Any resident Meteorologists?

Old Turkey

Old Turkey

Old Turkey

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Actually you don't need to be a Meteorologist at all .... but it might help

You know, I was just in my Garden looking up at the Sky, noticing how dull and grey it is, and I thought to myself, I wonder what part of the UK has the warmest Climate? Which part of the UK has the clearest Skies?

Interestingly, I have visited West Worthing on a number of occasions and I was told by an amateur Meteorologist that because of the close vicinity of the South Downs, there is a unique and pleasant microclimate. He was quite right, there was something different about Worthing.

I don't know how many People on this Board travel around the UK and how many take the slightest bit of notice of the different Climates of the Country, or whether or not they want to share their experiences, I don't know, but I am very curious as to which part of the Country has the best Climate, in terms of temperature and which part has the least cloud cover.

I think it would also be very interesting and illuminating whether any Meteorologists here have the confidence to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise, to explain why certain places have more favourable conditions than others, the type of conditions we all dream for on dreary and drizzly days. :D
 
I think down in Cornwall is warmest since it gets a lot of warmth from the global convaor ocean current. Raises the temp by a few degrees, also it gets the effect of warm air comming in from Africa its also a long way from the Artic winds.
 
Tesla said:
I always thought Plymouth/Dartmoor had a microclimate?
Click to expand...

Loads of places have microclimates normally urban areas. Urban areas can be upto 4 degrees in the day warmer than the surounding countryside, its called urban heat island effect. Building store heat energy really well and the pollution creates a blanket keeping it warm at night. The pollution also acts as concentration neculi for rain and fog, and the warm air can hold more moisture.Thats why it rains on Mondays and Thursdays in London statisticly that is (its defanintly Thursday, might not be monday though).

Local micro climates are affected by:
Albedo of surfaces - dark absorbs more heat
Aspect - North facing slopes are warmer
Water - Has a cooling effect as wind blows over it also has a low albedo
Ground cover - Forest absorbs more light than grassland, acts a windblock etc.
 
Plymouths been quite dry recently, until friday afternoon when it started tipping it down and hasnt stopped since. :p

Cornwall is supposed to be the warmest place in the UK, I can definitly see the difference between the south east/east anglia area and Devon. Devon is a lot warmer in winter but in summer the south east is hotter with less rain all round. The south East is the dryest part of the country, although you wouldnt think that during the summer. :(
 
Oh this is very fascinating, very fascinating indeed. Is it the case that there are local factors which will change the characteristics of cloud formations as well?

The temperature of the UK is OK in my view, but I think the achilles heel is the abundance of overcast conditions. :(
 
The reason plymouth is so wet is because of dartmoor behind it. The clouds come from the south and are stopped by the uplands (dartmoor). They pile up infront of it (plymouth) and that causes the rain to fall.

Well in laymans terms anyway
 
Last time I heard any research on this, i remember that surprisingly the sunniest place in the UK was Sunderland.

It's aint the warmest though, and the locals do like like they spend most of their time underground..........
 
Here's some basic met stuff from a pilot's licence course...


Most of the visible weather - cloud/rain/ice particles etc - is confined in the troposphere which ranges from surface to 35-thousand feet in global mid-latitudes. Most weather occurs in this layer of the atmosphere.

Relative humididy is the percentage amount of water vapour present. At 100% humidity the air is saturated - it can't support any more water vapour. This is why sweating may not cool someone in a tropical jungle etc...

The amount of water vapour that can be supported is related to the air temperature. Hot air supports more vapour. Cold air supports less. Dewpoint is the temperature below which air can no longer support water vapour in it's invisible form. As the temperature falls beyond this point cloud forms. Mist and fog are surface/low altitude examples of pretty much the same effects. When you look at cloud you're actually observing the height/altitude of the specific chunk of air's dewpoint - you're observing the elevation at which the water molecules suspended in the atmosphere are aggregating into visible droplet form. The droplets may hang around as cloud chunks, layers etc or they may develop into drizzle, rain, hail, snow etc.

Air temperature decreases by 2 degrees centigrade approximately for every one-thousand feet gain in altitude. If a weather system is pushing highly humid air inland from the ocean and the air meets a mountain range (south wales for example) the air is forced upwards, cools according to the 2degrees/1000 feet rule, cloud forms and bingo - rain, fog, mist etc...

A similar fogging effect can occur in a high-flying airliner suffering explosive decompression because of hull rupture, pressurisation failure etc. Instantaneous decompression may be accompanied by instantaneous fogging in the cabin and flight deck to the point that the flight crew may not be able to see eachother let alone the instrument panel until the water droplets condense, disperse and visibility is regained. That aside, in those circumstances, at high altitude cruise levels the flight crew have a matter of seconds to use oxygen masks or they will be rendered unconcious anyway.

An interesting side issue is that your car has poorer performance in conditions of high humidity because the presence of water vapour reduces density of the air supplied to the engine.
 
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