Time to batten down again
If you're reading this in Britain on the day it was put up - Sunday 27th October 2013 - and especially if you you are reading this in Southern England or on the West Coast, then it would be a good idea to avoid travelling tonight and to make sure your property is secure against severe weather. And if you are at any risk of flooding and have a set of precautions ready to take against possible flooding, it would be a good idea to put them into effect.
The Met office is forecasting that an unusually bad storm - possibly once per decade severity - nicknamed St Jude, after the patron saint of lost causes, whose feast day is tomorrow, will hit Britain this evening and tomorrow. It is likely to include hurricane-force winds (80mph or so) and some areas will get up to an inch and a half of rain.
Frank Saunders, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said last night: "We are confident that a severe storm will affect Britain on Sunday night and Monday. We are now looking at refining the details about which areas will see the strongest winds and the heaviest rain."
"This is a developing situation and we'd advise people to stay up to date with our forecasts and warnings over the weekend, and be prepared to change their plans if necessary. We'll continue to work closely with authorities and emergency services to ensure they are aware of the expected conditions."
The Met office is forecasting that an unusually bad storm - possibly once per decade severity - nicknamed St Jude, after the patron saint of lost causes, whose feast day is tomorrow, will hit Britain this evening and tomorrow. It is likely to include hurricane-force winds (80mph or so) and some areas will get up to an inch and a half of rain.
Frank Saunders, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said last night: "We are confident that a severe storm will affect Britain on Sunday night and Monday. We are now looking at refining the details about which areas will see the strongest winds and the heaviest rain."
"This is a developing situation and we'd advise people to stay up to date with our forecasts and warnings over the weekend, and be prepared to change their plans if necessary. We'll continue to work closely with authorities and emergency services to ensure they are aware of the expected conditions."
Comments
Still credit where its due, I don't really like Seb Vettel, but he has just won his 4th world championship in a row, and he is only 26 years old. This year he is on target to beat M Schumacher for most wins in one season. (also he is by far the youngest person ever to take 4 championships) so has a very good chance in his career of beating M Schumacher's record of 7 championship wins.
He is the 4th person in history to win 4 world championships, and only the 3rd person to have done so consecutively. No one has ever taken 5 consecutively. Next year may prove to be more of a challenge, due to rule changes within the sport. But 4 in a row is no easy feat for anyone.
the technology however is always available and has made our roads much safer over the years. Products developed for F1 racing (and now banned from the sport) which you may be familiar with are:
ABS & Traction control
Others which are not banned, but are limited, which were developed by f1 and other forms of motor racing are:
disc brakes
vehicle restraint (seat belts)
radial tyres
turbo chargers
grooved (wet) tyre surfaces
anti roll bars
Kers has made an apperence which is due to make a much bigger impact next year, which uses the cars energy lost through breaking to supply suplimentary power (thus reducing fuel consumption, by obtaining energy from wasted energy)
I know motor racing is not everyone's cup of tea as it were, but you can see the sport has its uses. I also think its much more efficient to use the sport arena and private money to develop and construct new technology, rather than government than the govt subsidy route which can prove disastrous.