New winners! Happy Christmas.

After carefully checking final grid refences, I can now announce the new winners of the 2009 Long Jump.

Effectively, 1st and 2nd change places so congratulations to Ian Warrington and Andy Austin for a well-earned victory.

Their report tells their story......

BRUMMIE BUMMER
Here we go again – 3rd time lucky? Err I think probably not…..
I was most surprised that Mr Warrington was keen to put up with me again after a years worth of ribbing about getting stuck in a basket with me for seven hours last year!
First challenge, the envelope we normally use had been sold. I should have purchased it with hindsight but our friends from EASA are not making multiple envelope ownership very easy are they! Problem soon resolved and we are fully kitted out with a borrowed120 envelope and a Mode S transponder. Have to find out how to use it some time. We must be in with a good chance then?
After the usual constant exchange of text messages and emails we had decided on our date – Saturday 17th October, a north easterly wind with a planned route from somewhere around Whitby and landing on the One Man Meet launch field, worth a try 
Crew? Ian had managed to fool John Friend that it was a good idea to drive all day long across the length of the country – for a third time! My wife Jane however has got wise to this energy sapping experience and so I asked a chap at work, who only met me two weeks earlier, LOL. Russ Marron turned out to be a great asset with a photographic mind for the UK road network. A complete ballooning virgin and luckily, very gullible. We were all set.
Up at just after 3 a.m. we booted off up the A1. Launch field? I normally go for the OS map and look for a caravan site, North Yorks is obviously not popular with caravanners as there are not that many. I like places that are windswept and interesting. We had to be satisfied with a 50% success rate. I did find a picnic area that looked good. Google Earth further confirmed this as a fair choice, only a few hundred yards from the North Sea coast bbrrrrr. Just before dawn and shortly before we arrived in what felt like the back end of beyond, we tested the wind conditions in the traditional manner by stopping in a lay-by for a pee. I can confirm it was cold with a light northerly breeze! Ian kept mithering on, that the further East past Middlesborough we went, the windier the forecast. Fancy that on a nor’easterly!
Having set the Auto Doris to take us straight to the field, we drove straight in to find a local “gentleman” with a greyhound. He was able to confirm it was common land and that he felt we would be OK. He was so disinterested, we could have told him we were about to detonate a nuclear bomb and he’d just have said, “over there by the big trees would be the best place”.
With 8 cylinders, including the inflation tank, it was a tight squeeze and Ian was more concerned that he couldn’t wedge his mega bag of supplies into a suitable gap. With the wind gusting around 12 knots, he was panicking that we might not have time to throw in the provisions. Just as we were about to go hot, Russ on the mouth, pointed inside the balloon. What could this total novice, possibly know that 2 pilots with well over 1000hours of experience hadn’t seen! The red line not attached Russ? Yeah, we always do it that way. Blush!
Stand it up, ditch cylinder, chuck in supplies. Twenty five minutes and we were gone, in a mass of adrenaline, given our proximity to the coast and the great unknown.
We soon settled into the exact same track that had been forecast at speeds varying between 35 & 40kts. It was looking pretty good with enough gas to go for 8 hours and approximately enough land to last just over 300 miles. The only excess weight we were carrying was Ian’s picnic for 12, which had been omitted from the load calculation. I reckon we had enough food to last for a long weekend in South Wales which is where we may have ended up

We quickly climbed to nearly 10,000ft over the North Yorkshire Moors. Within no time, we passed Castle Howard to the East and then over York. We were quickly heading towards the dreaded controlled airspace at a rate of knots, our track had remained consistent and we had easily avoided the Manchester zone. East Midlands and Birmingham remained between us and the relative freedom of Shropshire.
The fuel consumption was as expected but the food rations were disappearing at a frightening rate, would we have enough to complete the flight? Thankfully Ian’s wife, Denise, had helpfully labelled the “beaker for pee” which was an improvement on the barely adequate diameter of the bottles we had last year. All was well…
As we came towards the first controlled airspace we called East Midlands, well beforehand. They were very helpful and friendly, we listened carefully and complied with the instructions given and descended to the recommended height. At this point we took a small but significant turn to the right, no problem I remember thinking it just means we will be heading well to the north of Birmingham.
We crossed over the beautiful Peak District well to the North of Derby and took another step change in altitude, in order to comply with airspace. This time we kicked left and lost a significant amount of speed, down to a very sedate 8kts. It now looked like we would be heading into the northern part of Birmingham’s zone and take longer than ideal, to clear there airspace.
We said goodbye and thank you to East Midlands as we transferred to Birmingham ATC. These guys were strictly business and had us on our toes, changing squawk codes etc etc. It quickly became apparent that the height parameters that we had to stay within, were steering us straight towards Birmingham City centre and the airport just beyond. To make matters worse the cloud was building above and the thickest we’d seen all flight.
A conversation followed with ATC, who made it very clear that we must abort the flight and land. We did this very quickly, as were fortunate to have picked a day with friendly wind conditions on the ground, allowing a very civilised landing by long jump standards. We had landed with about 40% flying time and available gas left. What was worse, we hadn’t even started on the pork pies, let alone the traditional chocolate bars. What a Brummer!
We had completed a very enjoyable and safe flight and to be fair had landed relatively close to home. The lesson learned for me was, that with all the steerage options we had available to us we could easily have guided the balloon either side of Birmingham however the prescriptive altitudes we were operating within, had made the job impossible. How far would we have got? We will never know.
The question remains, will we be mad enough to try again and will our trusty crew once again be mad enough to join us?
Some numbers and stuff;
Pilots; Andy Austin and Ian Warrington
Crew; John Friend and Russ Marron (who had never seen a balloon up close before)
The Windbag; G-BZBL LBL120. Many thanks to Martin Collinson for the loan of the kit
Flight; Loftus - Pipehill nr Lichfield
Distance claimed; 137 statute miles.
Duration; 5 hours 7 minutes
Propane used (excluding inflation); Approx 250 litres
Casualties; Pilots pride X 2
Enjoyment; Immeasurable

There's 3 sorts of people....

There's 3 sorts of people - those who can count, and those who can't count.
I am wading through grid references points, OS maps, google maps and gps tracks.
I never thought The Great British Long Jump would ever come to this but it seems the 1st and 2nd placed results are much closer than I thought.
Thanks to more than one eagle-eyed reader!

Watch this space.........

Long Jump 2009 - Results.

Congratulations to Gary Davies and Scott Cooper for winning the Frog Trophy given to the pilot who achieves the greatest distance - 155 miles in 3 hours 40 minutes from Bristol to Norfolk.
They prudently landed early with 150 litres of fuel remaining after radioing ahead and learning the winds!


Click on the images to see bigger version.







Here is the winner's report....
The Great British Long Jump 2009
25th October 2009

Take off Point - West of Thombury
Landing Point – East Of Isleham Village

I had toyed with the actual idea (NOT) of doing the GBLT this year as it’s a great experience to do. As I have a very busy schedule! Hey ho. No we are doing it, we will find the time!

So I chose the date by considering the weather and wind direction on the 25th October.
The crew consisted of Alan Gray, who is a great navigator, but best of all a superb all rounder. I was so pleased he was with us. Scott Copper who was on board with myself, although he has recently passed his fixed wing licence, he has also developed a passion for ballooning.

Tom Gouder very kindly helped me get a suitable field to take off from, and also let me borrow 4 of his tank straps. (Oh bugger six bottles and only eight tank straps, that isn’t enough.) Bless him we had to drag him out of his job at the Co-operative just as he was icing the fingers in the bakery.

We eventually got in to the field at 9.45am and began to set up, I must say in record breaking time. Just as we started to cold inflate, Alan turned around and shouted “Gary that’s a big black cloud coming of the Bristol Channel, looks like it is gong to rain”. And Oh my god it!! Only 2 inches of rain on the envelope However it did wash off all the cow pats and mud stains from some of our previous flights. So after the passing storm we got inflated and took off like a champagne cork!. Stocked up with sausage rolls, doughnuts and crisps for our journey.

Scott was our chief navigator and RT guru. As he a lot more experience in that field from piloting his plane.

Our first crossing was North West of Kemble Aerodrome. I said to Scott, we will keep under 2,500ft for a bit as cloud base was a little low at this point as it was coming off the Bristol Channel, however we had still had 28nts. I would like to say all the air traffic controllers we spoke to were very pleasant and helpful. Me, Zenith and Scott managed to skirt round all the boundaries, by changing heights to get steerage, (which was great).

Our next crossing was Braze Norton; we could see the plane etc and at this point we was tracking towards Chipping Norten. Our speed had increased to 33nts, which was great and the clouds were dissipating, Time for a Snack and Wee

Next port of call was North West of Milton Keynes. Just before we flew over we had a call from Alan Turner, who is a Long Jump extraordinaire too! Wishing us luck, saying we had a good day for it. Thought to myself we haven’t landed yet.

Scotty radioed up Cranfield to check the conditions and Airspace think he just liked talking to all the towers myself. They had spotted us hurtling across, by this time I mentioned coming down a bit to get a little more left. Well just say the tops of the trees were moving rather fast. I was very happy that I had both the safety harnesses on board.

We then climbed to 4,800 and achieved 44nts FAb! As we had every intention of reaching the east coast.

Bedford came up next, then Cambridge as we flew past Wyton, Scott had another chat, with yes, yet another tower and aircraft controller. The balloon was flying well and was very responsive and gas consumption was going very well. I also then ask Scott to radio Cambridgeshire TATC and ask about surface conditions, wind etc. They replied with 20nts, gusting to 28nts. (Christ, that is quick) and will no sign of it dropping.

One big thing for me was a fly by my building site out at Waterbeach. Took some great photo's

By this time I felt it was time to land, especially as we knew the area and there was no SA. Plus I knew that landing was going to be a hair raising experience, (well if I had any Ha Ha).

Scott Radioed Mildenhall ATC, the initially said we had to fly over them, but as we approached there airspace, they called us back and granted us permission we clear to go through or even land.

I told Scott to get his harness attached, as I did mine, we both checked everything as we prepared for our landing with butterflies in our stomachs.

I could see 3 large stubble fields approaching, with a bank of trees in the middle, I came low and I really couldn’t tell you the speed the GPS was showing us. So the first impact was in field one, not bad considering the wind was pushing us down, double burned but didn’t rip. Thought to myself, right got no breaks, use the trees. Straight thought 100ft trees, was a good break, told Scott to brace himself. Hit ground in second old corn field. Through some low hedges. Then a very long drag up filed 3, with everything intact. No Damage or loss of anything. As I ripped out the wind was getting up inside the balloon and pushing the shoot back up. But we got her down in the end,

After leaving Bristol after 3hrs and 40 mins and 150 litres of gas left. It was a relief to be on the deck having such a superb flight,

We got packed away and Alan was with us 15 minutes later. What a star!!! We were not able to find the owner of the land, as everyone we asked didn’t know who owned it. The Basket had actually landed on a public right of way. As a very nice man called Colin Woor informed us. Very glad he turned up as it did seem a bit remote.

So on reflection, the flight was not as far as we planned, but I am pleased we came down when we did. 155 miles in 3hrs and 40minutes, our average speed was 38nts.

It was a great experience again, just wish the wind hadn’t increased so much.

Just a little further would have been nice as we would have made Bacton near Cromer. An old holiday past time when I was a kid!!!

Crew - Alan Gray
Pilot - Gary Davies
Chief Rt – Navigator – Scott Copper
Rig - Cameron 120
Reg – G-CBMK
Fuel – 340 Litres
Fuel left – 150 litres
Duration – 3hrs 40 mins
Mileage – 155 Miles

Montgolfier Day

A very happy Montgolfier Day to all my readers.

The annual prize-giving lunch will be held on Sunday 29th November at Booker Airfield, also known as Wycombe Airpark. LINK

The post code for satnavs is SL7 3DP

I'll get there about 11am - lunch drinks available throughout.
We'll start the announcements about 2pm, or after everyone has finished lunch.

I would be grateful if those planning to attend would let me know numbers, so I can tell the chef.

email.... robin *at* gasballoon.com

tel 07768 206100

I look forward to seeing you next sunday!

1st November.

As darkness fell last night the competition drew to a close and it is somehow fitting that today's dreadful weather helps to announce that fact.

So now is the time to sit down and write your reports whilst still fresh in your minds.Then email/post them to me pronto so I can get them all printed and bound ready for the lunch.
Keep an eye on thise site for more news......

Day 31 - last chance.

A pretty decent day is in prospect for much of Britain and Ireland today, especially when compared to what is heading our way for tomorrow. Low pressure is the main driver of our weather at the moment, but for most of us today, we will be in-between weather systems.

There is some residual cloud and patchy rain now clearing through East Anglia and southeast England, and then most places will see a dry day with sunny spells developing. There will be some showers feeding into the north and west of both Ireland and Scotland, and one or two of these may be on the heavy side as well. Temperatures generally still on the mild side, but not quite as mild as it has been, and with the sunshine it will feel very pleasant. This takes us into a generally fine evening for the trick 'n' treater's, although rain will quickly sweep into the southwest of England and Ireland as the next low begins to move in.

Things go downhill quickly tonight as that next weather system gets closer, and this is the one that has been causing us some concern. There has been a lot of divergence from the forecast models over the behaviour of this system, but they finally seem to be coming to agreement now. It is expected to track north-eastwards across Wales, central and northern England, bringing heavy rain with it. By the end of the night, much of England, Wales and Ireland will be very wet, with the rain also moving into Scotland by tomorrow morning. Winds aren't expected to be too much of a feature, although coastal gales may affect the south for a time. Our Weather Watch has more details.

The rain will continue to move northeast tomorrow, with brighter conditions and scattered heavy showers following into most of England, Wales and Ireland. For Scotland though it looks like being a thoroughly miserable day with the rain persisting. Winds will pick up in most places for a time as the low moves away, and it will start to feel colder as those winds veer westerly.

Day 30 - Unsettled weekend.

All eyes are on the weekend weather as there is the potential for some really quite nasty weather to sweep in off the Atlantic on Sunday as a deepening low moves across the country. Confidence is still rather low over the exact track this system will take, which in turn will affect where the heaviest rain and strongest winds occur. As things stand at the moment, the low looks set to deepen quickly as it approaches Britain and Ireland, with a possible north-eastwards track across southern Ireland and then across northern England. This would bring the heaviest rainfall across central parts of Britain, with the strongest winds to the south and east of the low. We are monitoring developments closely, and it is likely that an Advanced Weather Warning will be issued later today once expected developments become clearer. Back to today, and the first signs of the big change to unsettled conditions are already evident over Ireland and western Scotland with outbreaks of heavy rain moving in for much of the day. Some rain will also affect parts of Wales and western England, but for many central and eastern areas it will be a dry day with a few sunny spells breaking through the cloud. It will still be mild or very mild everywhere, but freshening southerly winds will make it feel cooler. The rain continues to move eastwards tonight, tending to become lighter as it does so. Clearer conditions will follow into the west with a few showers, whilst eastern parts will probably remain dry until tomorrow morning. The rain will then slowly clear the southeast on Saturday to leave sunny spells and scattered showers, but the main attention by then will be focused on developments to the southwest...

Day 29 - Rather cloudy.

The rather quiet theme to the weather continues today thanks to high pressure sitting to the east of the country. However, the first signs of changes are appearing as cloud and rain associated with Atlantic weather systems tries to move into western areas. With light winds, some mist and fog has formed overnight, particularly over central and eastern parts of Britain, and this may take a while to clear. In fact for some areas it may only lift into misty low cloud, resulting in rather a dull day. For many areas there will be a fair amount of cloud around today with sunshine at a premium. Whilst all parts will be mild today, the best of any sunshine will probably be found over Wales and southwest England, and here temperatures will reach around 18C. Some patchy rain is likely at times over Ireland and western Scotland as those weather fronts edge closer, but we're not expecting anything too significant or heavy to arrive until tomorrow. This means the quiet theme continues tonight, with some mist and fog forming in the east again, but freshening winds in the west will prevent this. Friday sees strengthening winds in the west, and a wet day is expected for Ireland and western Scotland. To the east it will be dry, if rather cloudy, for much of the day, but the rain will move eastwards across most parts by Friday night. However, with high pressure still to the east, it may be well into Saturday before the rain reaches the extreme east. One this system has finally pushed through, we are then watching some very unsettled conditions to sweep in by Sunday with heavy rain and severe gales developing...

Day 28 - Very mild.

Click images for large size.

A very mild day lies ahead across all parts, perhaps even warm in places, as a south-westerly air stream coming up from a long way south affects Britain and Ireland.

Its a very mild start everywhere, with temperatures already in double figures for most. A band of rain crossed some parts overnight, and this means its a rather slow start to the day with a lot of cloud around, particularly across England and Wales. A lot of the cloud will begin to lift and break during the morning and by this afternoon most parts will be bright with some sunny spells. Temperatures will respond to this, with maximums of 19C or 20C likely in the southeast.

We'd recommend making the most of the very mild and dry weather, as big changes are on the horizon. Further very mild conditions with sunny spells are likely on Thursday and Friday, but rain will be gathering towards the west along with freshening winds. This heralds the big change to some very wet and windy weather moving in over the weekend with much cooler and more unsettled conditions taking over for next week.

Day 27 - Contrasts.

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A real mixed bag of weather across Britain and Ireland today with summer like conditions developing for some, whilst more traditional autumnal wind and rain affects other parts. Low pressure is centred out over the Atlantic, but its associated weather fronts are moving northwards across Britain. Meanwhile, with high pressure to the east, winds are now being drawn in from a southerly direction, bringing increasingly mild conditions with them as the air comes from the Canary Islands! Its a cloudy start to the day across many parts, and much of the north and west is wet with some heavy rain around. Brighter skies are already feeding into the south though, and as we go through the day these sunnier skies will make their way across many central and southern areas. Temperatures will respond to this, with highs of around 19C in places - well above normal for the end of October. It will be mild in the north too, despite the cloud and rain hanging around for much of the day. There will be some drier spells, but at the same time some of the rain will be heavy and persistent when it comes along. Another band of rain will move into Ireland later today, and this band of rain will move eastwards tonight and into tomorrow, weakening as it does so. This means a mild night ahead tonight for all parts, but with a lot of cloud around. Tomorrow see's the remains of that front clearing the east, with any light rain soon easing. This will leave a fair amount of cloud in its wake, with sunshine somewhat at a premium. It will still be very mild though, and this theme is set to continue through to the weekend...

Day 26 - Mild.

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We're now into the final week of October, and it looks set to be the mildest week of the month for many areas as very mild south-westerly winds set in. The reason for this will be thanks to high pressure to the east and low pressure to the west, leaving us caught in the middle. Today is set to be rather quiet across Britain and Ireland with lighter winds than over the weekend. Many parts will be dry with some sunny spells, but there will be a fair amount of cloud drifting around. A few light showers may break out in one or two places, but the greatest risk of rain comes across southwest England and Ireland as a weak weather system brings some light rain at times. This system is going to help drag up the very mild air from a long way south over the coming days as it moves northwards tonight and tomorrow. It will bring some quite heavy rain with it for a time across western and northern areas, along with brisk southerly winds. However, drier and brighter conditions will follow in from the south - reaching most parts by Wednesday - and in any sunshine (which many be limited by a lot of cloud) temperatures will easily make the high teens during the rest of the week.

Day 25 - showery

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The area of low pressure that brought yesterday's damp and breezy weather is now slowly drifting across Scotland before moving out into the North Sea later today. A ridge of high pressure is now building in from the west, bringing brighter conditions with it, with the blustery winds slowly easing down as we go through the day.

There is still plenty of showery rain across northern Britain this morning, along with a scattering of showers across western areas. Many southern and eastern parts are starting dry with sunny spells though, and as we go through the day there won't be a lot of change. The sunny spells will encourage temperatures to rise, with high's of around 17C in the southeast, a bit above normal. Even further north with the showers and wind it will be quite mild

Tonight will be dry for many, and remaining mild, before some rain moves into the southwest by dawn. This rain continues to affect southwest Britain on Monday, but for most it will be a dry and bright day with temperatures above normal.

This sets the tone for much of the rest of the week as high pressure dominates to the east of the country keeping Atlantic low pressure to the west. This means southerly winds will keep it very mild indeed, but there will be a lot of cloud and some rain around from time to time.

Day 24 - Wet with gales in the north. CLOCK CHANGE!

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A disappointing start to the weekend with a lot of cloud, mist and rain around across most of the country. However, brighter conditions now coming into the southwest will soon make their way across many central and southern areas, but the rain will hang around across parts of Scotland for much of the day.

The culprit is a fairly deep area of low pressure that's moving north-eastwards close to northwest Britain over the next 24 hours or so. This system will also bring some pretty strong winds to some north-western areas, with gales or severe gales likely for a time. The main concern will be the rainfall though, especially over those eastern areas of Scotland where so much rain fell during the week. All this is covered in our Severe Weather Warning.

Bright and breezy weather will reach much of Ireland, England and Wales this afternoon, with a scattering of showers, but for Northern Ireland and Scotland, further rain is likely and this will be on the heavy side too. This rain continues into tonight, with the heaviest and most persistent rain expected over southwest Scotland by this stage. Further south, it will be a breezy night with clear spells, and one or two showers around.

Sunday looks like being another breezy day in most places, with sunny spells and a few showers in the south whilst Scotland sees further outbreaks of rain from time to time, although these should begin to ease with time.

DON'T FORGET! British Summer Time (BST) ends tonight at 2am, and clocks go back 1 hour as we go back into Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) - an extra hour's sleep for many of us!

Day 23 - Some improvements.

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A lot of bright weather around today with some sunny spells as we have something of a rest bite from the unsettled conditions. However, it won't be completely dry as there will be a scattering of showers across Britain and Ireland.

Low pressure is still sat out in the Atlantic, and is busy preparing the next batch of wind and rain to throw across the country tomorrow, but for today it isn't looking too bad. There are a number of showers around this morning, mainly around southern and western coasts, whilst many inland areas are starting off misty with plenty of low cloud around. Meanwhile, towards Scotland, its a damp start to the day with some drizzly rain around - the remnants of the heavy rain of the last couple of days which brought over 3 inches of rain to some parts.

As we go through the morning, most places will see some sunny spells breaking through at times, but showers will break out - mainly from the Midlands northwards. A few will be on the heavy side, and with light winds they will be quite slow moving. It will be a mild day everywhere, with temperatures into the mid teens for many.

Later today, cloud will thicken towards southwest England and Ireland, and rain will move in by dusk as the next system begins to make inroads. The rain will really set in overnight and into the first half of Saturday across the southwest, before making its way north-eastwards across all parts during the day on Saturday - please see our weather warning for eastern Scotland where another large fall of rain is expected. It will also become very windy, with local gales, whilst brighter and showery conditions will follow the rain into the southwest by the afternoon. Sunday looks much brighter across central and southern parts, but Scotland will see more rain and very strong winds.

Day 22 - Showery in southwest.

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The last of yesterday's rain is slowly clearing away from northeast England and eastern Scotland this morning, and should be clear of the mainland by early afternoon. Meanwhile, heavy and thundery showers towards the southwest will spread their way into other southern and western areas.

Low pressure centred over southwest Ireland continues to be the driving force of our weather, although it is filling slowly. There have been a number of heavy showers over Ireland, Wales and southwest England overnight, and these will ease their way further north and east today. With lighter winds, these showers aren't moving very quickly, and have the potential to give some quite large rainfall totals in places. Having said that, many central, eastern and northern areas will see a fair amount of dry and bright weather once this morning's rain has gone, with only a few scattered showers.

Showers will tend to die out over inland areas tonight, but the warm sea's will encourage them to keep going around some coastal areas with some further pretty heavy ones likely.

This takes us into a showery day on Friday, although there will be some sunny spells around, and then its all eyes towards the southwest as the next area of rain looks set to move in later in the day. Saturday isn't looking too good at the moment with plenty of rain and brisk winds around, but hopefully Sunday will see some sunshine breaking through between the showers.

Day 21 - Wet in the east.

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A miserable day is in store for many eastern parts of England and Scotland today as the weather front that moved in from the west yesterday stalls across these areas. This means further outbreaks of rain are likely throughout the day, and some of this will be heavy at times too.

We have a Weather Watch out for eastern Scotland and northeast England, as there really could be some prolonged spells of rain today and tomorrow, with totals approaching or exceeding 50mm in parts by the end of tomorrow.

Meanwhile, for the rest of Britain and Ireland it will be a brighter picture with some decent sunny spells around. However, heavy showers towards the southwest will become more widespread over these parts during today, and there could be some hail, thunder and torrential downpours associated with these. Winds will be somewhat lighter here today, but fresh or strong south-easterly winds are likely towards eastern parts with that rain.

The rain continues in the northeast tonight, with further heavy falls and the totals adding up. Other areas will be drier, but heavy and thundery showers will continue towards the south and west.

Looking into tomorrow, and that rain will slowly clear away from the northeast, then we're into a mixture of sunshine and showers. This continues on Friday, before more wet and windy weather looks set to greet the weekend...

day 20 - Wind & rain.

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The change in the weather is well and truly upon us now with wet and windy conditions having swept into western areas overnight, and this wet weather will continue to spread further east/northeast as we go through today.

Many central and eastern areas are starting dry, if cloudy, and there's a fair old breeze blowing out there too, but it does mean a much milder start than recent days. Much of Scotland and eastern England will then see a mainly dry day with a few sunny spells, but for many areas, that rain in the southwest will take over. As the rain moves through, this will allow Ireland and southwest England to brighten up by this afternoon, although a few showers will still be likely. Temperatures will be near to normal for many parts, but feeling cooler in those brisk southerly winds.

The rain does look like reaching eastern areas by tonight, but there is still a little uncertainty about how far east the rain gets as the front bringing the rain looks set to stall. The extreme southeast may stay dry, but patches of rain are likely throughout the night for many central and eastern parts, with clearer skies and scattered showers further west.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, and further rain is expected to move northwards across central and eastern areas of Britain with the front very slow moving over these areas by then, and the rain could be heavy at times. Western areas will see a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers, perhaps with thunder, whilst temperatures will be close to or a tad above normal with the winds slowly easing a touch.

Day 19 - Wind of change.

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An increasing southerly breeze across the country today will indicate the end of the quiet spell of weather as high pressure slips away to the east, allowing an Atlantic low pressure to take over this week.

The low is a deep feature out over the Atlantic, but it is slow moving, and as high pressure builds over Scandinavia over the next few days, it doesn't look like the low will take over completely. Indeed, it's associated weather fronts may stall across the country - with some eastern areas managing to stay mainly dry for much of the upcoming week.

For many it is a milder start to the day than what we have seen over the weekend, with a fair amount of cloud around. The thickest of the cloud is towards the north and west, and this is where we are likely to find some patchy rain - especially across parts of Ireland and Scotland. The best of any brightness today will be towards southern and eastern areas, but even here the odd patch of rain cannot be ruled out.

The freshening southerly winds will herald the arrival of some heavy and persistent rainfall across Ireland by tonight, and this will only slowly drift eastwards. Many other areas will be dry and cloudy tonight, and with the breeze picking up everywhere, it will be a much milder night.

All eyes will then be on this band of rain over the next couple of days, and how much eastwards progress it will actually make. It looks like moving into western areas of England, Wales and Scotland during Tuesday, and perhaps into central areas by Wednesday, with brighter, showery conditions following into the west. Meanwhile, eastern areas may well remain mostly fair, if on the windy side.

Day 18 - cold in south, high pressure

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Day 17 - High pressure.

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A pretty nice day is on the cards across Britain and Ireland thanks to high pressure sitting slap bang over the country. Whilst many parts will see good spells of sunshine, some eastern areas will be plagued by cloud coming down from the north on a northerly wind.

That wind is still quite fresh across East Anglia and southeast England this morning, but will slowly ease down later today and tonight. Winds are much lighter elsewhere, and this has allowed some frost to develop overnight, so its a chilly start to the day. Not much will change today, with most places staying dry with sunny spells. The best of the sunshine will be across central and western areas, and this will help temperatures recover to near normal values.

Clear skies this evening will mean those temperatures will fall away sharply, with a widespread ground frost and some air frost forming. One exception will be much of Scotland and Ireland, as more cloud rolls in from the northwest, eventually bringing some rain with it. Combined with the freshening breeze, this will mean a milder night here.

So a cold start to Sunday across England and Wales, but this will mean a fine day is in store here again, with more in the way of sunshine across eastern districts. Further north, that cloud and rain will slowly edge south-eastwards across the rest of Scotland and Ireland, reaching northern England by the end of the day, with brighter conditions following into the north.

Looking ahead into next week, and its all change as a deep Atlantic low moves closer, bringing strong southerly winds and heavy rain in from the west, although eastern parts may well stay dry well into the week.

Day 16 - sunny skies sweeping south

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A cold front sweeping southwards across Britain and Ireland today is bringing a change to much sunnier weather as clearer skies come down from the north.

Its a cloudy and damp start across central and southern areas this morning as that cold front passes through, with some light rain and drizzle in places. However, those sunny skies already across Scotland and northern England will continue to feed south with many areas seeing a fine afternoon. Cloud may hang on across much of Ireland and parts of southwest England though, whilst a fresh northerly wind in eastern areas of England will bring some patchy cloud in with it. Temperatures will be rather cooler than recently, especially close to the east coast where that northerly wind will be quite noticeable.

The breeze and patchy cloud here will help to stop temperatures falling too low tonight, but for many central and western areas it will be a cold night with a widespread ground frost forming under those clear skies. This takes us into a fine and chilly start for the weekend and Saturday looks like being a fine day everywhere, although there will again be some of that cloud plaguing eastern areas.

Another chilly night on Saturday gives way to more cloud moving into northwest Scotland, as a weather front moves in. A little rain is likely here on Sunday, but for much of England and Wales it looks like being another nice day. Make the most of the fine weather this weekend though, as wet and windy weather looks set to move in from the west next week!

Day 15 - High pressure.

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High pressure continues to sit close to north-western Britain and Ireland keeping conditions very much on the quiet side. However, weak weather fronts are still getting caught up under the high, bringing a lot of cloud to many areas, and with light winds this cloud isn’t going anywhere fast.

Some drier and colder continental air fed into southeast England late yesterday, bringing clearer skies overnight, and a rather chilly start to today. This is where the best of any sunshine is likely to be during today, with most other areas seeing a lot of cloud once again. The cloud will be thick enough to bring some mainly light rain to central, northern and western areas, whilst temperatures in most areas will be close to normal for mid-October.

Its still looking promising for a change to much sunnier conditions to spread south during tomorrow as a cold front bringing no more than a little light rain clears through, although it will be late in the day before the clearer weather reaches parts of southern England. The downside of the sunnier weather will be the clearer skies allowing temperatures to fall sharply overnight, with a widespread ground frost expected by Saturday morning in many areas as well as some patchy fog.

Looking ahead to the weekend, and Saturday is looking fine and dry for many, but by the time we get to Sunday some rain could arrive in the northwest as the high begins to weaken and slip away, heralding potentially changeable conditions for next week.

Day 14 - High pressure.

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Its a difficult setup for forecasters at the moment as weak weather fronts get caught up in our area of high pressure, bringing cloudier skies to some areas, and even a little rain too, along with mild temperatures. Meanwhile, other places are seeing good spells of sunshine by day, but colder nights with some mist and fog forming.

To summarise today's weather simply would be to say that most areas will be dry with variable amounts of cloud and some sunny spells at times. However, its not quite that straight forward, as thicker cloud is bringing some light rain with it, notably across some central and eastern areas of Britain. With very light winds, nothing is moving very fast, so the weather you are waking up to could well be what you see for much of today. Most of the thicker cloud will be towards the north and east, whilst the best prospect of sunshine comes the further south and west that you are.

Not much changes tonight or tomorrow, with a fair amount of cloud keeping temperatures up tonight, but where those clear spells do occur, expect a chillier night with the risk of some fog patches. Many areas will be on the cloudy side tomorrow, with the risk of a little light rain almost anywhere.

A cold front coming south on Friday will bring more cloud and a little rain, but as it clears away then we are looking for much sunnier weather to come down from the north, albeit somewhat cooler. This then sets us up for the prospect of a fairly bright weekend, although nights will be cold.

Day 13 - all quiet.

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We may be in mid-Autumn, a time when gales and heavy rain can sweep the country, but this year it is the exact opposite thanks to a large area of high pressure sitting over the country. The good news is that this high is going nowhere fast, the bad news is that it won't be wall to wall sunshine and warm temperatures.

There is one exception to the totally dry story, and that is the far north and northwest of Scotland, where Atlantic weather fronts are trying to push the high away...without much success. They are bringing a far amount of cloud, and some patchy rain at times, and this will continue from time to time over the next day or two. Winds are more noticeable here too, with a moderate south-westerly, but it will keep it on the mild side.

Elsewhere, its a chilly start to the day in places, and there is some patchy mist and fog around, along with a touch of ground frost in parts too. This should lift to leave a day of sunny spells, although many areas will probably become rather cloudy by this afternoon, whilst temperatures will be close to normal.

Despite pressure remaining high over the next few days, rather more in the way of cloud is expected to be drifting around, and there may also be some patchy light rain in places. However, there will still be some sunshine around, but that brings the mist and ground frost risk at night under the clearer slots.

Day 12 - more settled.

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Another quiet autumnal spell of weather is on the cards over the coming days as a large area of high pressure settles itself over Britain and Ireland. There will be some day to day variations, but the main theme will be for a dry week with variable amounts of cloud and sunshine.

Pressure is rising strongly across all parts this morning giving a good indication of the developing high pressure cell. There is a northerly breeze blowing down the eastern coast of England, and this is blowing in the odd shower from off the North Sea, but for most parts it is a dry and chilly start to the new working week with a touch of ground frost in some northern regions. For many it will turn into a fine day with sunny spells, and temperatures ending up near normal for mid-October. However, cloud will move into northwest Scotland later on, and this will thicken up enough to bring some rain too.

This mainly patchy rain will continue into tonight across the north and northwest of Scotland, but clearer skies elsewhere will lead to some mist and fog forming, along with a touch of ground frost in rural areas.

This means a bright and chilly start for central and southern parts on Tuesday, but that cloud in the north will be slipping southwards, although much of the rain will have died out by then, leaving some patchy drizzle. For much of the rest of the week it will then be a case of chasing cloud amounts, with a fair amount of cloud expected to get caught up under the high. Any clear slots will allow some sunshine by day, but give chilly nights with a mist and fog risk.

Day 11 - mostly dry.

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It's a cloudy start to the day for much of England, Wales and parts of Ireland as a weak frontal system brings some patchy rain this morning. This system has worked its way a little further northwards than anticipated, thus the disappointing start in many central and southern areas. Most of the rain is light and patchy though, but the odd sharper burst cannot be ruled out.

Further north, across northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland it is a brighter start with some sunny spells, but across northeast Scotland there are some pretty heavy showers around this morning. Further showers are likely here today, whilst the brighter skies gradually make their way further south across Ireland, England and Wales. We can't promise in the way of sunshine for southern districts though with the cloudy skies likely to hang around well into tonight.

As skies clear for many other areas tonight, we are expecting a chilly night, and a widespread ground frost to develop across rural areas of northern Britain. One or two showers will run down the east coast as the winds go into the north, and these will continue into tomorrow. For most though, Monday will be a fine and sunny day, but cloud will move into the northwest during the afternoon.

Day 10 - improvements.

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The changeable conditions of yesterday are now clearing away eastwards, and although low pressure will never be too far away this weekend, the weather for the majority of Britain and Ireland will be set fair.

It's a slow start to the day in places with patches of mist, fog and low cloud around, but these should lift and clear away during the morning allowing sunny spells to develop. It won't be completely dry though, as showers will affect northwest Scotland, and one or two light showers may break out elsewhere. With lighter winds today, it will feel a bit warmer in the sunshine, with temperatures close to normal. This means that it looks like a fine evening for the crucial World Cup qualifier between Ireland and Italy at Croke Park.

A few showers will continue in the north tonight, but many areas will be dry with clear spells. The area of rain that we were expecting to track across central and southern areas now looks like skirting the far southwest of England and Ireland only, and will mostly be on the light side.

This rain will continue at times across the far southwest on Sunday, but on the whole it will be another reasonable day for many parts with sunny spells. A few showers will affect northern and eastern areas with a moderate north-westerly breeze blowing, making it feel a little cooler.

Looking ahead into next week, and high pressure begins to take control bringing plenty of settled weather. There may be a few showers down eastern coasts on Monday thanks to a northerly breeze, and some rain may affect northern Scotland on Tuesday, but for most there will be plenty of dry weather with sunny spells once any overnight mist and fog clears.

Day 9 - Rain invading.

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After a nice day yesterday, its not looking as good today as the changeable theme to our weather continues. Already this morning outbreaks of rain have moved in across Ireland and western Scotland as the next Atlantic weather system moves in.

Winds are also picking up ahead of this rain, a brisk south/south-easterly breeze making it feel rather cool. The rain will continue to make steady eastwards progress during today, and will turn out to be on the heavy side in places. This means that the fine and chilly start in eastern and southern areas this morning will soon be replaced by increasingly cloud, although it may be late afternoon before the rain reaches some eastern counties of England. At the same time, brighter skies will move in across Ireland during the afternoon with only a few scattered showers.

The rain will continue its eastward journey tonight, with clearer skies following to many areas by the morning. However, the rain may well take a while to clear the far north and east. Indeed, the far northeast of Scotland could remain rather cloudy and damp throughout Saturday, but for most parts it will be a drier and brighter day with only a few showers around - these mainly for the north and west.

More rain looks set to move across southern areas of Britain and Ireland during Saturday night and early Sunday with more showers for the north, and this is followed by brighter day on Sunday with cool north-westerly winds.

Plenty happening then, and you can keep up with the latest forecasts for your location on the site, and you can share your current weather conditions with our large gang of weather reporters in the reports section!