Moray magnificence

It was the last episode of the current series of The Great British Weather on Wednesday, Tomasz once again confined to a recorded report.

This time he had been to the village of Portknockie, in Moray (Scotland), to explore St Elmo's Fire. Not the 1980s film or the accompanying John Parr song you understand; but the atmospheric phenomenon, which seriously afflicted the town in 2007.

Resident Fraser Milton recalled the night when a severe electric storm formed over the town; of such a ferocity, it caused sockets to explode out of walls. The culprit for this? St Elmo's fire. It is when a thunderstorm becomes so highly charged and super-heated, that nitrous oxide in the atmosphere turns to plasma, the fourth state of matter. The plasma form of nitrous oxide becomes ionised and manifests itself in blue streaks, wreaking havoc upon anything electrical.

This phenomenon can readily, but safely, observed within a plasma ball. One of those globes, with streaks of plasma emanating from the power source in the centre. If you run your hands over the surface of the globe, the plasma 'follows' your hands' movements. If you're a pilot you may see St Elmo's fire up in the clouds, from the comfort of your cockpit.

I'm told by my spies that the BBC were happy with the show; the viewing figures were decent (mostly down to The Schaf I'd say!) and another series could be planned for the winter. I would hope Carol Kirkwood would do it on her own though, she has the presence and knowledge to it-- plus no more Larry Lamb larking with lame chromakey (nothing against the man himself by the way, but what were you thinking Larry?)http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Nor do I have anything against Chris Hollins and Alexander Armstrong personally; they just seemed to superfluous and stilted on this show, especially when they are not weather experts. The former is better suited to serious serious journalism, the latter to comedy acting and gameshows-- that's what they are respectively good at after all! That's my tuppence-worth anyway.

For UK, Man and Channel Islands folks:
39:05 onwards

Finally best of luck to Tomasz for his bike-ride from London to Brighton this weekend. Fingers and other phalanges crossed.

Happy holidays, wherever you may be going....

A fishy tale

Another episode of The Great British Weather yesterday evening, Tomasz was soley {i} confined to a pre-recorded slot.

This edition saw Tomasz finding Nemo... in East Ham. There have been 600 recorded incidents of rainstorms involving fish in the UK-- and I'm not codding you {iv}. In 1998, there was even an occurence of frogs raining from the sky. "Shirley you can't be serious", I hear you cry. Yes I am serious, and don't call me Shirley {ii}

Tomasz's voyage of discovery took him to East Ham, where in 1984 a garden was littered with fish after a rainstorm. The householder was convinced these fish had fallen from the sky; the explanation was that a fishmonger had dumped surplus stock into his garden (it happens). That was until the householder found fish in his gutter!

So a fish-curator at the National History Museum {iii}, inspected the fish carcasses-- and found that they were a common species in the Thames. The theory was a heavy storm could've caused a small waterspout; these create vortices of ~200mph, capable of sucking up anything three feet below the water's surface. These fish would've been transported via air-currents for a few miles, before being deposited.

Last episode of TGBW, let's hope he makes a live appearance, preferably in shorts! The latest episode, for those in the UK and Crown Dependencies:
Tomasz appears 15m 35s in

In other news, Tomasz is supporting a London to Cape Town bike-ride, although it's unclear if he will participate. Also there's another London to Brighton ride too




{i} Yes, another fish joke
{ii} RIP Leslie Neilsen. That line gets me every time
{iii} Such a job does exist!
{iv} All these fish jokes are giving me a haddock

Brighton or bust

Some unfortunate news regarding Tomasz's charity bike ride to Brighton. He had tackled the dreaded Ditchling Beacon, was descending into Brighton just three miles from the end-- and disaster struck. He came off his bike, but mercifully lived to tell the tale. The Schaf tweeted:

Nearly crashed into car with couple feet to spare. Two flat tyres and a dodgy back wheel later.Phew. Only few cuts... was aiming for 3h25min. For the record,not put off by cycling!No pain no game ;). Got to laugh.Just glad a couple of plastic cones saved...dont ask how, they just did

I'm reliably informed that he escaped with 'just' bruises and cuts, thankfully avoided being pancaked by a car. Oh well, there's always next year Tomasz, chin up and don't pick at the scabs on it. Recover soon [thumbs up]

Beating the beastly Ditchling Beacon

Moje najszczersze gratulacje to Tomasz for completing the London-Brighton bike-ride in three hours and 13 minutes.To give you a rough idea, that's about 51 miles-- roughly 16pmh average-- very good going! Especially as he did it half-an-hour quicker than last year, well worthy of a gold medal I say.

I reckon Tomasz must have left the rest of his team trailing! I know if were with Tomasz, I wouldn't be able to last the distance. I opted to tour Gwynedd and Conwy yesterday instead (ending up in West Yorkshire and the Wetherby Whaler, don't ask!)

The chairty (sorry "charidee") in question was the British Heart Foundation... I may need their assistance, after seeing the following picture-- click on it for the full effect. No wonder he got there so fast, check out those pistons!



I bet he has no trouble with being saddle-sore, he looks well padded. As good training for London-to-Paris of course...

Naggingly cool

The Schaf may disapprove-- but I love the northerly breeze we're experiencing-- it can nag away! Even better if it means Tomasz wears his light blue ties. I'm glad he doesn't think the UK is a floater, although some puce-faced Daily Mail readers may disagree.



Wouldn't it be fun if Tomasz wore a big flowery hat for a forecast? Although that would cover his rufflable {i} dark-blond hair.

He mentioned the London-to-Brighton bike-ride {ii}, which his His Loveliness is taking part in. I, and I'm sure everyone else here, wish him the best of luck with that-- powodzenia. I did think about going down to Brighton, to offer moral support-- but I'd be so nervous about meeting the Great Man [haha]

{i} Is that a word? Is now! Oof, neologism
{ii} Cycling up Ditchling Beacon looks very gruelling, almost as bad as the infamous Holme Moss cycle ride (on Derbs/W Yorks border)