Since I set up my new thermometer it has consistently shown the outside temperature to be around 10°c, which is during the last 3 or 4 days that storm Christoph has been battering the UK. I had been keeping a close eye on the weather maps, and throughout the majority of the storm, a cold front had been sat on near-enough the border of England and Scotland.
I had seen that on Wednesday evening, this cold front was expected to suddenly start to twist and pass over the whole UK, suddenly replacing the moist warm air with cold dry air.
On Wednesday afternoon, I watched on the maps as the cold front did exactly that and hit the welsh coast, twisting to the east. The temperature contrast across the UK was immense, with the weather stations behind the front quickly dropping to near 0°c, in some cases turning the heavy rain to snow. As is always characteristic of a cold front, there was extremely heavy rain travelling with it, as the cold air undercut the warm moist air and forced the rapid production of clouds. So I was quite excited for a number of reasons. 1) The temperature was going to get cold again, leaving the possibility of snow. 2) We were going to get very heavy rain to listen to and admire; and 3) The cold front marks the end of this slow-moving storm, meaning I can get back out on my lockdown walks without getting too wet!
As the front drew nearer, I decided it might be quite fun to set up the GoPro to do a timelapse of my thermometer, as the temperature was supposed to change quite rapidly, over the course of an hour or two. Nothing could have prepared me for what actually happened.
As the temperature dropped from 10.3°c to 10.1°c, I set the camera rolling and waited patiently. Suddenly, the temperature dropped to 10.0°c, then 9.9°c, then 9.7°c, in a matter of seconds. I couldn't quite believe the rate it was dropping. Outside I heard the rain and wind go mental for one final punch before the storm finally moved on into Scandinavia. The temperature continued to drop like crazy. So fast that I could film it with a normal camera, without the timelapse! The temperature change that I thought would take two hours took ten minutes.
In the mobile phone video I took below, you can hear how shocked I was about what I was seeing and I note how creepy it felt. It was like the scene in The Day After Tomorrow when the eye of the storm comes and the temperature drops so fast it freezes people solid!
Yet another instance where the weather is just unbelievably impressive and unstoppable.
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