Weather Extremes: Making and Breaking Records in Nottinghamshire
December 16, 2016
Over the last few months Georgina and I have been working closely with staff at the Department of Manuscripts, University of Nottingham, to curate a public exhibition for the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts, on the University campus. It opens today. Last night we held a private view that was opened by BBC meteorologist Helen Willetts, …
Whitby and the ‘year without summer’
May 25, 2016
Last week I was lucky enough to be able to attend a Royal Meteorological Society regional event in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The theme of Saturday’s meeting was ‘1816 – the year without a summer’. The programme was put together by Dennis Wheeler (University of Sunderland). I wrote about the extreme weather of 1816 as experienced …
April showers… of snow?
April 28, 2016
As we have previously explored on this blog, sometimes it is not the intensity or severity of weather that makes an event extreme, but its timing. This week many people have been taken by surprise at the falls of snow around the UK (as pictured in the feature image © Nigel Brown, geograph), some music fans interpreting the …
Sources in focus: estate correspondence
February 29, 2016
Since Christmas I’ve been spending some time over at the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections, looking more closely at their weather-related holdings. A large proportion of the documents I’ve so far consulted have been letters. Corresponding about weather The weather is a popular topic of conversation, and, in a similar way to diaries, …
Widespread flooding and the centrality of ‘community’ response
December 29, 2015
The scale of loss and destruction wrought by the recent flooding across the north of England has been sobering. Communities in Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire have all been, and continue to be affected. Amid threats of renewed floods with the imminent passage of ‘Storm Frank’- headline news at the time of writing- weather …
Cherry Blossom and Daffodils: Mild Decembers in the Archive
December 18, 2015
This week the Weather Extremes team has been catching up in Nottingham. As well as reviewing recent activity, setting goals for the year ahead, and Christmas plans, the conversation frequently turned to the weather itself. The mild weather that much of the country is currently experiencing was one talking point, as blossom and other traditional …
Floods as Heritage
October 22, 2015
Limoges workshop At the beginning of October, was held the Floods as heritage workshop at the Université de Limoges by the Chair on Environmental capital and sustainable management of waterways (Capital environment et gestion durable des cours d’eau). With 14 presenters (myself included) from the UK, France, Algeria and Tunisia it was an occasion to look …
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing”
October 9, 2015
Weather and wardrobe The quote that I’ve used for the title of this post is popularly attributed to fellwalker and guidebook author and illustrator Alfred Wainwright, who spent much of his time outdoors, in the weather. Walking the remote Lakeland Fells it’s essential to be prepared for the weather, which can of course change rather …
Guest post: Bog Bursts at Cappanihane, Ireland, 1697 and 1727
September 16, 2015
by Dr Angela Byrne, University of Greenwich The first published account of the phenomenon known as the ‘moving bog’ – the bogslide or bog burst[1] – was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1697. It occurred in Cappanihane, a townland in Co. Limerick in the west of Ireland, just over 30km …
The trouble with wind….
August 12, 2015
Britain’s windiest year? 2015 is on course to be the windiest year that Britain has experienced for two decades. Since the start of May there have been just eight days described as calm (ie highest wind is measured at less than 11mph) by the Met Office. Some places in the UK are obviously windier than others …
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