JMA introduces new name for days of 40 C heat Beginning this summer, the weather agency will refer to the hottest days as kokushobi, a description that translates as 'severely hot day.'

Japan has coined a new word for 40°C heat: kokushobi, meaning “severely hot day”. As temperatures rise and records fall, even the language is changing. Naming the crisis is part of facing it. www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/04...

⚠️⚠️ Amber weather warning issued ⚠️⚠️

Strong winds across northern England, southern Scotland and northwest Wales

Saturday 19:00 – Sunday 03:00

Latest info 👉 bit.ly/WxWarning

Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️

Red sunrise at Reading Station. Saharan dust?

Nice cloud with ice falling out somewhere near Chippenham.

Revealed: how aviation emissions could be halved without cutting journeys Exclusive: Getting rid of premium seats, ensuring flights are near full and using efficient aircraft could slash CO2, analysis suggests Climate-heating emissions from aviation could be slashed in half – without reducing passenger journeys – by getting rid of premium seats, ensuring flights are near full and using the most efficient aircraft, according to analysis. These efficiency measures could be far more effective in tackling the fast-growing carbon footprint of flying than pledges to use “sustainable” fuels or controversial carbon offsets, the researchers said. They believe their study, which analysed more than 27m commercial flights out of approximately 35m in 2023, is the first to assess the variation in operational efficiency of flights across the globe. Continue reading...

Revealed: how aviation emissions could be halved without cutting journeys

The current cold snap continues, before a deep area of low pressure threatens to bring further snow, strong winds and heavy rain to southern parts of the UK from Thursday night.

Find out more👇
www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...

Snowing and settling in Reading just now!

Tiny amount of snow in Reading this morning.

2025 was the warmest year on record for Central England in a dataset that starts in 1659.

(Daily data available since 1772.)

www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadce...

Looking for postdoc positions in the UK studying weather extremes?

Two jobs with deadline 4th Jan:

Historical windstorms, working with two insurance companies: jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Storylines of extreme events, as part of a European collaboration: jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

In the coming days pressure will begin to rise to the N & E of the UK

This will gradually cause Atlantic low pressure systems to slow down, weaken & start to retrogress in the vicinity of the UK

This will allow the high to become more dominant, with a colder E wind developing

Exciting jobs & PhD studentship!

1) postdoc in historical windstorms: jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

2) postdoc in extreme event storylines: jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

3) PhD in redeveloping the Central England Temperature series (led by Tim Osborn): www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

#StormBram on its final approach to the UK this evening..

China doesn’t want to take lead on climate policies alone, senior adviser warns Exclusive: A top official in Beijing’s Cop delegation says China is committed to clean energy – but America’s absence is a problem China is committed to the energy transition needed to avert climate breakdown – but does not want to take the lead alone in the absence of the US, one of the country’s senior advisers has told the Guardian. Wang Yi said China would provide more money to vulnerable countries, but the EU’s climate commissioner has warned Beijing is not doing enough to cut emissions. Continue reading...

China doesn’t want to take lead on climate policies alone, senior adviser warns

Got much heavier after I sent that!

A little bit of wet snow seen in Reading just now towards the back of the band of rain moving south.

Cold night in Reading although cloud rolled in before dawn but with enough gaps to give a great red sky around sunrise.

After an exceptionally mild week across many areas, we are going to get a taste of winter as cold Arctic air plunges down from the north

So it's probably time to get the big coat out 🥶

Colder Arctic air on the way for the week ahead..🌡📉

Interested in revealing how moisture-driven surface cyclones can develop into hazardous windstorms, now and in the future? You could do it at @unirdg-met.bsky.social @ncas-uk.bsky.social, working with @benharvey.bsky.social, @jriboldi.bsky.social, Sue gray and me!

jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Storm Amy has been record breaking ⚠️

An air pressure of 947.9 hPa was recorded at Baltasound, Shetland, provisionally setting a new UK lowest pressure record for October.

Northern Ireland provisionally recorded its strongest October wind gust on record, with a gust of 92 mph at Magilligan.

#StormAmy ’s magnificent swirl as seen from @eumetsat.int’s Meteosat-12 satellite 🛰️

EarthCARE is a inexhaustible source of beautiful imagery of some of the most spectacular phenomena nature has to offer, so I've started a Gallery page on the EarthCARE Science web site, showing for example convective motions in the trainbands of Typhoon Ragasa... www.earthcarescience.net/gallery

Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. John Dobbin (1815-1888) c.1875. Painting held by the National Railway Museum, York. Crowds gather as Locomotion No.1 hauls dozens of wagons packed with passengers along a distant embankment and across a river via an elegant bridge.

#OnThisDay 200 years ago witnessed the birth of modern railways through the opening procession of the Stockton & Darlington Railway from Shildon to Darlington. Watched by thousands, Locomotion No.1 hauled hundreds of passengers aboard wagons and coach 'Experiment'.

Missed the total phase of the lunar eclipse because the moon was too close to the horizon. Did get to see the shadow receding across it though.

Air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia, research suggests Airborne particles cause toxic clumps of proteins in brain that are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, study indicates Fine-particulate air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia by triggering the formation of toxic clumps of protein that destroy nerve cells as they spread through the brain, research suggests. Exposure to the airborne particles causes proteins in the brain to misfold into the clumps, which are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. Continue reading...

Air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia, research suggests

An ominous looking swathe of cloud gathering to our southwest associated with a low pressure system

Wind and rain incoming tonight/tomorrow

Last night in Reading at around 17:30 UTC saw one of the brightest and most complete rainbows I’ve seen for a while (the photo doesn’t do it justice).

Summer 2025 is the warmest on record for the UK Provisional Met Office statistics confirm that summer 2025 is officially the warmest summer on record for the UK.

New analysis from @metoffice.gov.uk showing that the record-breaking hot UK summer of 2025 has been made much more likely by human-induced climate change and such a hot summer would be expected about once every 5 years in current climate. www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...

Nice fall streaks seen from Reading earlier today. The front produced a small amount of rain (less than 0.1mm) but we did have one loud clap of thunder.