BREAKING NEWS Britain records its warmest spring on record - and driest in more than 50 years
The UK has recorded its warmest spring on record and its driest in more than 50 years, according to provisional Met Office figures.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
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Country diary: A week of relief for all on the farm
After five weeks without rain, it was wonderful to be woken one night last week by the sound of rain being blown on to the bedroom windows. We are well prepared for dry spells like the one this year. In 2022 we sank a borehole on the farm, after successive springs when the water supply dried up, so thankfully we now have water for the house and farm buildings even when there is little rain. The fields rely on natural water, though, and this year the becks ran dry during lambing time. Every morning, I filled the back of the Gator with buckets of water and drove them round the lambing fields. The sheep had to adapt their routine too, as usually they get most of the moisture they need from damp grass. Water is, of course, essential for them to make milk for the lambs, but yows also prefer to lamb during wet weather, often seeming to hold off for a wet morning to lamb. This is believed to be because they know there will be fewer predators around, particularly birds of prey, of which we have many. So lambing was prolonged this year as well as hot. On a wet morning, it was a relief to see that the last yow had lambed, and was happily cleaning her new lamb and murmuring to her. Once it is settled and knows her mother, we will clear the meadows, ready to grow hay (which should be ready to cut in July). Lambs will be marked with our red smit mark before walking two and a half miles over several days down to Low Park Farm, where they will spend the summer rotationally grazing small fields surrounded by woodland strips. Away from weather concerns, a massive relief to me was that a visitor attraction, Into the Wilds, that was proposed for the farm next to ours, was refused planning permission by the Yorkshire Dales national park authority. The plans initially included safari lodges, a ranger base and a variety of exotic animals including white rhinos, giraffes, zebras and lynxes. One of the reasons given was that it would cause 'significant visual harm to the iconic landscape'. I just hope they don't put in an appeal. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
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UK weather maps show date England will ‘disappear' under 400-mile wall of rain
Maps show the UK is set for more heavy showers which will cover most parts of England and other areas of the UK as another low pressure sweeps in from the Atlantic Brits are set to be battered with heavy showers with a map showing a 400 mile wall of rain moving in on Saturday. More low pressure systems are sweeping in and it is looking particularly wet at the end of the week across the country. Many parts of the UK already have felt the unusually blustery conditions this week after a long spell through May where high pressure dominated and we enjoyed blue skies and plenty of sunshine. It means families planning for outdoor activities with many children on half-term will be disappointed but at least gardens will get much needed rainfall. Maps from WXCharts show huge downpours covering England especially on Saturday morning while elsewhere there are also showers mixed in with sunshine. Rain can be seen on charts sweeping in from the Atlantic over Ireland before it reaches Britain in the early hours of Saturday morning. A wall of rain around 400 miles stretches from Newcastle all the way down to the south coast to counties including Devon, Dorset and Hampshire. By the time the rain reaches 6am, the whole of England is virtually covered, seemingly disappearing under the blue deluge. Around 9am there are even wetter conditions with some areas of the country experiencing rain depths of more than 2mm per hour, particularly in the south east. Wet conditions continue into the afternoon, with the weather clearing up for most of the country in the evening. And BBC weather forecaster Elizabeth Rizzini has told after the sunniest and warmest spring on record, that it is looking 'very unsettled as we head through the rest of this week', as she highlighted the cool and windy weather along with the heavy rainfall. Looking to Saturday she said: "You can see these weather fronts gradually start to push their way again across England and Wales and it is quite likely that these showers will be very slow moving because the winds will be a lot lighter here. "So we could see a lot of rain, some very heavy downpours, much needed rain of course for the parks and the gardens, wee can't complain too much. Again sunshine and showers further north but Saturday is definitely looking like the wettest day of the weekend." By Sunday though there are still some wet areas and the outlook remains unsettled for the start of next week. The Met Office forecast for Thursday to Saturday reads: "Cool, largely cloudy and breezy over the next few days, with showers or longer spells of rain. Prolonged spells of heavy rain are likely across the south at times." And its longer term prediction for June 8 to 17 states: "Changeable weather across the UK at the start of this period with showers or some longer spells of rain spreading in from the Atlantic. The heaviest and most prolonged rain will probably be across parts of the north and northwest, with the southeast likely driest. "Temperatures are expected to be near normal or slightly below. Into the second half of next week, there is potential for some warm or hot weather to develop, particularly in the south and east, although this may be accompanied by heavy showers and thunderstorms. Into the middle of June, high pressure may become more dominant. This will bring periods of fine and dry weather, especially in south and temperatures rising above normal."
