Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Of Swallows and Saharan Dust ... (in December?)

A Case of Seasonal Wires Crossed?
Swallow

I read a warning this morning about potentially toxic dust from the Sahara that may cross our paths tomorrow here in parts of the UK. A number of newspapers were running the story, but we failed to find any mention of the anticipated scenario on the weather forecast.

I was just beginning to think that I must have got the wrong end of the stick when I finally tracked down (a version of) the report on the Met Office News Blog here.

It seems that, desert dust apart, we are in for some unusually mild weather for the time of year in the next few days. And to add to my seasonal confusion, guess who turned up at RSPB Minsmere today ... a Swallow!

I remain unsure about the weather for tomorrow (Thursday 17 December) in the UK; but just to be on the safe side, you might care to take a look at the following, particularly if you have a health condition that could be affected by unusual dust ...

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3 comments:

  1. Simon Douglas Thompson16 December 2015 at 22:47

    Now has that swallow stuck around, or has it mmigrated from Scandy, or has the daft thing flown back on a Southerly from Africa?

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  2. L. D. 16 December 2015 at 23:58

    It is always amazing to know that dust or smoke can travel so far across a country. We had dust when Mt. St. Helena blew and also have smoke from Canada coming our way this summer. I hope that toxic stuff stays out of your area.

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  3. Crafty Green Poet17 December 2015 at 07:58

    Hi Caroline, there seems to be a fair amount of unseasonal behaviour around at the minute. We had very mild weather yesterday and it looks set to continue. I think there have been reposts of swallows overwintering occasionally in the south of England.

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