A Changeable Spring

With the advent of hose pipe ban from seven water companies staring on Thursday, which covers the east and south east of England, as well as this March being one of the driest months (see below); it seems rather unlikely that snow would be covering the ground. It was thought that last night's weather forecast may have been a delayed April Fool's joke.

A recent article in the Guardian stated that "Some parts of Yorkshire have seen the driest 12 months since 1910 and river levels are continuing to fall, prompting the Environment Agency to urge farmers and businesses taking water from rivers to use supplies wisely." A report on the Channel 4 News tonight showed the difference between a week in Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, last week the temperature had risen to 23.6 degrees Centigrade and today there was snow on the ground. An entry in the Met Office's blog stated "Despite the current cold and snowy weather, March 2012 was the third warmest in records dating back to 1910 and the warmest since 1957."

The Met Office issued a Yellow Warning of Snow (the colour always make me smile) for Yorkshire and Humber on the 3rd of April at 11.41 where it was stated that "rain is expected to turn into snow on higher ground as colder air moves south across England and Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some 2-5cm of snow is likely in places, mainly above around 200m with as much as 10 to 15cm possible over 300m. Little, if any, snows is expected to accumulate on roads and pavements below 200m. The area of rain, sleet and snow will clear from the north during Wednesday."

However with snow having fallen in both Scotland, Ross-shire, and northern England, including Yorkshire and Teeside, as of the time of typing this, as well as rain in Cambridge. But instead of wondering how far the snow or rain is travelling down the spine of Great Britain, isn't it more important to see how are the farmers and rural practitioners coping with these changeable conditions? We all have to eat, as I notice from waistline, but with reduced water in the soil and more demands on the precious water resources will this not affect the size of harvested potatoes, will the onset of snow flurries upset the pollen carrying bees. 

An article in The Gazette.Net from Connecticut describes some of the problems that are caused by unseasonable warmth followed by freezing temperatures: including fruit tree blossoms being burnt; asparagus may face difficulties underground and "bees are adapting by gathering pollen from crocuses, daffodils, pussy willows and trees, including sugar maples and red oaks". Can any farmers and rural practitioners that read this blog, add their problems that they are facing with the weather fluctuations? Just add it to the comments box below, thank you.