After the epic storm-chasing year of 2004, it was always going to be difficult to even come close in 2005. In terms of storm chasing, the EOTS team were unable to chase on numerous occasions, despite there being plenty of activity. However, we did capture some thunderstorms, and there were plenty of exciting weather events during 2005, making it another memorable weather year!

This section sums up the year for us, by displaying a photo or two from the most significant weather events we encountered during each month. Eyes are already looking to 2006, and the weather-goodies that may bring. With a storm chasing trip planned in Florida, it's looking good so far! But for now, here's 2005.

January 2005 - Snow showers
January was a quiet month in terms of weather-watching. However, during a couple of days of northerly winds, wintry showers managed to drift southwards across many eastern areas of the country. These mammatus clouds below were billowing from a snow shower over London on 24th January. Bren managed one snow chase, across Norfolk and Suffolk (England) too. During this, he managed to locate a hail and snow shower which was electrified. Perched on a small hill in the middle of the open plains of East Anglia, the build-up of charge before each lightning bolt played havoc with the car radio. The see a video of this phenomenon, please click here (1.6mb - 2:15).

February 2005 - Decidedly snowy
A pleasantly wintry month, with some decent falls of snow in the south-east of the UK. By decent, that's nothing more than an inch or two of cover, but in these days of precious little snowfall, that's better than nothing! The following images show snowfall on 24th February, firstly in Weybridge, and then on Leith Hill in Surrey. A couple of inches fell on the higher ground, whilst the snow in Weybridge had disappeared by the evening time.

March 2005- Say halo to the snow
Amazingly, the snowfall in late February would start a long spell of daily snow in London and the surrounding areas, mostly in the form of showers. Whilst most of this didn't accumulate, it marked one of the longest periods of daily snow in the area for many years. The first image here shows another fall of snow at the BBC in London, on March 4th. Milder, more spring-like conditions had arrived towards the last week in March, and during another trip to Leith Hill, the EOTS team captured one of the brightest, most complete haloes we'd ever seen.

April 2005 - Spring thunderstorms
With warm weather arriving, it was only a matter of time before the thunderstorm season commenced. Indeed, on 19th April, a trough moving up from the south, driven on by low pressure to the south-west, brought with it some very thundery activity. The focus for the day's action was south Wales and south-west England, and the EOTS team spent the day racing around Devon and Somerset. Below are 3 images taken from the day, including driving into a storm, leaving behind a storm, and a stunning rainbow to end the day.

June 2005 - Let the storm chasing commence
As far as we were concerned, the summer had now well and truly arrived, as we engaged on numerous storm chases across the country in June. These chases included Lincolnshire on 3rd June, where we managed to get right beneath a developing thunderstorm (images 1 & 2, also see our video section for timelapse of thunderstorm). Another storm event saw Laura chase down to Hampshire, where she caught an amazing display of lightning, courtesy of high based storms (images 3 & 4, also see our video section for "Lightning Fest"). On 28th June, one high based storm paid a visit to Weybridge, and whilst not looking spectacular (last image) its multiple lightning strikes and curious gargling, high-based thunder, were superb.

July 2005- A few storms and a holiday
Another quiet month for storm chasing once again, mostly due to work commitments than anything else. That's not to say there weren't any storms of course, and this first image shows one thunderstorm trundling its way along the south coast of England. At the end of July, was the huge tornado which practically devastated parts of suburban Birmingham. However, the EOTS team were blissfully unaware, and holidaying in Menorca. The last two images here show some 'jellyfish'altocumulus castellanus, and also one of Menorca's fine beaches.

August 2005 - Frontal shelves and CGs
August settled down into a rather cool and unsettled month, although there were a couple of warm interludes, courtesy of Spanish Plume events. The first image shows the passage of a cold front on 24th August. As well as being spectacularly lit by the setting sun, the surface cold front resembled a stunning shelf cloud as it moved away. Mid-August, and more storms developed along the south coast. Bren was there, and caught some tasty CC lightning on video capture. On the very last day of August, a particularly impressive outbreak of thunderstorms saw some of the most electrically active, high-based storms we've ever seen in the UK, with lightning rates of one discharge every 5 seconds or so (see second image).

September 2005 - The weather takes a break
September started with a bang, as violent thunderstorms moved up from the south on the last 'Spanish Plume' of the year. However, poor visibility and night-time storms made for poor footage. For the rest of the month, conditions were quite quiet, but that's not to say there weren't any interesting photo opportunities around. This sole image from September shows some interesting cirrocumulus formations over Reading, Berkshire.

October 2005 - Eclipse, optics & gusters
The month started with a non-meteorological phenomenon, but at least the weather was kind enough to let us see it. An annular eclipse could be seen across southern England, and we used some semi-transparent plastic to allow us to photograph it. On 10th October, whilst walking in the Surrey countryside, the most amazing sundog developed in front of us. We were in the right place at the right time, as a 'jellyifish' of high cirrus refracts the sunlight perfectly! Towards the end of the month, active thunderstorms rumbled up from France as conditions became very warm for the time of year. We snapped a scary-looking thunderstorm over Clapham, London, which included a raging gust-front, and also a short-lived funnel cloud (all taken on a camera phone).

November 2005 - The anticyclone
The start of November was uneventful, and not great for photography. However, by the 17th, northerly winds allowed the first wintry precipitation across south-east England, with soft hail amongst the showery falls. For the rest of November, high pressure dominated the UK's weather, resulting in one of the frostiest and foggiest spells for many years. Wisley Common in Surrey looked so different just 2 days apart, firstly bathed in autumn sunshine and mist, followed by freezing fog and a heavy hoar frost. Right at the end of November, whilst in North Wales, Bren observed a stunning phenomenon in widespread fog. As the fog reached the Welsh mountains, it lapped up against the peaks in waves, just like those seen in the ocean. To view videos and a report of this, our video section. The fog also produced optical effects, including fow bows and a Brocken Spectre.

December 2005 - Frozen hills and fiery spaceships
As Christmas approached, we headed up to Yorkshire for a long weekend, to bag the Christmas shopping. Whilst there, and on a visit to the North York Moors, we were treated to a stunning lenticular cloud display at sunset. Between Christmas and New Year, we headed back to the Horseshoe Pass in North Wales (as seen above surrounded by fog). Whilst walking on the hill tops at dusk, temperatures plummted to -7C, and hoar frost became very thick, very quickly. We also observed dense air pouring off the tops of the hills and down into the valleys, visible by thin banks of fog streaming downhill.

Will 2006 be a weather year to match that of 2005? Here's hoping......

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