UK weather-Or not
 

Several have asked me on the forums about the UK weather.The easiest way to explain it is "Wet and Windy" The North of England is getting it bad at present with Floods in Cumbria- (The Lake district and south of the Scottish Border) This is an area noted for its rainfall admittedly but This time not only are water levels 8ft above normal- but Bridges have washed away along whole stretches of River.

Last Year the rains came to an area well south of this and it was in June. It just seems that every year some part of the UK is hit with high rainfall and the ensueing Floods And this has always been the case. In my Youth I lived in a part of a Village called "Noahs Ark" It flooded frequently and it got its name from one of the houses that had a small farm with it and the owner brought all the animals into the house which was on the high point of the Farm.

So we have always had floods and always will be having them- but the severity over the past few years has grown tremendously. One of the reasons is the change in climate that has occured in the last 10 years- but the other reason is that a lot of building has gone on in the "Flood Plains Area" that is in most regions. In the past- any overflowing Rivers have flooded these plains and allowed the water to drain away into the Ground. With those flood plains now being covered over with concrete and Asphalt- It has to go somewhere else. There is no where else so Wet feet allround.

Luckily here in the South we do not have flooding this year. Plenty of rain and have had only a couple of fine days in the last month or so. The big problem though has been the wind. Today we only had an inch or so of rain falling as heavy drizzle. It would have been ridable in- were it not for the 40 mph wind that accompanied it.

So as you can tell- I am getting twitchy. Only a couple of decent rides since the beginning of the month and the forecast is not good for this week at all. Friday and the wind might drop below 25mph- but the weekend and it is supposed to drop. Sunday looks good- but would you believe it--Stock take this weekend.

So we are holding up over here- but if you keep sending rain over from your side of the Pond- England is going to sink.

I live near Edinburgh, although I am English my children are Scottish having been born in Edinburgh.
The weather is generally worse here in Scotland than in England. Ignoring the localised flooding, then that has been the case for the last 3 summers which have been cool, cloudy, wet and windy. It is also generally wetter the nearer you get to the West side of the country.

It does not stop us cycling, but you have to take, or wear, clothing for wet, cold and windy.

I cycled to Dumfries for a 4 day cycling meeting at the end of May this year. I has a 90 mile ride there in a steady 25 mph cold headwind with showers, often of hail. I was cycle camping and it was hard going over 3 days. I was having to pedal down steep hills where you would normally reach 30 mph freewheeling and even had to get off and walk up one or two as the wind wore me down.

The four day event was very enjoyable, 1 very wet day and 3 nice sunny days. The country round Dumfries and SW Scotland is beautiful and made for cycling as long as you enjoy hills.

If you are planning to come here and cycle you will find the country roads very enjoyable, just avoid main roads where possible and make sure you have some wet weather clothing in case of rain.