Autumn arrived with a vengeance in Wales last night with heavy rain and strong to severe gale force winds buffeting the country. 245h6g
The highest wind gusts recorded were 69mph at Mumbles Head in Swansea and also at Capel Curig in Snowdonia. The wind was strong enough to damage or even bring down a few trees, including an oak tree at Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch in Denbighshire.
The damaged oak tree at Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch. Photo courtesy of Denbighshire Council
While at Capel Curig in Conwy 118mm of rain (over four inches) has fallen in the last 72 hours. The September average is 226mm.
Some rivers are currently swollen and the River Conwy bursts its banks in Llanrwst.
The River Conwy, Llanrwst. Photos: Rob Davies
A waterlogged rugby pitch at Dolgellau. Photo: Gwyneth McBurney
I think we have seen the worst of the heavy rain and gales for the time being but the next 24 hours will continue to be windy with occasional blustery showers. More rain is expected in north Wales tomorrow afternoon/evening becoming heavy overnight, especially on the Snowdonia mountains.
On Thursday rain will turn lighter during the day and the wind should ease as well. So not great weather this week, but longer term there is a hint of more settled weather and high pressure around the middle of the September so don't put the BBQ away just yet!
Derek
Sometimes September can bring us some lovely weather but not this week! We're in for a roller coaster ride, with a strong jet stream bringing spells of wet and windy weather in from the Atlantic.
Tonight we'll all see some rain. The rain will be heaviest on the Cambrian Mountains and in Snowdonia. 50 to 75 mm is possible - two to three inches. The rain will be accompanied by a strong to gale force south-westerly wind. The strongest winds will occur during the early hours of Tuesday with gusts 45 to 55 mph on exposed coasts and hills. Strong enough to bring down a few branches given the trees are still in full leaf.
Tomorrow morning the rain will clear to brighter skies and blustery showers. The strong winds will ease but it will remain windy.
The rest of the week will be very changeable. Sunny intervals and blustery showers on Wednesday. On Thursday, more rain and drizzle is expected with plenty of low cloud, mist and hill fog. Friday should be drier but windy and milder with top temperatures 17 to 21 celsius.
Yesterday morning Liz Prince spotted a few waterspouts over Cardigan Bay at Dyffryn Ardudwy in Gwynedd. These are fairly common during the autumn when cool, unstable air es over the relatively warm sea.
Waterspouts over Cardigan Bay. Photo: Liz Prince
Last year a waterspout was spotted of the Anglesey coast in November by the RAF.
If you see anything unusual in the sky let me know or send in a photo if you can. My email is [email protected] and don't forget you can follow me on my twitter page as well @derektheweather.
Watch out for the heavy rain and strong winds tonight!
There's certainly no need to wear a jumper at the moment. Yesterday the temperature at Hawarden in Flintshire reached 16 Celsius, 61 Fahrenheit.
The average maximum temperature for this time of year is about 13 Celsius, 55 Fahrenheit and it's going to remain mild for the rest of this week, although abit breezy and windy for some.
The strongest winds will be in the west and north west over the next 24 hours with the southerly wind reaching gale force with gusts between 50 and 60mph, so plenty of leaves blowing around!
Autumn at Carreg Cennen Castle near Ammanford by Steven Morgan:
The reason for the current spate of windy weather is an area of deep low pressure in the Atlantic, pushing a cold front towards Ireland.
Ahead of it there's some warm air from the Bay of Biscay flowing northwards into Britain.
It looks like we'll all see some rain tomorrow afternoon, heaviest in the west which will clear to showers tomorrow evening.
Saturday will be breezy with a mixture of sunshine and scattered showers with some dry weather too so potentially good news for the Snowdonia marathon on Saturday which will start near Dolbadarn Castle and end on Llanberis High Street.
On Sunday there is a risk of rain in the south and west but drier in the north but for most of the country it should be dry by Halloween with lighter winds.
I will update the weekend forecast on Friday, in the meantime watch out for the strong winds, especially if you live in the west.
Derek
Take advantage of this break in the weather to stretch your legs and if you've got kids - wear them out! ;)
Nice selection of walks over on the visit wales blog today and there are plenty to choose from in our things to do - walking section.
Choose your region and try out one of the walks Derek Brockway has done during his Weatherman Walking series. *New series coming up January 2011.
The weather has definitely got an autumnal feel to it at the moment but then again we are in autumn now so we shouldn't be too surprised as the nights start to draw in and the days feel just that little bit fresher.
As the leaves around us begin to change colour and float down from their perches, keep an eye out for the bright green, prickly fruits of the horse chestnut tree.
These wonderfully majestic trees are actually native to the Balkan states e.g. Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina etc and all those other countries that we only ever really hear about in times of conflict or Eurovision.
The trees were first introduced to Britain during the 16th century - why I'm unsure, as the wood is of poor quality and not even particularly good to burn!
Horse chestnuts have suffered in Britain recently due to a combination of disease, drought and pest attack - resulting in the loss of thousands of trees particularly in England.
Conkers without their prickles by Eiona Roberts:
We have approximately 11,000 trees in Wales currently so far fewer than our counterparts in England and Scotland.
The distinctive palmat leaves (i.e. the nerves diverge from a main point like fingers from the palm of your hand) usually have five or seven leaflets but you'll probably spot the distinctive, green, prickly cases strewn all over the forest floor long before you have to start identifying leaf shapes.
Conkers are poisonous to eat but you can eat the edible sweet chestnuts (unrelated to horse chestnuts) which are often roasted over hot coals in outdoor markets during the festive season - which I'll not mention in this blog for at least another two months!
Sweet chestnuts are similar in appearance to conkers (horse chestnuts) but have a pointed tip at the top of the nut. The leaf shape and prickly case are also completely different so you shouldn't have any problems identifying them, but if in doubt - don't eat.
School boys playing conkers:
No-one really knows where the word 'conker' came from but some believe it originates from the French word 'conque' meaning conch - as the game was originally played using snail shells.
Whatever its origin, the game of conkers has entertained school boys for centuries, long before hand held game consoles were invented.
Indeed, it's highly likely that youngsters today have no idea what to do with a conker so I've included a link to the World Conker Championships website for the official rules of engagement ;)
In a nutshell (pun intended!) you simply drill a thin hole through a conker, thread some string through and tie a knot at the bottom. You then take turns at hitting your opponent's conker until one of them shatters. Last conker standing, wins - simple.
There are a number of ways to make your prized conker last a bit longer - including soaking them in vinegar or baking in an oven (so they become rock hard) but I'm sure these techniques are frowned upon nowadays.
A grey squirrel with a conker. Image by Eiona Roberts:
Aside from us humans; only squirrels and deer seem to bother with them - probably due to the poison (Aesculin) contained within them.
Squirrels tend to bury them but no-one is sure if this is done to help release some of the toxins, making them more palatable? Or as a back up plan for survival during harsh winters. I guess if you're a hungry squirrel, you'll eat anything!
Gull
A cold front currently over Ireland will move eastwards tomorrow bringing rain to Wales later in the day.
This will clear leaving Saturday largely dry with some sunshine and lighter winds.
BBC Weather graphic for the weekend of Oct 31, 2009:
It should be dry for Halloween but on Saturday night and into Sunday a deepening area of low pressure will track across Ireland and Scotland bringing a dose of wet and windy weather.
A spell of heavy rain is likely accompanied by strong to gale force winds, so the leaves will be falling from the trees and blowing around.
The rain clearing to sunshine and blustery showers.
Next week looks much more unsettled and colder too with temperatures closer to the seasonal average.
Derek
BBC Weather
This one epitomises autumn - brightly coloured leaves, red berries bare trees and of course a grey squirrel tucked in amongst it all.
Image by Keith Evans:
A cold Arctic front is pushing in, bringing dry and settled weather this weekend so expect plenty of sunshine and overnight frosts.
It should be great walking weather so get out there and enjoy the autumn colours.
Berries at Llyn Alwen by Susie Corwen on our Flickr group:
You often hear people talking about the number of berries on trees indicating that a long, cold winter is on its way but I disagree. Here's my take on it:
We've had a mild spring this year followed by a warm and wet summer, hence all those spiders and butterflies everywhere!
But this also means that it's been good growing weather for trees and shrubs which as a result have produced plenty of berries and fruit, so it has nothing to do with us having a long, cold winter ahead!
I thought that might cheer you up ;0
Have a great weekend
Derek
I'll be featuring Roy's programme whenever he covers nature and outdoor topics from now on, so keep an eye out for more features coming soon.
Gull
Listen Live on the Radio Wales website
National Botanical Gardens
I really wish I knew a bit more about theses fungal profusions. Apparently they can even move around!
You can also eat them, of course. But you should be careful as some species are extremely poisonous.
Also with the recent trend in foraging for you own food, some fungi have been hit hard as people have unwittingly removed and potentially damaged fungi communities.
Check out some other fabulous fungi photos on the BBC Wales Nature Flickr group.
I'm currently on location near Petworth Deer Park as we prepare for the latest series of Autumnwatch which starts on BBC Two on Monday 27 October.
This is the week when the fallow deer start their rut and it's a great location in beautiful surroundings.
The park also hosts some other great wildlife to boot with many lizard species and bats present, I've been told.
Over the next few days we'll be filming the deer to see which males are going to be the head honchos of the group and the ones that will most likely end up with all the ladies.
Great science and story behind these beautiful deer. I'll keep you updated as to how we get on.
Only three days to transmission - yikes!
While out strolling last week I noticed a strange glob of goo underneath a tree in the side of a wooded valley. It was about the size of a golf ball and see-through. It wasn't the only example either, with quite a few other gooey goblets scattered around the place.
So what on earth could it be?
Well, according to my friend Brett Westwood, presenter of Radio 4's World on the Move and general wildlife guru, it could be a pretty strange find indeed.
Brett reckons it looks like something the Welsh used to call 'powdr ser' or star-slime.
"Medieval people thought it was the remains of fallen stars," he said.
"In fact, it's actually the oviducts of frogs which have been eaten by a predator, a polecat or mink maybe. There are some very odd algae and slime moulds to be had - but this does look like 'star-slime' to me."
I've also put the question to some other knowledgeable nature folk who thought it may be too early for frogs. The Wildlife Trust agreed that it was an odd time of year although frogs have been spotted in parts of Gloucestershire, Hereford and Powys.
So over to you. Any ideas at all about the glob of goo?
In fact, it would be good to hear about any of your weird or wacky wildlife sightings - especially with Halloween coming up. So, if you've spotted any strange or spooky goings on, drop us a line using the comment form below.
In the meantime you can listen to a clip from the Out of Doors programme on BBC Radio Scotland. They've been inundated over the past few weeks by listeners sharing their pictures and stories of a mysterious jelly like substance. It became more complicated and intriguing after listener Ronnie Leask told them about a journey he made in 2004 with geologist Bill Baird. Presenter Euan McIlwraith managed to track down Bill, and a fascinating story...
Yep, this week - for the first time in my life - I was stung by a delinquent wasp. I was on my mobile phone at the time, which made for a comical conversation as I suddenly felt a piercing pain in my arm that seemed to come out of nowhere.
I did manage to catch a glimpse of the culprit, but it made a swift getaway leaving me unable to shout back, like a slapped kid to a bully: "What did you do that for?"
It was strange as I hadn't even realised it was there. But in Autumn, wasps are known to get a bit aggressive as their nests start to die off and they head out in search for food often "getting drunk and disorderly" on fermented food.
To be honest, wasps probably do get a bum deal. After all, this was the first time I'd ever been stung - which isn't bad going. Wasps, like most insects, play a key part in our ecosystem, breaking down matter and controlling other insects and garden pests. Without them we'd be up to our eyeballs in rubbish.
Plus I'd much rather be stung by a wasp than have ticks gorging themselves on me - which is whah happened while I was at a deer park last year. I was actually at a music festival at the time and I can tell you now that inspecting your body for ticks while in a festival portaloo is far from fun!
Now things are starting to change and Autumn is upon us. Although we haven't had a great summer you can really see the seasons changing. From the thuggish wasps to migrants on the move I also enjoy Autumn simply for the beautiful colours you get.
Now's also a good as a time as any to see 'daddy long legs' - or crane flies as they're also known. Like my Auntie Jean taught me as a kid, a good way to see them is on a damp night using a torch or garden light on the lawn. Here you'll be able to watch them hatching out from their larval stage into large gangly-legged adults. Gardeners may hate them, but it's a wildlife moment that has stayed with me for years.
You can find out more about all sorts of creepy crawlies on the Buglife website.
There's an opportunity to get your hands dirty during the Marine Conservation Society's (MCS) annual Beachwatch litter survey and clean-up, which is taking place at locations the length and breadth of our coastline this weekend, 20-21 September 2008. online http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk/ or call Gill Bell, MCS Wales, on 01989 566017/07889.
Other events coming up include a Forest Farm walk in Cardiff on 20 September and brown hairstreak butterfly surveys in Carmarthen, Ceredigion and Permbrokeshire.
In the meantime, why not drop me a line using the comments form below, to let me know what you like best about Autumn.