Highest temperatures predicted in Scotland, but London, Bristol and the Midlands will also stay mild
Britain is facing a balmy Christmas with unseasonably mild temperatures, in stark contrast to the more traditionally wintry weather of the past two years. However, heavy rain is anticipated in Scotland, while there have been drought warnings in the south.
Parts of Scotland are expected to bask in the highest temperatures on Christmas Day, with eastern Scotland predicted to witness 14C (57.2F) ? just shy of the 1896 warmest on record of 15.6C (60F).
Similarly spring-like mild conditions are forecast for other parts of the UK, with London, Bristol and the Midlands all set for a temperature of 12C (53.6F).
Matt Dobson, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Normally in late December in London we expect temperatures of 7C (44.6F) or 8C (48.2F). For eastern Scotland the average is about 6C (42.8F), so this year is well above average. "It's also a massive contrast to last Christmas, which was bitterly cold."
But while Northern Ireland and Scotland will experience mild temperatures, they are also expected to see wet and windy conditions on Sunday, with gusts of 60mph in the far north-west.
Much of Wales and the north and west of England will be cloudy, but the south and east of the country might see sunshine.
The great Christmas getaway continued on Friday, with Gatwick Airport recording its busiest day, with 100,000 passengers expected. Heathrow Airport was also bustling with 35,000 passenger arrivals at Terminal 5.
Some train services were delayed, with disruption reported between Gloucester and Newport in South Wales due to signalling problems, and also between Liverpool Lime Street via Runcorn or Warrington.
Police are also urging motorists in Gloucestershire to show caution after flash flooding and high winds.
Flash flooding has been reported on Cirencester Road in Charlton Kings, where the water was apparently a foot deep, the A46 at Painswick and on the B4226 in Cinderford, where mud was sliding onto the road.
A tree also fell onto an empty car in Cheltenham shortly before 2pm and another was reported as blocking the road at Gotherington shortly after.
A multi-vehicle accident on the M5 southbound near Taunton in Somerset was causing delays this afternoon, the Highways Agency said. Avon and Somerset police said no one was seriously injured.
Another accident involving a number of vehicles was also causing delays on the M60 anti-clockwise at junction 5 near Manchester as well as a separate incident at junction 23.
The unusually dry autumn has led to South East Water sending letters to thousands of its customers in Sussex at the end of November, informing them that water levels in its reservoirs were particularly low after a very dry autumn.
As there was little rainfall between September and November, a spokeswoman said, the reservoirs were not filled. "The rainfall was 30% of what we would expect at that time of year. As a prudent measure, we wrote to customers in that area asking them to be as water efficient as possible."
Earlier this week, the water company did apply to the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, for a drought order ? due to the lack of water in its reservoirs.
However, the recent heavy rain has raised reservoir levels from 12% full at the end of November to 30%, as of yesterday.
The company, which also serves Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, was granted the drought order by the environment secretary. She allowed it to pump more water from the River Ouse to refill a reservoir.
The drought order allows the company to slow down the water being drawn off at Ardingley reservoir, enabling it to refill quickly and prevent problems in spring and summer 2012.
Lee Dance, the company's head of water resources and environment, said: "We rely on winter rainfall to recharge our underground water sources and reservoirs to take us through to the warmer spring and summer months. The Sussex area has seen an increase in rainfall during December, which has helped the current water resource situation, but it by no means solves the problem." He said he hopes for prolonged periods of rainfall over the coming months to bring the water levels back to normal.
Drought orders ultimately allow water companies to bring in hosepipe bans and other restrictions. South East Water insists this will not be necessary yet, although demand must be reduced.
The company is asking its customers to use less water over the festive period by putting on the washing machine or dishwasher only when there is a full load.
Anglian Water has also been allowed to bring in two "drought permits", which allows the company to pump water from rivers and bring in certain restrictions.
The Midlands is also very dry and water companies are asking households to cut down on usage. In December 2003, United Utilities was allowed to pump water from Windermere and Ullswater to combat the threat of drought in the North West.
The Environment Agency said Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, and west Norfolk are still in drought as water levels remain low because of the very dry spring and autumn.
The agency said: "The wet weather in December has improved river flows and reservoir levels, but Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Shropshire in our Midlands region and Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, East Sussex and Kent in our South East region are still experiencing low groundwater levels for this time of year."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/23/christmas-weather-unseasonably-warm
No comments:
Post a Comment