The Times - UK (2021-12-21)

the times | Tuesday December 21 2021 55

We a t h e r

Channel Islands

NORTH

SEA

CHANNEL

IRISH

SEA

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

Aberdeen

Glasgow Edinburgh

Carlisle

Newcastle

York

Manchester

Liverpool

Hull

Llandudno

Shrewsbury Nottingham

Sheffield

Norwich

Cambridge

Oxford

Bristol

Swansea

Cardiff

Plymouth

Exeter

Southampton

Brighton

London

Londonderry

Belfast

Galway

Dublin

Cork

Birmingham

CELTIC

SEA

Orkney Shetland

14

Christmas Eve

9

3

10

10

Aberdeen

Aberporth

Anglesey

Aviemore

Barnstaple

Bedford

Belfast

Birmingham

Bournemouth

Bridlington

Bristol

Camborne

Cardiff

Edinburgh

Eskdalemuir

Glasgow

Hereford

Herstmonceux

Ipswich

Isle of Man

Isle of Wight

Jersey

Keswick

Kinloss

Leeds

Lerwick

Leuchars

Lincoln

Liverpool

London

Lyneham

Manchester

Margate

Milford Haven

Newcastle

Nottingham

Orkney

Oxford

Plymouth

Portland

Scilly, St Mary’s

Shoreham

Shrewsbury

Snowdonia

Southend

South Uist

Stornoway

Tiree

Whitehaven

Wick

Yeovilton

Around Britain

Key: b=bright, c=cloud, d=drizzle, pc=partly cloudy

du=dull, f=fair, fg=fog, h=hail, m=mist, r=rain,

sh=showers, sl=sleet, sn=snow, s=sun, t=thunder

*=previous day **=data not available

Temp C Rain mm Sun hr*

midday yesterday 24 hrs to 5pm yesterday

Noon today

5 DU 0.4 0.0

5 DU 0.0 7.0

5 DU 0.2 1.1

-2 DU 0.0 0.0

6 DU 0.0 **

5 C 1.0 **

6 DU 0.0 0.0

6 C 0.4 **

7 B 0.0 0.0

7 DU 0.0 **

6 DU 0.2 0.0

8 DU 0.0 1.0

6 DU 0.0 0.0

5 DU 0.8 0.0

4 D 0.4 1.8

4 DU 0.0 0.0

6 DU 0.4 **

7 C 0.2 0.0

6 DU 0.6 0.0

7 B 0.0 0.0

8 DU 0.0 **

5 DU 0.0 0.1

2 M 0.0 **

2 DU 0.4 0.0

3 C 0.8 **

3 PC 0.0 **

4 M 0.4 0.0

6 DU 0.8 0.0

6 M 0.0 **

7 DU 0.0 0.0

5 C 0.2 0.0

5 DU 0.2 0.0

8 C 0.4 0.0

6 DU 0.0 **

5 C 0.8 **

5 DU 0.4 0.0

5 C 0.0 0.3

6 DU 0.2 **

7 C 0.0 **

7 DU 0.0 **

11 DU 0.0 **

7 B 0.5 0.0

6 DU 0.2 0.0

4 C 0.2 **

7 C 0.4 0.0

5 DU 0.4 **

6 DU 0.6 0.0

7 DU 0.0 0.0

4 DU 0.2 5.6

6 DU 0.0 **

6 DU 0.0 0.0

The world

All readings local midday yesterday

Alicante

Amsterdam

Athens

Auckland

Bahrain

Bangkok

Barbados

Barcelona

Beijing

Beirut

Belgrade

Berlin

Bermuda

Bordeaux

Brussels

Bucharest

Budapest

Buenos Aires

Cairo

Calcutta

Canberra

Cape Town

Chicago

Copenhagen

Corfu

Delhi

Dubai

Dublin

Faro

Florence

Frankfurt

Geneva

Gibraltar

Helsinki

Hong Kong

Honolulu

Istanbul

Jerusalem

Johannesburg

Kuala Lumpur

Kyiv

Lanzarote

Las Palmas

Lima

Lisbon

Los Angeles

Luxor

Madeira

Madrid

Malaga

Mallorca

Malta

Melbourne

Mexico City

Miami

Milan

Mombasa

Montreal

Moscow

Mumbai

Munich

Nairobi

Naples

New Orleans

New York

Nice

Nicosia

Oslo

Paris

Perth

Prague

Reykjavik

Riga

Rio de Janeiro

Riyadh

Rome

San Francisco

Santiago

São Paulo

Seoul

Seychelles

Singapore

St Petersburg

Stockholm

Sydney

Tel Aviv

Tenerife

Tokyo

Vancouver

Venice

Vienna

Warsaw

Washington

Zurich

15 S

6 D

13 S

21 S

25 S

28 PC

30 PC

12 S

12 S

9 T

6 B

3 PC

24 B

3 M

6 B

2 SL

5 PC

30 S

13 PC

20 S

23 S

32 S

2 B

4 S

13 PC

17 S

27 S

7 B

19 PC

8 B

6 PC

0 DU

16 B

-11 S

15 PC

27 PC

8 B

14 PC

17 B

31 PC

1 B

20 PC

24 PC

18 DU

15 SH

17 S

17 S

20 B

9 PC

16 B

16 PC

16 PC

24 S

21 B

28 B

12 S

32 PC

-5 B

-8 SN

30 S

3 PC

25 B

14 S

12 DU

4 B

12 S

** **

1 PC

5 DU

32 S

1 B

5 D

-3 C

26 PC

25 S

12 B

8 B

31 S

20 B

11 PC

28 R

30 B

-9 SN

-2 B

27 PC

14 PC

22 PC

9 PC

3 PC

6 S

3 B

0 B

6 B

2 B

The Times weather

page is provided

by Weatherquest

Five days ahead

Some snow over

northern Britain but

turning milder with rain

in the south

Today Mainly cloudy, but becoming brighter in the south and west during the afternoon. Max 9C (48F), min -5C (23F)

Tides

Tidal predictions.

Heights in metres

Today Ht Ht

Aberdeen

Avonmouth

Belfast

Cardiff

Devonport

Dover

Dublin

Falmouth

Greenock

Harwich

Holyhead

Hull

Leith

Liverpool

London Bridge

Lowestoft

Milford Haven

Morecambe

Newhaven

Newquay

Oban

Penzance

Portsmouth

Shoreham

Southampton

Swansea

Tees

Weymouth

02:25 4.0 14:32 4.1

08:16 12.2 20:39 11.9

00.06 3.2 12:24 3.6

08:02 11.5 20:24 11.3

06:47 5.3 19:08 5.0

00.03 6.3 12:12 6.2

00:26 3.7 12:41 3.9

06:23 5.0 18:40 4.7

01:30 3.3 13:32 3.7

00:32 3.8 12:51 3.7

11:28 5.4 23:49 5.2

07:23 6.9 19:30 7.1

03:42 5.2 15:54 5.2

00.02 8.7 12:14 8.8

02:48 6.7 15:06 6.8

10:45 2.3 22:48 2.5

07:17 6.6 19:37 6.4

00:10 8.7 12:24 8.8

00.04 6.3 12:11 6.3

06:07 6.7 18:28 6.5

06:41 3.9 19:08 3.7

05:44 5.3 18:00 5.0

00:38 4.5 12:41 4.5

00.08 5.9 12:13 5.9

02:09 4.2 11:42 4.3

07:25 8.8 19:47 8.6

04:46 5.1 16:54 5.2

07:41 2.1 20.09 1.8

Synoptic situation

An area of high pressure

centred over central Europe will

ridge across Britain and Ireland,

leading to a mainly dry day with

some sunshine in the south

although rather a lot of cloud

elsewhere. The risk of some

rain in northern Scotland as a

weak cold front will move in

from the north. Rain will spread

into southwestern Ireland later

due to an occluded front.

Highs and lows

24hrs to 5pm yesterday

Warmest: St Marys,

Isles of Scilly, 10.6C

Coldest: Braemar, -5.5C

Wettest: Loftus,

Cleveland, 1.7mm

Sunniest: Liscombe, 7.0hrs*

Sun and moon

For Greenwich

Sun rises:

Sun sets:

Moon rises:

Moon sets:

Third quarter: December 27

Hours of darkness

Aberdeen

Belfast

Birmingham

Cardiff

Exeter

Glasgow

Liverpool

London

Manchester

Newcastle

Norwich

Penzance

Sheffi eld

15:56-08:16

16:29-08:14

16:25-07:46

16:35-07:46

16:41-07:44

16:14-08:16

16:24-07:56

16:23-07:34

16:21-07:53

16:09-07:59

16:11-07:34

16:51-07:49

16:18-07:49

General situation: Some sunshine in

southern and western England and

Wales, otherwise cloudy with some

rain in the north of Scotland.

SW Eng, Cen S Eng, SE Eng, London,

NE Eng, Lake District, Channel Is,

Wales: Any frost or patchy fog will

soon clear to bring a dry day with

sunny spells. Light to moderate

easterly wind, fresh in Cornwall.

Maximum 9C (48F), minimum

-3C (27F).

Republic of Ireland, N Ireland: Rather

cloudy and mainly dry with just a few

bright intervals in places. Some light

rain in the southwest at times. Light to

moderate southeasterly wind, strong

in the southwest. Maximum 9C (48F),

minimum 3C (37F).

E Anglia, E Eng, Cen N Eng, NW Eng,

Midlands, IoM: Rather cloudy with

some patchy drizzle in places, but

turning brighter later with sunny

intervals. Light and variable winds.

Maximum 6C (43F), minimum

-2C (28F).

NW Scotland, NE Scotland N Isles:

Some sunshine, but most of the day

will be cloudy with showery light rain.

Light and variable winds. Maximum

5C (41F), minimum -2C (28F).

Edinburgh and Dundee, Cen Highland,

SW Scotland, Moray Firth, Aberdeen,

Borders, Glasgow, Argyll: A cold day

with mainly cloudy skies and some

drizzle, but sunny spells over high

ground areas. Light and variable winds.

Maximum 4C (39F), minimum

-5C (23F).

Tomorrow

4

2

9

6

Thursday

9

2

10

11

Christmas Day

9

2

8

11

Boxing Day

9

0

5

8

20

mainly dry wit

23 11

2

oooo

16

10

15

17

12

neyney Sh

6

5

4

3

3

2

0

2

1

3

4 4

5

4

6

6

1

6

8

5

1

5

r

ih

L

k

F

95

86

77

68

59

50

41

32

23

14

5

C

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

-15

Wind speed

(mph)

Temperature

28 (degrees C)

34

Sea state

Calm

Slight

Moderate

Rough

Flood alerts and warnings

At 17:00 on Monday there were no

fl ood alerts or warnings in England,

Wales or Scotland.

For further information and updates

in England visit fl ood-warning-

information.service.gov.uk, for Wales

naturalresources.wales/fl ooding and

for Scotland SEPA.org.uk

Cold front

Warm front

Occluded front

Trough

LOW

HIGH

LOW

LOW

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

1040

1048

1032

1024

1024

1016

1016

1016

1016

1008

1008

1008

1000

1000

992

992

984

976

Cloudy with patchy rain in Scotland,

Ireland, southwest England and Wales,

turning wintry over the Highlands. Dry

with some sunshine elsewhere before

turning cloudy with rain later.

Max 11C, min -5C

Dry with sunny spells in England

and Wales after a frosty start. Snow

showers over Scotland. A band of

cloud and rain will spread into Ireland,

heavy in places.

Max 11C, min -1C

Feeling mild with areas of cloud and

showery rain spreading across England

and Wales. Cloud and rain clearing

Ireland to bring a dry and sunny

afternoon. Sleet and snow in Scotland.

Max 12C, min 0C

Cloudy with outbreaks of rain across

England, Wales and Ireland, heavy at

times and turning to sleet in northern

England and the north of Ireland. Snow

showers in Scotland.

Max 11C, min -3C

Wintry showers in Scotland, northern

England and the north of Ireland. Cloud

elsewhere with outbreaks of rain

spreading east, heavy in places.

Max 10C, min -1C

08.03

15.53

17.41

10.45 Wed

5

I

t was exactly 30 years ago that

the UK’s first commercial wind

farm began to generate power.

On December 21, 1991, a dairy

farm on a windswept hill in

Delabole, north Cornwall, switched

on ten turbines, each generating

400kw, in a project masterminded

by Peter Edwards, a farmer who was

inspired by Denmark’s world-

leading wind power programme.

Edwards faced criticism that his

pioneering venture would make an

insignificant contribution to power

generation. But since then the

country’s wind power generation has

mushroomed to over 11,000 wind

turbines with a capacity of 24.3

gigawatts, the largest source of

renewable electricity in the UK. And

in 2019 it was the sixth-largest wind

generating capacity of any country.

It took some time for wind power

in the UK to grow, but from 2009 to

2020 wind generation increased

more than sevenfold with a financial

turnover from the energy generated

of nearly £6 billion in 2019.

Last year wind energy generation

accounted for 24 per cent of UK

electricity generation (including

renewables and non-renewables), of

which 13 per cent came from

offshore wind and 11 per cent from

onshore wind.

The UK also has the world’s

largest offshore wind farm, Hornsea

One, about 110km off the coast of

Yorkshire and Norfolk, with an

operational capacity of 1.2 gigawatts.

The site covers about 1,800 sq miles,

and capacity is planned to increase

to 6GW — nearly three times that of

the biggest gas turbine site in

Europe, at Pembroke in Wales.

An even larger offshore wind

project is planned at Dogger Bank

130km and 190km off the northeast

coast of England at the nearest

points. This is being developed in

three phases with an installed

capacity of 3.6GW and will be able

to power 6 million homes.

Of course wind power depends on

the weather. But using a mix of

various renewable energies helps to

overcome any shortages of wind,

especially with increasing trade in

renewable power with other

countries using subsea power cables.

Weather Eye

Paul Simons