@rick1francis @kad666

Large areas of the UK currently have weather warnings for flooding.. Flooding is a temporary overflow of water onto land that is normally dry.

1. Do not walk, swim, cycle or drive through flood waters

Turn around and go the other direction. It takes less than 15cm of moving water to sweep a vehicle away.

2. Turn off all gas, water and electricity

If you are at home or in the office and have time to do this.

3. Prepare a bag that includes medicines and insurance documents

If the flood is rising slowly put all these things in a bag and take them upstairs, if you have time you can also move other valuable keepsakes.

4. Move to higher ground or a higher floor

Do not climb into a closed attic or loft. You may become trapped by rising floodwater. Go on the roof only if necessary. Once there, signal for help by shouting, flashing a torch or phone light and screen or waving, not like this guy but I couldn't find someone waving a light...

5. If told to evacuate, do so immediately

Bring any medications and pets but do not go back in for things like photo albums or other keepsakes.

6. Never drive or walk around barricades

These are there for your own safety and even though it may look dry the land underneath may be very unstable.

7. Stay off of bridges over fast-moving water

This is because the ground becomes unstable around bridges and causes movement like what happened at Grinton, Yorkshire, where this bridge collapsed after parts of the region had up to 82.2mm of rain in 24 hours on Tuesday.

8. If your vehicle is trapped in rapidly moving water, then stay inside

If water is rising inside the vehicle, then seek refuge on the roof, by climbing out of the windows or doors if they can be opened.

9. Be aware of the risk of electrocution

Do not touch electrical equipment if it is wet or if you are standing in water. Underground or downed power lines can also electrically charge the water so be wary.

10. Do not take selfies during a flood

Focusing on your face rather than what is going on around you can be a dangerous thing, focus on the above and you'll have more time to upload to your social media after. The last thing you want is to slip and break something, or worse.

Stay safe out there!

Recent research has found that Ozone layer depletion does not cause global warming, however both of these environmental issues have a common cause: human activities that release pollutants into the atmosphere altering it.

For years people have thought that using spray deodorants and squirty cream were heating up the planet slowly but fear not, your armpits no longer have to smell and your hot chocolates can now be topped with as much delicious topping as you wish, because many products no longer use the suspect CFCs gasses.

Hot chocolate aside, Ozone makes up the higher band of the atmosphere and absorbs ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet radiation is a type of solar energy that's harmful to humans, animals and plants and it's this which is causing the issues for the majority of people down on Earth.

So What Is Causing The Issue In More Detail?

There is something a lot of people call the 'Ozone hole’ it's a large area of depleted ozone layer over Earth's polar regions which, which you can see below. People, plants, and animals living under the ozone holes area are harmed by the solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface which causes eye damage, skin cancer and more.

CFCs and halons, usually found in aerosols, cause chemical reactions that break down these ozone molecules, reducing ozone's ultraviolet radiation absorbing capacity. UV radiation plays a very small role in global warming because its quantity is not enough to cause the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere.

But What About The Weather?

Since the 1960s, there has been a trend of greenhouse gases increasing heat in the lower atmosphere, called the troposphere, a cooling is occurring in the upper atmosphere called the stratosphere.

This warming-cooling dynamic creates conditions that lead to more ozone loss. This is largely because heat from Earth's surface would normally convey through the troposphere and stratosphere and eventually escape to space is now being trapped and confined to the troposphere like a giant blanket.

Carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases rise into the atmosphere and spread around the globe, again like this blanket wrapping Earth. This blanket warms the surface of the Earth and protects it from the cold air above it.

However, now wrapped in a thicker blanket, Earth’s surface warms up and heats the blanket itself and traps more heat in the lower atmosphere. The blanket also unfortunately prevents heat from moving from the lower atmosphere to the stratosphere, cooling down the stratosphere as a result.

Heat-trapping gases contribute to creating the cooling conditions in the atmosphere that lead to further ozone depletion. Greenhouse gases absorb heat at relatively low altitudes and warm the surface, but they have the opposite effect in higher altitudes because they prevent heat from rising.

In a cooler stratosphere, ozone loss creates a cooling effect which results in further ozone depletion. UV radiation releases heat into the stratosphere when it reacts with ozone. With less ozone there is less heat released, amplifying the cooling in the lower stratosphere, and enhancing the formation of ozone-depleting polar stratospheric clouds, especially near the South Pole.

For those inclined below is a brilliant diagram by Research Gate.

These clouds are found at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 m. One main type of these clouds are made up mostly of supercooled droplets of water and nitric acid and is implicated in the formation of ozone holes.

The other main type consists only of frozen ice crystals and is not considered harmful. This type of PSC is also referred to as nacreous from nacre, or mother of pearl, due to its iridescence.

@galfert I had no idea it was all the same stuff! The more you know! I shall definitely look into it.

Thanks for such a detailed response.

Hey does anyone own a Ventus W830?

I've been swayed by the ability to monitor the weather remotely as it uploads data various places including Weather Underground, Weather Cloud and also the UK MetOffice WoW service (which benefits me as I'm in the UK).

The Ventus also has the added ability to upload data to the Ecowitt network and your own web server using custom settings. Does this mean I could upload to Windy?

I am.seriously considering this station, it's super nice and sophisticated but wanted to see if others had opinions on it.

Many thanks.

@Gkikas-LGPZ said in What is a CAPE index?:

Please keep in mind that CAPE is a measure of instability.
However, instablility on it's own is not enough to ensure thunderstorms.
There needs to be a lifting factor due to orography or frontal activity.
Check for other hints such as high humidity and a forecast of showers in the area.

Example: the following images show forecast for same time (25 July 2019 / 00 UTC).
Although high CAPE values in the Balearic islands (West Mediterranean Sea), no thunderstorms expected.

This is true but in my original tweets (I'm Luke) I was trying to condense it into less than three tweets about CAPE during a storm in the UK. So didn't go into tonnes of details about it. I covered the basics which gave the general public and beginners who haven't heard of CAPE a taster and allowed them to then acsess more on their own after.

But you're completely right. High CAPE index ≠ thunderstorms.

Depending on where you are your local University/College may have a weather station which has historical weather data. Might be worth looking as our University keeps our weather data from 1995, not saying everyone's will be like this but it's worth looking into.

Literally this. Your phone has a do not disturb function for a reason. If your phone is one of the newer models as well you can usually turn notifications off between X-Y hours.

Hope this helps.