Laura Gilchrist

Surely it’s too big a space for that!

The finest of Christmas traditions 🥰

(also — FIFTEEN YEARS 😱)

Modern man’s face swapped by AI onto a fantasy warrior in skull-trimmed armor.

I can’t resist snapping a beautiful sunrise. This was Monday’s over #Plymouth 🩷🧡❤️

US stories are dominating the UK news at the moment - if it’s just a distraction then it’s distracting a lot of people!

Plot of temperature versus time, showing the temperature rising extremely steeply.

One of the most spectacular wintertime temperature increases you'll see in Britain.

As the warm front arrived, the temperature in Reading (per the University observations: www.met.reading.ac.uk/weatherdata/...) abruptly rose.

At 9:40am, it was 2.8°C.

At 10:05am, it was 11.0°C.

Word of the Day is ‘hunch-weather’ (19th century): weather so cold it makes you hunch your shoulders when you walk outside.

Map of UK rainfall anomalies for summer 2024 versus 1991-2020 average. Most of England (except Cumbria) along with eastern Scotland saw drier than normal conditions overall.

A persistent misconception about summer 2024 in the UK is that it was wetter than normal. A remark on the 'wet summer' was even made in London's New Year fireworks display!

Yet, for most regions (and most of the population) it was notably drier than normal!

www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/cli...

What's in a Name? On the Use and Significance of the Term “Polar Vortex” The stratospheric polar vortex is a well-defined feature dominating the cool-season circulation in each hemisphere from ∼15–50 km altitude The tropospheric circulation does not constitute a singl...

Journalists should avoid using 'polar vortex' as a synonym for cold-air outbreak/Arctic airmass.

This isn't just my opinion – there is published science encouraging this. doi.org/10.1029/2021...

In an era of climate change, it is important to report weather events and terminology accurately.

bsky.app/profile/meto...

‎Met Office Weather Forecast ‎The Met Office weather app gives you the most accurate world-leading global weather forecasts, with coverage from 1 hour to 7 days ahead. Winner of two awards in the World Meteorological Organizatio...

New phone or tablet for Christmas? Why not download the @metoffice.bsky.social app? If you haven’t already, that is (if not, why not?! 😜)
⚠️❄️🧊 Especially with #uksnow expected in the coming days #weatheraware
App Store: apps.apple.com/gb/app/met-o...
Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/d...

Met Office Yellow warning of Snow from 12:00 on Saturday 4 January 2025 until 09:00 on Monday 6 January. Heavy snow may cause some disruption in parts of the warning area over the weekend.

Outbreaks of rain spreading northeastwards later on Saturday and overnight into Sunday will likely be preceded by a spell of snow on its northern flank. Whilst there is a fair bit of uncertainty as to how far north this may spread, and how long any snow will last, significant accumulations of snow are possible, especially (but not exclusively) on hills. Currently, parts of the Midlands, Wales and northern England are most at risk of disruption, where 5cm or more could accumulate fairly widely, with perhaps as much as 20-30 cm over high ground of Wales and/or the Pennines. This, accompanied by strengthening winds, may lead to drifting of lying snow. In addition, as milder air attempts to move northwards into southern and central areas, snow may turn to a spell of freezing rain for a time, adding to the risk of ice. If milder air is able to spread more bodily northwards, any snow in southern parts of the warning area may be relatively short-lived before turning to rain. Given the uncertainties, it is quite likely this warning area and start/end times will be refined over the coming days as confidence increases in areas most likely to be impacted.

Be prepared for weather warnings to change quickly: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area. Why is the warning yellow? This warning has a very low likelihood of seeing a medium impact from the snow.

Yellow warning of snow issued by @metoffice.bsky.social for this weekend weather.metoffice.gov.uk/warnings-and... #uksnow #weatheraware

A sepia map of the shipping forecast areas round the UK coast

On BBC Radio 4 at 0900 on New Year’s Day, there’s a special programme commemorating 100 years of the Shipping Forecast, still produced by the @metoffice.bsky.social on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Barn Pool, off Devil’s Point, Plymouth

Barn Pool today…

…and in a painting: www.rmg.co.uk/collections/...

Metal plaque on a small boulder saying “CHARLES DARWIN AT DAYBREAK ON 27-12-1831 HM SURVEY SHIP ‘BEAGLE’, COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN R. FITZROY, R.N. DEPARTED ITS ANCHORAGE IN BARN POOL, OPPOSITE THIS POINT. DARWIN’S ‘ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES’ RESULTED DIRECTLY FROM EXPERIENCES GAINED DURING THIS VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA.

Went for some fresh air and a stroll to Devils Point this afternoon. #DidYouKnow the Commander of the Beagle also founded the @metoffice 170 years ago? www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2024/me...
#Plymouth #Devon #CharlesDarwin #Beagle

Don’t believe the hype…

A festive graphic from the Met Office helping you stay safe around the clock

Merry Christmas to and from all at the @metoffice.bsky.social where we keep working throughout the festive season along with other key workers. We owe you all our thanks.

@rhodri.biz the other dalek!

Someone made a bingo card, it didn’t have Dalek 😅

I volunteer “occupant’s original childhood bedding” for a bonus point 😊

I forgot the text (I’m new here 🤦🏼‍♀️)

Post a scene from a movie you've seen more than 10 times…

Donate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2024, organized by Rhodri Marsden Unbelievably, it's the 14th year of this thing. What is it? Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2024

6/ Incredibly, over the last few years around £200,000 has been raised for homeless charities as a result of this thing. So, this year, if you're enjoying the pix, you could fling a few quid to Centrepoint via this link: gofund.me/637d21d0

I just got a flashback to TVC

Finally joined bluesky as @rhodri.biz is here with his annual tradition #duvetknowitschristmas. Merry Christmas everyone ☺️🎄