the next locks. However, they were very good at it, and were doing everything as I would have tackled it. so all credit to them, although there were more of them than usually is of me

[PeterF]

Well, Set out for my 2 week holiday Sat 17th (soon after St Swithin's day) to go from Brighouse, up the Calder & Hebble then the Rochdale, over the top and then back again the 2nd week. We seriously considered if we should go up or not with all of the restrictions on summit passage, water shortages the previous week in Sowerby Bridge etc.

 

I have a couple of things to report. on returning from my journey.

 

1. St Swithin appears to be better at predicting rain than the BBC, there have been few days we did not see rain over the past 14 days.

 

2. There was water applenty on the Rochdale up to the summit apart from a couple of leaky pounds on either side, perhaps helped by reference to point 1 above.

 

3. On average there is only 1 boat movement a day over the summit and chatting to several walkers on the towpath they have all commented on the small numbers of boats travelling. Due to the small number of boats travelling we have only managed to share locks some 16 times out of 120 lockings, but at least on the whole the Rochdale locks are easier to work than the Calder & Hebble ones (I have at last found the advanatge of the C&H being our home water - everywhere else then feels easy in comparison).

 

4. Tuel lane is working well now with the back pumping system in place.

 

5. For those that have not ventured onto the Rochdale the scenery is truly amazing. The view of myself and my wife agrees with this is that it is better than the HNC. The hills seem so much more immediate on the Rochdale, more intimate and up close and I thoroughly recommend a trip on it. Perhaps not within 40 days of St Swithin's day though if it rained then.

 

Peterf.

 

 

[Josher]

Despite heatwave, UK records 'wettest ever' July

 

Mon Aug 2 2010 18:13:25 ITN Link includes video report.

 

Despite heatwave, UK records 'wettest ever' July July 2010 may have been the month that brought heatwaves and hosepipe bans to some areas of the UK, but according to provisional statistics from the Met Office, it was also the wettest July on record.

 

While some parts of the South saw low rivers and resevoirs and even faced hosepipe bans after the driest June since 1995, the UK was in fact 46 per cent wetter than average in July and parts of the country, including Merseyside, faced devastating floods.

 

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had 50 per cent more rain than usual.

 

The latest statistics might seem particularly hard to believe when, on Monday, a 60-mile stretch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal was closed in order to conserve water as drought continued to hit this area of the North West.

 

The met office are also predicting that the South East is in for more unsettled weather and rain as we head into August.

[Athy]

"Wettest July" my bum. here in the Fens we must have had at least 21 days (I wasn't counting) without any rain at all, and at least 7 more with no more than a sneeze. there were substantial sustained downpours on about 2 days right at the end of the month but the ground still looks dry and the water has not puddled.

[Josher]

Here in Manchester it rained cat and dogs overnight - all this recent rainfall has had no effect on the United Utilities water levels though!

 

Figures just released for week ending 01/08/10 show no overall change, and a slight decrease in the Pennine region.

 

Current reservoir levels Here.

[the grinch]

Sadly the weather hasn't given us any rain!!

 

so with both the Arun and the Lox at critical level, and the EA asking us to turn off both our pumps, the trust has had to take the decision to put in stop planks at Drungewick Aqueduct and cut the trip boat operations back only running to the slipway 2hrs return trip. if water gets any lower then we may have to cut it back even more.

 

please send 150 million buckets of water please