Weather for astronomers

Today we have added a new panel below this one, which gives information about weather and visibility from a website called Clear Outside. The difference being that this one is aimed at astronomers.

The info covers all aspects of the weather that is of interest to stargazers and those who enjoy taking photos of the skies at night, but will also prove useful to others who want specific and accurate (well as accurate as we can hope for!) information about the weather.

So whether it is cloud cover, rain or frost our new panel will keep you informed.

As a bonus if you go to the Clear Outside website and see the info there it will also tell you if the International Space Station is due for a pass overhead - how neat is that?!

Now you have no excuse for not knowing when you can take pics of the moon or those meteor showers or other sky objects. :)

The full moon over Burton on Xmas Eve 2015, photo © Anne Nichols 2015

Happy New Year!

As we start 2015 with leaden skies, torrential rain and high winds, may we wish you all the best for the New Year!  Hopefully things will improve, weather-wise, fairly soon... at least it is not snowing!

Children's Sports Day rained off

How sad that, after a few days of fine sunny and warm weather, the cold and wet returned today, causing the abandonment of the annual children's sports day races and stalls today (Spring Bank Holiday Monday). After all the hard work and planning by the sports committee the SPACE-themed parade made its way round the village before the clouds gathered again, the rain poured down, and races were stopped. The stall holders battled on awhile, but by 2.30pm they had accepted the inevitable and were packing everything away.

Some damp Daleks lay in a trailer, the TARDIS was parked on someone's driveway, and the chairs and tables were loaded back into vans for their return trip to the Memorial Hall. Lots of the younger men from the village were out doing a sterling job in horrible conditions, whilst some of the mums and kids sheltered on the bowling pavilion terrace, whilst others had given up and gone home.

Those looking after the still well-stocked burger and bun stall were planning how to migrate it all over to the Hall for tonight's family disco, whilst the team with the stop-me-and-buy-a-coffee bicycle stall were tipping water off their canopy before heading for a drier place. This is such a busy and popular event, and it's sad when it's rained off like this, but at least everyone will have this evening's family disco to look forward to in the Memorial Hall... and there may be a few burgers going too!

Here comes the sun... no the rain... no the sun... oh heck!

The weather this week has been weird! One minute it's sunny and red hot, next minute thick leaden grey skies and pouring with rain, and yesterday we had thunderstorms. I can't keep up - should I wear sandals or wellies? Should I wear a t-shirt or a mac? Have a sun hat or a brollie? I know it's July, but the sun and rain is more like April, the heat like the Med. and the storms are like August, so what's happening? And why are the trees showing the first signs of autumn colours already??? Confused...? I am, and you might be too!!!  :)