A FINE SPRING DAY...

     World © Geoff Wilkinson

....and summer must be just around the corner, what a difference from yesterday's picture. It didn't last long yesterday, the snow that is, only a minute or so but it was certainly fast and furious while it lasted. This couple hurrying along Stanstead Road must have been really grateful for the umbrella...

Weather update, according to the very reliable @wanstead_meteo it was actually 'soft hail' and I'm sure that's correct but I think it's more fun to think 'snow'...

SEEING DOUBLE..

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

If you are of a certain age, I'm not quite, just for the record,  you might remember Jane Morgans recording of 'The day the rain came', it reached number 1 in the UK charts in 1959. Originally it was a French song by Gilbert Becaud called "Le Jour ou la pluie viendra" with Morgan singing in English on one side and French on the other. I thought I'd put that in for the French followers of this blog and because I enjoy visiting France so much.

Anyway back to the picture, during all that heat last week we did have a torrential downpour of rain one night. This gigantic puddle appeared in Nightingale Lane almost opposite The Nightingale pub, I imagine it was due to a blocked drain, one thing about living in London the weather's rarely boring...

WANSTEAD DRAMA...

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Funny weather today, I was in Hackney this morning and got absolutely soaked and the weatherman on television is talking about storm clouds. As I write this its not a bad evening and I can see a little sunshine on the houses along the road. I took this picture this afternoon in Nightingale Lane as I dropped some pictures off at the Gallery, I really like the way the clock tower of the old hospital on Hermon Hill stands out against the clouds. I don't know what this type of cloud is called but it looks pretty dramatic to me...

THE TROPICS...

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Unless you have been on holiday you may have noticed that we have had a little rain in the last couple of days. Accompanied by thunder, I didn't see any lightning, we have had one or two of what I can only describe as tropical style downpours. The thunder didn't bother me, I slept right through it on the first night, there again I did sleep through a mini 'quake, actually it was an earth tremor in Los Angeles. Anyway I took this picture in the High Street on Saturday morning and I quite like it, better weather for the rest of the week according to my iPad.

LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES...

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

..twice in the same place, or so the saying goes. It certainly didn't last night, it was quite a distance away and never really reached Wanstead. The most extraordinary part of the evening was colours in the sky, just as it started to get dark the light turned almost yellow, an interesting evening even though the lightning stayed in the distance. Big thanks to Wanstead Meteo who provided really spot on information and times, for really local weather information check out their website here.

        World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

                               World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

END OF THE DAY...

  World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Pretty rubbish weather last week considering it was supposed to be summer. On Friday night I gave in and the heating went back on.  During my photographic career I have spent a lot of time waiting on the weather, I must have spent weeks no make that months  hanging around all day hoping that a little sunshine will break through the cloud cover. Quite often it does, the sun drops below the clouds and if you'r lucky you may get a minute or two of lovely warm light on your subject before the sun disappears below the horizon.  Last week despite all the rain and grey skies we did have some spectacular sunsets. I managed to capture some from one of my favourite spots, the footbridge over the A12. I hope you like them. 

  World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

DRIP, DRIP...

   World  Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

A young lady on the television last night was giving the weather forecast for today, she also mentioned briefly Thursday's weather saying how it had not been too bad a day. She obviously had not been in Wanstead where umbrellas were de rigueur. I stood outside the Gallery for a short time during the day with my camera and managed to catch this raindrop as it fell from our canopy. I also considered turning the central heating back on, I'm expecting a heat wave in December...

EXTRAORDINARY SKY..

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

I took this picture a few weeks ago late in the afternoon. As you can see there was a dark grey sky but with these extraordinary light coloured clouds that appeared to be travelling upwards. I don't ever recall seeing anything quite like it before.

FALLEN TREES.

After the  high winds and rain yesterday, I followed a tip from Wanstead Weather about fallen trees in Wanstead and decided to head toward Christchurch Green. On the way, at the top of Redbridge Lane West I discovered this mass of branches that had fallen along the pavement and partially into the road. 

Moving on toward Christchurch Green, lo and behold there was a number of uprooted fallen trees.   When you think how long it has taken for them to grow and reach this maturity only to be bowled over in minutes it is a very sad sight indeed.

All pictures © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved.

HIGH WINDS...

    Word © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

I thought this photograph of the sky was an appropriate picture for today as we wait for the promised high winds and gales tonight. This was taken earlier this week. I think clouds are always fascinating. It was the three layers in the sky that drew my attention, the warm colours at the bottom, then the grey clouds in the centre and finally a little blue sky on top. Let's see what tonight brings.

STORMY, STORMY NIGHTS..

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

You must remember the thunder and lightening of last Monday night who could have missed it. I was in the garden around 10pm and I looked up and saw this cloud formation around the moon. It looked so dramatic and threatening I just had to take a picture. However, as for the actual thunder and lightening Mrs Wilkinson says I slept peacefully through the lot !

SUNNY WANSTEAD

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Not sure what the temperature was today but it's been really hot, at least here in Nightingale Lane. I had a wander up to Christchurch Green which had a few people sunbathing and generally enjoying themselves including this pair running across the green, more engergy than me in this heat. Check out Wanstead Weather for an up to date forecasts.

PUSSYCAT, PUSSYCAT WHAT CAN YOU SEE?

    World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Wow was it hot in Wanstead yesterday, I don't know what the temperature was but it was certainly more like summer. This cute cat had to evacuate the room and find a cool spot on the first floor window ledge outside. Lets hope the sun continues all weekend, check out WansteadWeather for a forecast.