Sunny weather during lockdown - more than just a coincidence?

[PTR 444]

One thing i’m sure a lot of people have noticed is that since the official ‘lockdown’ was announced on the 24th March, there hasn’t been a single drop of rain in many parts of the UK. Now that may be different if you live further north but where I am in Southampton, it has been sunny pretty much every day with very few clouds in sight, albeit a bit cold. What’s more, this has been the first prolonged spell of fine weather since September/October last year, yet it has come just at the time we have been advised to stay indoors.

But I wonder if this is more than just a coincidence, and whether it could be down to the fact that pollution levels have been falling for the past few weeks. Maybe it could explain why it’s also been rather cold recently as pollution tends to cause localised increases in temperature and rainfall.

 

[Whistler40145]

It’s been pretty dry up here in Lancashire, but no sunshine, so please send it up here.

 

[scotrail158713]

I think it’s probably more to do with the fact that we’re moving into spring, when the weather is generally much nicer. Personally, I’m just glad to see the back of the washout of a month that was February - I’m sure there was 3 weeks when it rained everyday at some point.

 

[Bantamzen]

I think it’s probably more to do with the fact that we’re moving into spring, when the weather is generally much nicer. Personally, I’m just glad to see the back of the washout of a month that was February - I’m sure there was 3 weeks when it rained everyday at some point.

Is the correct answer. I'm afraid a few weeks of reduced car, bus, train & plane travel isn't going to have much of an impact nationally or globally. To reverse centuries of man-made effect will take, well centuries.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is the correct answer. I'm afraid a few weeks of reduced car, bus, train & plane travel isn't going to have much of an impact nationally or globally. To reverse centuries of man-made effect will take, well centuries.

That's not quite true. The ozone layer has almost regenerated, for example, and that has only taken a few decades after stopping widespread CFC use.

 

[Domh245]

It was pretty nice at the end of last week, but since the weekend it's been pretty cold here, and a fair bit of precipitation too

 

[Bantamzen]

That's not quite true. The ozone layer has almost regenerated, for example, and that has only taken a few decades after stopping widespread CFC use.

But that will not be true for CO2 for example, re-fixing all that back into the ground will take centuries even if we start massively reducing emissions and massively increase carbon fixing organisms. This is not a quick fix.

 

[edwin_m]

There are claims that aircraft vapour trails have a significant effect on solar gain and temperatures, maybe we normally get some cloud-seeding effect too? However with the difference between last week's and this week's weather it certainly doesn't override the general weather patterns.

 

[Mag_seven]

I'm not a climate scientist or meteorologist but I'd 99.9% bet on it just being a coincidence, albeit a rather unfortunate one!

 

[Mojo]

It’s times like these I’m glad to have a garden (and a garden that needs lots of work doing too!)

Not heard much from the po-faced pro-flat brigade on here recently...

 

[pdeaves]

We're just able to appreciate it better at the moment (though it's really dank where I am today!).

 

[DarloRich]

One thing i’m sure a lot of people have noticed is that since the official ‘lockdown’ was announced on the 24th March, there hasn’t been a single drop of rain in many parts of the UK. Now that may be different if you live further north but where I am in Southampton, it has been sunny pretty much every day with very few clouds in sight, albeit a bit cold. What’s more, this has been the first prolonged spell of fine weather since September/October last year, yet it has come just at the time we have been advised to stay indoors.

But I wonder if this is more than just a coincidence, and whether it could be down to the fact that pollution levels have been falling for the past few weeks. Maybe it could explain why it’s also been rather cold recently as pollution tends to cause localised increases in temperature and rainfall.

it is a coincidence. Nothing more.

 

[RichJF]

It rained every day down here in Sussex for about 2.5 weeks during Feb.
Spring tends to bring easterly winds, which put us under high pressure a lot, generally meaning settled weather.

On a related note, the pollution in many UK urban areas has plummeted & I've had coworkers, friends and family tell me the air just feels clean & healthy given the lovely weather & lack of planes/cars.

 

[Esker-pades]

How could it be more than a coincidence?

 

[Be3G]

I actually think the OP might be on to something – there was some research about twenty years ago which showed that weekends tend to be wetter than weekdays, and a potential cause of this was varying levels of pollution.

(Anecdotally, from when I grew up in the 90s I have a few memories of days when the heavens opened, and they were nearly always Saturdays, which is what caused me to investigate whether I was imagining it or whether Saturdays really were more soggy!)

 

[Meerkat]

There are claims that aircraft vapour trails have a significant effect on solar gain and temperatures, maybe we normally get some cloud-seeding effect too? However with the difference between last week's and this week's weather it certainly doesn't override the general weather patterns.

Airliners absolutely affect cloud cover - the contrails linger, spread, and gradually join into a thin cloud layer. When the weather is otherwise fine the beautiful clear blue skies are very noticeable at the moment, as they were during the volcano shutdown.

 

[brad465]

It has been dry, but not always pleasant, in Kent an often strong Easterly wind has prevailed for the last 2 weeks ish and while often sunny, this wind has not made it very warm, and last weekend was a distinctly cold and windy one, which may have helped facilitate social distancing.

The likes of the Caterham Bourne and Nailbourne (East Kent) areas have also benefited from this dry spell, as Groundwater levels in these areas were very close to replicating the GW flooding troubles of 2014, but the dry spell as stabilised and started a decline to avert such concerns.

 

[MontyP]

it is a coincidence. Nothing more.

It is also a coincidence that during the volcano eruption that triggered a flight shutdown for several days, the sky was also mostly clear.

 

[Busaholic]

Let's get a bit factual about the weather- on 29th March, South Uist recorded the second highest barometric pressure reading ever in the U.K., the highest being in 1902 in Aberdeen. This second highest, though, replaced the figure from January 20th this year i.e. pre-Cororona virus, so coincidence appears to cover it.

 

[Paul_10]

I actually think the OP might be on to something – there was some research about twenty years ago which showed that weekends tend to be wetter than weekdays, and a potential cause of this was varying levels of pollution.

(Anecdotally, from when I grew up in the 90s I have a few memories of days when the heavens opened, and they were nearly always Saturdays, which is what caused me to investigate whether I was imagining it or whether Saturdays really were more soggy!)

No he's not onto anything, it's just a coincidence, luck and nothing more. And it's been raining across western Scotland and Northern Ireland recently so we can bin any silly little theories people may have into the bin.

 

[Be3G]

Well, you can't prove it's a coincidence, no more than I can prove that it's not a coincidence. The article I linked to gives some scientific basis for the possibility of a correlation between pollution and wet weather… but then, yes, considering the time of the year etc. it could of course just be a coincidence.

But then again, it might not be!

Who knows. There's no need to belittle it with speak of ‘silly little theories’ anyway, it's just a fun bit of conjecture. If no-one ever bothered to consider possibilities that seem slightly nonsensical, I doubt internet forums (or the internet, or computers, or household electricity, or…) would even exist.

 

[Giugiaro]

Hey chaps, could you kindly send the sun and heat back to Portugal?
It got horribly cold since Monday and it's even going to start raining, again, next Sunday.

We promise to send the sun and heat back to you during the Summer when the wildfires start to spark.

Cheers.

 

[Bantamzen]

Airliners absolutely affect cloud cover - the contrails linger, spread, and gradually join into a thin cloud layer. When the weather is otherwise fine the beautiful clear blue skies are very noticeable at the moment, as they were during the volcano shutdown.

They can have an effect on the amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground, depending on the wind speeds & directions at those heights. However you also have to remember that the UK lies under a lot of trans-Atlantic air traffic as a result of how the paths are managed across the ocean. So we get more of a negative effect than most countries, you certainly don't see the same extent sitting under the deep blue skies of the Mediterranean for example.

 

[Andrew S]

There was hail in London on Sunday, only for about an hour though.

 

[nlogax]

In London and the SE a proper test of public will is likely to be on Sunday when temps are supposed to reach the low 20s in springtime sunshine. A craving for fresh air and vitamin D mixed with folks getting stir crazy while staying indoors. Bit concerned as to how things will go tbh.

 

[AM9]

In London and the SE a proper test of public will is likely to be on Sunday when temps are supposed to reach the low 20s in springtime sunshine. A craving for fresh air and vitamin D mixed with folks getting stir crazy while staying indoors. Bit concerned as to how things will go tbh.

As the true effect of the first two weeks quarantine won't really be apparent in the new infections figures, if there was a significant amount of selfish behaviour, there would likely be even tighter restrictions for everybody caused by those who somehow don't seem to think that they are subject to the rules.

 

[PTR 444]

I think the media should stop reporting on how good the weather is going to be for the time being, as that will only make people to want to leave the house.

 

[nlogax]

I think the media should stop reporting on how good the weather is going to be for the time being, as that will only make people to want to leave the house.

I didn't get this info from the media, I got this from a plain and simple weather forecast.. you're not suggesting we stop those, right?

 

[Nippy]

What? They will only need to look out the window!

 

[PTR 444]

I didn't get this info from the media, I got this from a plain and simple weather forecast.. you're not suggesting we stop those, right?

I'm not saying we should stop those, I was just suggesting we don't market/advertise good weather while we are in lockdown. News bulletins could stop presenting the weather forecast in order to avoid tempting people to go outside, while people who do genuinely need to find out what the weather is doing can look it up online.