Blast of warmth helps to take foot off the gas bill
WITH gas prices spiralling upwards, a burst of unseasonably warm weather this weekend and into next week is just the tonic for our household energy bills. With 68F (20C) forecast for southern parts by Tuesday, we can keep those radiators turned down, or even off.
After the chilly end to last week, today will see the milder air that began arriving yesterday from the South West building in. There will, in the morning, be patches of mist and fog, plus spells of rain, but the afternoon holds the promise of dry and sunny conditions, the sort of autumn day that is the stuff of childhood memories. London, the South East and southern parts of England will reach 64F (18C), with the Midlands, Wales and much of northern England up at 63F (17C). Northern Ireland will be a notch down at 61F (16C) and Glasgow and Edinburgh 57F (14C).
That stream of mild air will be accompanied by blustery winds (good for our renewable energy supplies) on Monday and some rain. By Tuesday, even if the downpours get stronger, the mercury will climb up to 68F (20C). Seize the moment between the showers to embrace the great outdoors for by the latter part of the week we will be back to wintery low pressure from the West, bringing wet and windy conditions, and a marked drop in the temperatures that will have some of us reaching for the on switch on the boiler.
In the topsy-turvy climate conditions that are now such a feature of modern life, while we in northern Europe are experiencing an unusually warm mid-October, down on the beaches of Greece they are caught up in storms that are bringing exceptionally heavy rain, unseasonably cold temperatures and even tornados.