Thursday
Jul302015
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Gritters out
Jul 30, 2015 Climate: Surface The Scotsman is reporting that gritting lorries have been out on the streets in rural Perthshire overnight, with forecasters pointing to the possibility of snow, hail and frost.
It's a worry, this global warming stuff.
Reader Comments (36)
I think that this is based on false information. I am currently holidaying in South Ayrshire, where it is unusually cold, but nowhere near freezing. For instance on Tuesday max temperature was about 12C and yesterday 15C with sunshine.
Bishop
There's an interesting snippet in the Scotsman article, 2015 has been the windiest year since 1995 or earlier, this might explain why the contribution from wind mills has been outstanding this year
Oh Andrew, we sceptics are damned if we do stoke up the global cooling scare but could equally be damned if we don't mention it and we do have a sustained downturn in temperatures.
I still think its most likely that this terrible summer is just one of those things that mother nature throws at us from year to year. But I cannot help wondering if it might be the start of one of those things mother nature throws at us from decade to decade or worse still from century to century.
And don't you get that feeling we sceptics are the only ones in Scotland who have any clue about the real possibility of cold! Climate extremist academics are just clueless idiots - constantly yapping on about "global warming" - they couldn't predict the climate a few hours ahead correctly let alone predict whether we might have cooling or not.
It came pretty close to a ground frost here in rural Devon, with condensation on the double-glazed windows. Almost central heating weather in July. The minimum air temperature was 4.8C, but I know my thermometer records high, so I would estimate the minimum air temperature was about 2C
Kevin, it might be based on correct information. South Ayrshire and Perthshire are a considerable distance apart, I guess 150 miles. South Ayrshire enjoys whatever benefits the Gulf Stream offers, Perthshire doesn't.
Ian
600 ft up on a Fife hillside we have had the fire on for the past four nights. Yesterday the wind was coming straight from the arctic, or so it felt, and it's not much better this morning.
A
The new LIA is coming fast.
In 15 years time quite a bit of Scotland will be glaciated.
That's why I've got a remote control on my central heating. Brrrr.e
There could be a blizzard in Scotland in August - does anybody think the BBC would report it?
This cold July might be all my fault. We had a very warm day at the start of the month. The next day was similar so I donned my shorts and sandals. Clearly, the bare legs cause offense somewhere.
After that we had thunder and were plunged into the cold. Even the electric blanket has been called into service.
well they said we wouldn't see any more snow at Christmas.
They meant we would see it in July, instead..
Obviously.
Weather, not Climate.
But on a serious point.
Regardless of big AGW or little AGW, there will always be weather.
So adaptation will always be safer than trying to control the weather via the climate.
I live in the high mountains of Paisley and had the central heating on last night. It was actually cold indoors. No one has seen a haggis in weeks. Looks like they have gone back into hibernation.
There has to be a reason for the Scottish Brrrr.......:o)
Imagine how much colder it would be in Scotland, without fossil fuels to keep warm. Some people can't wait for the increased deaths rates to make their dreams come true.
Kilts away.
@tomo: If there is don't worry, the Wet Office & BBC will just say it is all part of "Climate Change & Climate Disruption". The whole raison d'etre of it is that it doesn't matter what happens, it's "Climate Change" & it's our fault! They're right we're wrong. The pause or hiatus is easily expalined by the Wet Office's stock answer, "This is not unexpected. We don't expect every year to be warmer than the last, that is not our understanding of Climate Change. Some years will be cooler than others!" It's all pre-written & logged into a file I dare say, under the broad heading of "Plausible excuses why we got it wrong!". The general philosophy seems to be, forecast everything & anything & we'll always be right! I recall reading, (but haven't bothered to look recently) a summary of the Climate Change forecasts, which I am sure I have posted here before, & read like this.............."Some areas will have more rain, some areas will have less rain. Some areas will have more drought, some areas will have less drought," & so-on! Covers everything really.
golf charlie
You are so right. My house is kept warm by a substance called 'gas'. I know because it's on my electricity bill. I looked it up and indeed it is a fossil fuel. It's made in France by a company called 'EDF' , liquified and shipped to Paisley by train. I think.
Never mind, very grateful to have it last night as you say.
MC "...adaptation will always be safer than trying to control the weather via the climate."
Why oh why can't all the well-meaning worried embrace this simple but vitally important truth?
M Courtney
"So adaptation will always be safer than trying to control the weather via the climate."
Absolutely true, but that would not involve billions of dollars of business for insurance companies like Aviva and Munich Re (who have their own climate scientists) or carbon traders like Bob Ward's owner, Jeremy Grantham and the wider EU emissions trading system.
http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets/index_en.htm
It would also have meant much lower advertising revenue for the Guardian minus their massive Shell and HSBC campaigns in the run up to Copenhagen.
Lest we forget
Climategate: George Monbiot, the Guardian and Big Oil by James Delingpole
But who is it that sponsors the Guardian's Environment pages and eco conferences? Why, only that famous non-fossil-fuel company Shell. (Though I notice their logo no longer appears on top of the Guardian?s eco pages: has the Guardian decided the relationship was just too embarrassing to be, er, sustainable?)
And which company has one of the largest carbon trading desks in London, cashing in on industry currently worth around $120 billion ? an industry which could not possibly exist without pan-global governmental CO2 emissions laws ? BP (which stands for British Petroleum)
And how much has Indian steel king Lakshmi Mittal made from carbon credits thanks to Europe?s Emissions Trading Scheme? £1 billion.
And which companies were the CRU scientists revealed cosying up to as early as 2000 in the Climategate emails? There?s a clue in this line here: ?Had a very good meeting with Shell yesterday.?
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100019523/climategate-george-monbiot-is-in-the-pay-of-big-oil/
terrible summer?
Here in coastal South Devon I would say on the whole it has been pretty good. We missed out on the rain often forecast until we had a good soak on Sunday.
Been quite warm and sunny although it went a bit pear shaped last week and the last few days have been a little cool-around 18 or 19C. The wind has been a noticeable feature
There have been very few morning over the last two months that we haven't had our breakfast on the balcony.
Our outdoor tomatoes are always a good guide and they are doing pretty well. Not a vintage summer, but pretty good.
tonyb
Grit happens.
I recall once walking into Preston station one warm August day when the tannoy loudly announced in an angry voice "Will the driver of the snowplough on platform 4 please return to it immediately!"
I can't say how many other platforms than number 4 also bore a snowplough, but it was in the days British Rail.
Is this a case of all that gritters is not cold?
esmiff, with your gas coming from France, it would be a great idea for Scotland if they could use their own. It would save money for local people, and provide local jobs. It would make the rest of the UK seem Green and cold with envy.
We have gas ? I thought we were the greenest country on earth. So disappointing.
Obviously this is a year of weather ups and downs.
While Scotland shivers, Burgundy roasts.
Four weeks when the maxima didn't drop below 30C and one when it hit 36.
A further bout of mid-30s is due this weekend into early next week.
Today by contrast both Mrs J and I thought (quite independently) that it was very like autumn!
I agree with Mike Haseler. Whatever the weather today there is at least an outside chance of something very nasty in the pipeline. In 10-15 years Europe may well be desperate to get its hands on anything that will burn.
Doesn't matter if the whole UK ices over. It'll still be "the hottest year evah" come late November.
Phillip
"my thermometer records high"
Did you buy it from the Met Office..?
May be some snow flakes in the Cairngorms
The Pass of Drumochter
Looks like wikipedia might have to include the phrase "and snow showers during summer months" in their entry.
It is the high point on the A9, at 460 m (1508 ft), and in winter can be subject to severe weather conditions. There are routine winter patrols from November to March, and the road is occasionally closed with snow gates near Dalwhinnie and Dalnacardoch. The summit of the railway line is 452 m (1480 ft), making it the highest in the UK. The summit of the pass marks the boundary between Perth and Kinross and the Highland Council area.
Compared with Ayrshire it is a different world on that stretch of the A9
@Commentergraphicconception Jul 30, 2015 at 10:39 AM
I'm happy to find someone to share my guilt with, I thought it was all my fault for doing similar. Since then it has rained almost every day and the view of the top of the Pentland Hills is often in the clouds. Temperatures at 450 feet in South Edinburgh have been low with most people wearing coats when out, even when it is not raining.
I wish this Global Warming the WetOffice and BBC keep promising would happen soon would actually happen; a 2C increase in avg temperatures would certainly improve life here and lower the heating bills.
Edit to above:
Altitude should be 550 feet not 450
Whilst on holiday in Spain, I saw the weather forecast a few days ago and was amazed to see that the forecaster was suggesting that temperatures may be down to 1degC in some rural areas in Scotland.
With wind-chill frosts can certainly develop and if there is any slight rain this can fall as hail thus leading to icy conditions. In these sort of conditions one can expect some black ice to form on roads so gritting sounds prudent particularly in hilly regions where 300 metres of height could make all the difference.
Whether this is exceptional for this time of year is a different matter altogether, and even if exceptional whether it is significant is again something different.
Those lorries are using the new 'ice expert' no injury rubber bumpers that safeguard bicycle riding endangered alarmist ice experts?
Well I'm happy we have global warming because it's bloody freezing down here in Melbourne these days. Without global warming rushing ahead as it is the place would transcend brass monkey weather into something really really freezing .....so I'm thankful that it's occurring