[Closed] The wind this year...

Agreed, I've been noticing it over the last several years - we now seem to get the kind of wind at this time of year that we didn't used to get until Autumn. It feels like Autumn out there now and it's not just cos it's a bit cloudy and a bit rainy, it's because of the wind.

I'm putting it down to global warming and the general messing-up of weather patterns.

I dont think it has really stood out.
Have had some heavy gusts with the change in weather fronts especially when it was thinking about thunder.
When you say time in the SE where do you normally spend it since whilst the SE isnt overly windy it is more so compared to some locations.

I was wondering about this as well. I feel like I've only been out once or twice this year and not grumbled about the constant head wind! Even on the hottest day last week it was still blowing a bloody gale.

What is causing it?

Lockdown means more people at home eating baked beans.

Yep it seems a lot more windy than usual. Most of our group rides have planned around wind direction.

Did my first bike commute this morning for 3 months as had to be in the office briefly. Forgot how much the wind seems to affect you on the bike! Def don't get wind on my zwift commutes!

I bought a drone in January and have noticed just how windy it has been all year.

Up in the NE, it has hardly dropped below 15 - 20 mph.

Seems really windy.

Yep, definitely windier over last few years. Climate Change would be my guess...

Thought it was just me - agree seems way more of my rides have comments about strong winds than usual. I do seem to have adjusted to it, stopped trying to fight it and just spin into headwinds, take advantage of tailwinds.

Seeing more trees damaged than usual for this time as year as well, I don't know if the soaking wet winter weakened them.

40mph gusts are still the limit of my comfort zone, was forecast around that yesterday and changed my route to avoid a busy road and HGVs.

Definitely seems to be more trees down in the woods over the past few years, but we do like to see patterns where there’s just coincidences.

Should bode well for building more wind turbines though, especially if it is an unseen consequence of global warming.

Yes, very windy. When the trails were dry I just rode in the woods, no loss, but now it's just annoying.

Great feeling when you get a perfect tailwind though, was doing 28mph with Zone 1 HR on Saturday's ride, which is not a combo you often see...

Really windy days seem rare here (peaks). I'm riding 4 times a week and can't think of many times I've had a strong headwind to cope with. My house is surrounded by tree's too so I notice it.

Stats seem to suggest it's stable too: https://www.statista.com/statistics/322785/average-wind-speed-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/

Was blustery yesterday when out walking.

Been brutally windy this year in the North East. We've had loads of days in May / June with 45+mph gusts. You can see out the woods a fair number of large oak branches down as well. They've just been battered whilst in leaf.

Not to mention late winter and spring, which were also very windy.

Yeah it's mental, bought a little drone just before chrimbo last year and still haven't used it outside that much as it's been blowing a gale most weekends since!

It's been ACE!

Beware the KOM hunters!

Yep, been very windy here in Manchester. As you say, not just when it's wet and pissy, but also even when it's sunny. Very strange

as a windsurfer, I'm not complaining. had a nice wavesailing session before work this morning 🙂

Yep i did the same on Saturday morning. Then smashed a 4 hr session sunday
It has been a windy may and une for sure, and sunny and warm mostly.

I don't think it's never not windy here in the NE, at least it seems that way.

So windy recently though I actually picked up a couple of the gold cups on strava on the road bike, an belter of a tailwind. However I put my good fortune down to expert route planning!

Bloody awful on the days that it is windy. Seems to be either NOT WINDY or ****ING WINDY nothing in between!
Worst thing is doing a jump and that there wind blowing a nice gust as you take off and you land on your shoulder instead of your bike and spend the next 6 months suffering for your stupidity (a perfect 3 months into that time at the mo).

It's very windy today, although I don't think this year has been particularly windy compared with last year which was ridiculous. Mind you it's always windy in the flatlands.

It does feel like it's been either windy, rainy or super scorching this year around Southampton.

Very few nice days 15-20C.

It feels like a lot of the worst weather has been on my days off or annual leave... Still got loads of my local hills I've yet to climb for the first time this year, including Harvesting Lane.

And the end of June is upon us. 🙁

Try living in Worthing... literally where wind is born..!

Towards the end of 2019 it felt like there was CONSTANT wind for about 5 months. Non bloody stop.
In fact, even into early 202 it continued.
Did the brighton half marathon in PROPER gale forces...

It's getting boring now

DrP

It's because Wales is in lockdown and I can't go windsurfing do to the smackdown..

Wow. Is it me or has it been really really windy this year?

Glad it's not just me! Has felt like it this year, but after a while it probably just feels like conformation bias

You'd better get used to it, as the world heats up the wind will increase.

Link to scientific american article

Yes. More energy (heat) within the atmosphere = more wind. It's only going to get stronger.

Interesting- i had never thought about that relationship.

Yes, I've been wondering about that recently too. Not sure whether I'm just forgetting how things used to be or whether the fact that I'm doing more gravel/road rides means I notice it more, but I can't remember it being this bad before. I tried to find some data on this, but couldn't find anything specific to NE Scotland.

The fact that every hill up here has its wind turbine would suggest that it's always been pretty windy, but it does seem to be getting worse.

It’s because Wales is in lockdown and I can’t go windsurfing

you can if you live within approx 5 miles of a windsurfing spot, like Gower 🙂

Some years are windier than others. It's too easy to point the finger at Climate Change at everything which is a bit different. You also need to look at the observations of the Jetstream position this year versus other years too.

And remember we live on a very big rock in the northern Atlantic. We have a mild maritime climate.<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> Its always windy here. Look at the wind potential maps for the UK to see how windy it is without even factoring in CC.</span>

Well to buck the trend here in the North West I would say it’s been less windy than previous years, our workshop faces straight onto the Mersey and the Irish sea and when it blows here bits of the building fall off and the roller shutter doors onto the shop rattle like Ernie’s ghostly gold tops.
Perhaps it’s because I have been working all the way through this situation and have not had the time or inclination to ride my bike, so maybe those that say it’s been windier have had time to ride their bikes?

I manage renewables so have a keen interest in the weather. February was the windiest month we've ever recorded and May was the sunniest.

Ah.......since records began. But when did the records begin?

😉

You'll have a wind potential map to hand then. Can you post it to show just how windy these islands are?

Seems normal mix to me. Have had some beautifully still days recently.

I'm pretty focussed on the wind (enthusiastic dinghy sailor) and I'm always watching it for a chance to get afloat and for my eldest son who is slowly progressing up the wind range.

Certainly first three months was really blustery, and there's a good 25-30knots been blowing for a few days. Before that we've had several relatively gentle weeks and weekends since about mid May.

Late 2019 was the same albeit a bit feast or famine. Loads of drifters and few "stay in the bar" days.

Iirc early 2020 there was an odd weather phenomenon where the strong winds were stuck in a cycle of air being pulled from somewhere or other...

I would say it’s been less windy than previous years, our workshop faces straight onto the Mersey and the Irish sea

An unusual amount of easterly wind, I reckon, so you might not've felt it as much at work.

Yeah I noticed some quite long periods with a north easterly through spring. And just generally quite a lot of wind this year.

Also, sat up the top of Leith Hill sunday. I know it's fairly high up but nearly being blown off my perch multiple times in a gale on a dry sunny summer day with my sandwich steadily accumulating dust seemed odd.

Does seem odd having food uneaten that accumulates dust....

Great feeling when you get a perfect tailwind though, was doing 28mph with Zone 1 HR on Saturday’s ride, which is not a combo you often see…

I must have been going in the opposite direction.

You’d better get used to it, as the world heats up the wind will increase.

Could be the end of the World.

I see the mad wind is back, just in time for my weekend pedalling.

Second day off on the spin where winds are 20-30mph, looks like it might be another turbo day, while tomorrow is wet after work so I won't pop out then.

Please, just give me some dry calm days at 15-20C to head up Butser, Milland and Harting hills! 🙁

@nobody think you're probably not far from me. Bit blustery here. Supposed to run into next week. Dam nuisance.

Yep, another wet and windy ride this Sunday by the looks of things

Can't say I noticed it any windier, tend not to notice it when you live on the coast in Cornwall as it's always windy!

Windy again in South London. Sunny enough between clouds dashing over, but wind is rattling the house.

I've noticed it's been more windy this year, mostly because I'm mildly phobic of gusty/high winds and it causes me anxiety 🙁

@nobody think you’re probably not far from me. Bit blustery here. Supposed to run into next week. Dam nuisance.

Bitterne SO18, good hills are worth cycling to.

Another day off, another gusty day, approx 17-33mph westerly expected all day... Might be quicker to use an e-bike coming back home! 😆

Windy days such as today as just weather with a strong gradient between two pressure systems. As said above, climate change will increase that as the intensity of pressure systems will likely grow.

However, there is also a link between phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is measured by the difference in pressure between Iceland and the Azores. This fluctuates on season-yearly basis and positive NAO index (the red bits in this graph) results in warm, wet and windy weather in Northern Europe, which resulted in all those storms we had this winter. We are in a negative phase at moment, which results in generally the opposite. So you will see extended periods of windy v calmer weather driven by this climate phenomenon.

How windy is too windy for most people when riding off-road?

When the ground around softwood trees starts to lift up, time to leave

wind farms = deep state wind making machines controlled by greta and 5G and the illuminati doncha know

Another day off, another gusty day, approx 17-33mph westerly expected all day… Might be quicker to use an e-bike coming back home!

Would have been for me this morning. A struggle for last 10 miles. I picked a bad month to increase my gearing by 4 inches.

Hey then ventologists..... if wind is the movement of air in patterns around areas of low or high pressure, what makes it so gusty currently then? I've just chased a table cloth across the garden, 5 minutes later the fabric of my event shelter is motionless?

Currently gusting at 80kph here at the exposed border between South Gloucester and Wiltshire. 🙁

There are very few days when the wind is below 20kph - I can think of only 3 rides so far this year and I tend to ride 3-5 times per week.

I picked a bad month to increase my gearing by 4 inches.

I swapped my chainset for a sub-compact one this year, with lockdown and solo riding just don't need the big gears you use when you're in a fast group pace-line etc. Only time I top 30mph now is on the odd downhill.

Very unusual to have such a prolonged period of high winds (but winter was unusually windy too), keeps National Grid busy balancing the system - which keeps me in work(!)

Those big Fans are currently producing 11,500MWs of power !! http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

Just came back on this thread - it’s been bonkers this weekend !

Still windy - 2 storms in 5 days. Has someone broken the jetstream?

to be fair we have had some lovely, non windy weather lately.
This lot just waited til I was on leave 🙁

Hmmm. Looking at the Silver Birch in my garden and pondering on whether it should become firewood before it becomes wrecking ball.

I'm struggling to remember when I last went out in ~45mph gust winds up on to the Old Winchester Hill ridge heading towards Butser Hill, sure I've done it a few times in the last few years, but a silly part of me has wanted to head out that way all afternoon... Even though the turning point could have crazy crosswinds and the headwind home would be brutal.

Generally, the weather this year in Hampshire has been carp (windy, rainy or both) so often when my health has not been bad enough to warrant time off the bikes. Ironically, both periods I've not felt so clever, the weather hasn't been too bad (besides being heatwave hot).

Has someone broken the jetstream?

Yes, we all did...

Ah…….since records began. But when did the records begin?

Depends, some go back to the 19th Century, I believe.

From the Met Office:

Summary
Monthly Historical information for 37 UK Meteorological Stations. Most go back to the early 1900s, but some go back as far as 1853.

Data includes:

Mean maximum temperature (tmax)
Mean minimum temperature (tmin)
Days of air frost (af)
Total rainfall (rain)
Total sunshine duration (sun)

Some more historical wind stories:

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/looking-back-on-scotlands-strongest-winds-and-deadliest-storms/

Personally, I don’t think this year has been particularly windy, I work outdoors all day, and from the New Year to the end of March it didn’t seem much windier than usual, and during lockdown the weather was particularly benign, for which I’m particularly grateful, being able to sit outside and read in warm sunshine.