Weather

We are currently en route through France back to UK from Spain. Our sailing yesterday, from Santander, was cancelled at the last minute and there are no places on any boat from Spain until next month so we had little choice.

Weather not too bad; warm, calm until today and, until last night, dry. Today is warm with winds and sudden heavy rainstorms. Not as bad as the winds we would have met driving home from Portsmouth this morning I suspect. Looking on the bright side, the van is several shades whiter now than it was leaving Catral.

Gales overnight, heavy showers early morning, clear sky's now, sun out , great drying day for washing.
No BBQs this week.
Boaby

Enjoying our mini (few days  ) of heatwave, very welcome after the cold winds and rain earlier this month. Hope all our friends holidaying in the hotspots of Europe are keeping safe and well in the soaring temperatures.

Got down from 40 to 27 overnight - such a relief but will only be for a couple of hours. Travelling north to Loire today and forecast to be in high 30s for the next week.

27 degrees in the shade yesterday, not so this morning,thick cloud cover.
Son up in Reispol says he's roasting at 30 this morning.beautiful blue sky's, no midge either.
Boaby

Reached 24 here yesterday with a nice breeze and not a cloud to be seen. Reports of gales last night in Harlech area but nothing reached us. Today is bright, sunny and a high this afternoon of 23 but only 18 at moment.

burlingtonboaby wrote:27 degrees in the shade yesterday, not so this morning,thick cloud cover.
Son up in Reispol says he's roasting at 30 this morning.beautiful blue sky's, no midge either.
Boaby

Cloud cover cleared by mid morning  turned into a beautiful day,26 in the  shade.
Nice sunny dawn this morning, some cloud, heated up nicely.
Boaby

Reached 28 in Stafford yesterday, forecast 21 today, cloudy with nice breeze.

My goodness, more of the hot stuff on the way. Hope you all have your knotted hankies at the ready 

It amazes me that all of us oldies have managed to survive to this great age considering we didn't grow up with hourly radio and TV warnings to drink lots of water, stay inside, cover up etc..
Al.

30 degrees outside in the shade, nice wee sea breeze, great day for a BBQ, 
Boaby

burlingtonboaby wrote:30 degrees outside in the shade, nice wee sea breeze, great day for a BBQ, 
Boaby

Yes, just taken the cover off ours at home.

Peter Brown wrote:

burlingtonboaby wrote:30 degrees outside in the shade, nice wee sea breeze, great day for a BBQ, 
Boaby

Yes, just taken the cover off ours at home.

Did you get some Popeseye steaks Peter, we fancied some grilled chicken and corn on the cob for a change.
Enjoy Peter.
Boaby

We have sausages and some other bits and pieces left over from the weekend so nothing special tonight.

bikeralw wrote:It amazes me that all of us oldies have managed to survive to this great age considering we didn't grow up with hourly radio and TV warnings to drink lots of water, stay inside, cover up etc..
Al.

I am normally a quiet man, as any friends will testify, but I did shout at the radio when I was being told that in this heat I should open windows ".....only if it is safe to do so" Maybe this is another peril in life I have to consider in future.

Just listening to the news about a 30% reduction in trains in the south of the country due to a maximum speed limit of 60mph because of possible rail deformation.
Well don't trains run in extreme hot temperatures in the likes of Australia, India etc? 
Al.

bikeralw wrote:
Well don't trains run in extreme hot temperatures in the likes of Australia, India etc? 
Al.

Yes, but more slowly...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-06/how-heat-affects-roads-trains-and-planes/9308342

I’d rather my train got me there safely if slowly rather than risk derailing at high speed.

Sorry, must go, have to freeze more chicken stock ice lollies for the cat and make sure my OH is drinking at least a pint of liquid every 30 minutes.

Duplicate post removed. Must be the heat affecting the internet.

I'm sure someone more technical can answer this but it could be that the rail expansion or contraction through the  old 'fish plates' or modern tensioning systems are set to cover a certain temperature range normally expected for the climate where they have been put down.

Luckily I think motorhomes have been built for travelling in cold countries in winter and hot countries in the summer. But even we might have to change the tyres and make adaptations to the fridge.

Some years ago we visited my daughter while she was teaching in Japan and toured extensively by a very fast train. It was late spring and the temperature was in the high 30's every day. It never slowed down!
Al.

I believe that the fast Japanese railway system was designed from scratch in the second half of the last century. Ours has been 'bolted' onto our Victorian 'heritage' lines.

Not looked up anything, just remembering vaguely what I read in the York railway museum when looking at the 'bullet train'. 

Come on there must be some real rail experts in the Forum who can give their expert advice.

Anyway back to the weather, 16 degrees overnight, very warm winds, not the usual coastal cooling effect.
29 degrees the now, not a cloud in the sky.
Hindermann black mess windscreen covers. reducing the Suns heat from coming in the front of the van.
Boaby

oldfred wrote:

Come on there must be some real rail experts in the Forum who can give their expert advice.

Or, in the interim, you can read this excellent, and bang up to date,article:

https://mashable.com/article/train-tracks-climate-change-warping/?europe=true

We have this remarkable tendency in UK to believe all our problems are unique. They are certainly not: Europe, USA and Australia, among others, have train track problems in hot weather. You can’t ignore molecular physics.

Thanks - now I understand and I'll keep a Mashable tab open - the other articles look interesting to read.

On a weather note there are thunder and lightening showers starting around us on the Fylde coast (Blackpool) and it will be comfortably cooler when we set off for Scotland tomorrow.

oldfred wrote:Thanks - now I understand and I'll keep a Mashable tab open - the other articles look interesting to read.

On a weather note there are thunder and lightening showers starting around us on the Fylde coast (Blackpool) and it will be comfortably cooler when we set off for Scotland tomorrow.

You do have to wonder if the HS2 people have taken this high speed heat stress into account.....

( Our son tells us it’s raining heavily in south London)