Ahhhh!!! Terrifying! The UK just deployed the country alert system

[Njk]

I assume NORAD watches for incoming at that time.

Old time ago, when I was involved in the sigint operations, one guy waked me up and asked to fix a broken wire in his headphones as he knew I could do that. I told him to wait for some time because I've to turn on the soldering iron and by the mean time I can bring him a cup of tea. But he said that he wants to get it fixed RIGHT NOW because they'd just launched a Trident missile and he have to watch the NORAD traffic and perhaps it's the last five minutes of my life. I had a spare phones but didn't told him because it belonged to the other guy who likely will be very upset with the substitution. He refused my proposal and ran away to seek help elsewhere. This is an old story but the motto remains: don't panic.

[paulca]

So, while it's not over yet, the peak gusts have just past according to Windy.com and my weather station.

It registered 78.1mph gusts and I know it's under reading because I calibrated it.  Although the weather station is no longer straight.

The 3 large wheelie bins I secured against the wall tightly have been tossed around the garden, my 12V 50W solar panel I use to keep a spare 12V lead acid happy with has been flipped and smashed even though it was held down by 4 large concrete blocks.  Thankfully it didn't go through teh garage window behind it, but was thrown away from it onto the ground.

There is something that looks like a smashed chimney pot in the neighbours driveway, but it could just be a plant pot.

The most scary part was being woken up around 7am by the bed vibrating and moving with the gusts... literally the whole house was moving slightly.  The "wooden" roof above my bedroom was making all kinda of noises.  Creaks, thumps, clicks, rattles.  Interior doors pulling and pushing against their latches. Only bit of the house without a ton of 1 inch thick interlocking concrete roof tiles is the bedroom.  I sleep in the one place in the house most likely to have it's roof removed.

The head conversation amounted to...  "You should get up and check things out.",  "It's not wet, it's not cold, I don't feel any wind, the roof is fine for another hour at least" and went back to sleep.

I will have to get the drone up when things calm down, just to check.

On the plus side, it looks like most people took it seriously enough to remove projectiles from their gardens this time.  Last time the street was literally covered in the contents of peoples bins and gardens.  Someones wheelie bin lid was found under my car, but luckily no damage.  This time the street appears debris free. 

Maybe the warning did do something positive.

[Zero999]

Where do you live?

So far today where I am in Bedford, it's been quite windy, but nothing exceptional. On the positive side, the sun has come out for a change and it's now 10°C, which is higher than it's been for the last 10 days. I think I'll go out for a run at lunchtime.

[tom66]

Well, I'm flying out from Heathrow tomorrow, so it'll be "interesting" to see if there are any disruptions there.  So far it says my flight is still scheduled and running OK. 

[paulca]

Just east of Belfast.  Highest point in the town, 400 yards from Belfast Lough shore.

It's an odd storm.  It is not our typical artic<>temporate zone mixing systems, the 3000mile across, takes a week to pass affairs with <60mph winds.

This one is one of these weirdo winter hurricanes which don't quite make it to the Caribbean but turn north east and track our way.

There are apparently 2 or 3 more already forming behind it.  These things are only a few hundred miles across with a VERY tight eye.  WHen I first looked at it on Windy.com it didn't look all that dangerous.  The peak winds where 80mph out to sea.  Unlikely to get that bad once it land falls.  However as I hit "play" and watched the forecast play on, when it was just land falling ireland it suddenly surged to the south west corner of the eye to well over 100mph.  Thats when I took it seriously.  Our buildings are design for "100mph winds, 100 years".

[2N3055]

Ahh lucky you ...That is a breeze..



When bura blows it gets interesting in my part of the country.
It is seasonal wind, not always hurricane force but when it is, traffic stops, bridges are closed, parts of highways...
It can cleanly blow away car from the bridge.

Many parts of highways and bridges have special fences and wind deflectors to deal with it...

But joking aside, strong winds are serious danger. Stay safe!

[tggzzz]

I've been a native speaker for 7, and I never once heard that phrase until now.

That's probably because you are not a native speaker of actual English, but something similar that goes by the same name.

So American English ain't English, is that it?

Correct; that's why it has a different name, and why modern operating systems allow you to select which you are using. The two languages do have a lot in common, though - hence "divided by a common language".

The even though they grate horribly, the differences in spelling and pronunciation are legion and not easily misunderstood.
The same is true of most differences in the use of prepositions.
But there are more significant differences...

My mother was once thrown out of a shop for asking for a quarter of ham.
If you "table a meeting" then one party or the other will be very frustrated.
Here if you went into a restaurant in shirt and pants, you would be ejected before you reached a table. If you then asked where the bathroom is, you would be told in your hotel or at home.
Here (until 1967) if you asked someone whether you could bum a fag, you would be guilty of inciting gross indecency.
Differing usage of auxiliary verbs can cause misunderstandings.
Etc

https://speechling.com/blog/8-differences-between-british-english-and-american-english/
https://www.berlitz.com/blog/british-english-vs-american-english-spelling-pronunciation-words
Etc.

[paulca]

Indeed.  The UK's weather is "mostly mild to moderate".  The climate is "Oceanic Temperate", our "warmth" comes from the SW ocean currents.

The reason people from the British Isles talk so much about their weather is because they get a LOT of it.  Due to the nature of the oceans those nations on the oceans north eastern shores (UK and Alaska) get constantly hammered by oceanic artic/temporate mixing systems.

They are "mild" on a total storm scale, but they happen dozens of times a year.

[tggzzz]

The reason people from the British Isles talk so much about their weather is because they get a LOT of it.

Cf having climate, which is boring.

[xvr]

Windy.com Wind chart for Ireland around 9am if the link doesn't work.
I see 128km/h winds.

Dublin - no any syrens, no alert messages, just falling roofs 

[coppice]

Windy.com Wind chart for Ireland around 9am if the link doesn't work.
I see 128km/h winds.

Dublin - no any syrens, no alert messages, just falling roofs 

I assume this was one of the gently sloped roof sections we see in the background. I've often looked at roofs like that, and wondered how much lift you could get from a strong wind in the right direction.

[Bryn]

Thankfully, as someone who doesn't use a smartphone, I wasn't affected by it. Then again I knew about the storm coming anyway, especially with Scotland to be amongst the worst hit and I happen to be from there.

I do remember when the alert was first tested out years ago, and not everyone was a fan of it and apparently still aren't

[tszaboo]

Thankfully, as someone who doesn't use a smartphone, I wasn't affected by it. Then again I knew about the storm coming anyway, especially with Scotland to be amongst the worst hit and I happen to be from there.

I do remember when the alert was first tested out years ago, and not everyone was a fan of it and apparently still aren't

They test the system here probably 6 times a year. Always the first Monday of a month at 12:00. Including the air raid sirens. After a few occasions you don't even look up from work.

[Zero999]

The maximum recorded wind was 114mph, but there were almost certainly stronger gusts, as the storm damaged some of the instruments.

[coppice]

The maximum recorded wind was 114mph, but there were almost certainly stronger gusts, as the storm damaged some of the instruments.

The strong winds stopped very abruptly here.

[Analog Kid]

I've been a native speaker for 7, and I never once heard that phrase until now.

That's probably because you are not a native speaker of actual English, but something similar that goes by the same name.

So American English ain't English, is that it?

Correct; that's why it has a different name, and why modern operating systems allow you to select which you are using. The two languages do have a lot in common, though - hence "divided by a common language".

Look: I know all about the "two people's divided by a common language" thing, thank you very much.
What you didn't address was the not-so-subtle jab by the person I was responding to to the effect that my English (American English) wasn't really English.

i could just as easily (and wrongly) posit that the strange, non-rhotic, effete-sounding English that you Brits speak isn't really English. That my English is the only correct one. (Notwithstanding that our English was derived from yours, but that was a long time ago.)

I mean, how culturally chauvinistic can you get?

[tggzzz]

I've been a native speaker for 7, and I never once heard that phrase until now.

That's probably because you are not a native speaker of actual English, but something similar that goes by the same name.

So American English ain't English, is that it?

Correct; that's why it has a different name, and why modern operating systems allow you to select which you are using. The two languages do have a lot in common, though - hence "divided by a common language".

Look: I know all about the "two people's divided by a common language" thing, thank you very much.
What you didn't address was the not-so-subtle jab by the person I was responding to to the effect that my English (American English) wasn't really English.

i could just as easily (and wrongly) posit that the strange, non-rhotic, effete-sounding English that you Brits speak isn't really English. That my English is the only correct one. (Notwithstanding that our English was derived from yours, but that was a long time ago.)

I mean, how culturally chauvinistic can you get?

As culturally chauvinistic as Americans, of course. Frequently they don't realise their presumptions.

[Analog Kid]

As culturally chauvinistic as Americans, of course. Frequently they don't realise their presumptions.

I don't think either one of our cultures has a monopoly on that.