I have put up a few comments on this in defense of Piers in another section and it would seem that the event on the Sun on the 17th May (The Sun Finds It's Mojo)) seems to be the main suspect. The event on the Sun went world wide and not only disturbed the Northern European pressure systems that was producing the cold flow of air to the UK but other areas in the World were also having colder then average temperatures at the same time. Take a look at this YouTube produced a day after the major solar event on the Sun and listen to what the forecaster had to say about the weather pattern changes in Northern Europe.
The Irony is that Piers uses the Sun to make longrange forecasts but as you will read from this report from NASA, the Sun does not always do what Piers expects it to do, hence his long range forecasts are never put forward as being 100% accurate, just 80%. Thats 80% higher then long range forecasts produced by the Met Office, who at the end of the day are only able to make a guess if the temperatures will be higher or lower then average for the month. That's not very useful if your a farmer who has snow and frost in the first half of the month and a heat wave in the second half, only to be informed by the Met Office that it was an average month for temperatures and they were correct with their monthly forecast!
This graph shows the neutrons detected by a neutron detector at the University of Oulu in Finland from May 16 through May 18, 2012. The peak on May 17 represents an increase in the number of neutrons detected, a phenomenon dubbed a ground level enhancement or GLE. This was the first GLE since December of 2006. Credit: University of Oulu/NASA's Integrated Space Weather Analysis System
WeatherAction’s long range May forecast well captured the main very cold N/W and very warm/heatwave E/SE contrast which Piers Corbyn warned of mid-April and which a gaggle of churlish standard Meteorologists derided.
They went eerily quiet for three weeks as their short-range forecasts failed again and again while Piers’ single long range forecast stunned thousands.
Click source to download WA News Report 26 - Europe June 2012 - Public Headline Summary (PDF)
These two Front Page Headline articles from the Daily Express by Nathan Rao only have a few days between them....this is what Jonathan Powell had to say about HIS May forecast on the Daily Express on the 15th May "It looks like this is going to continue well into June. Summer is really on hold, with no sign of it in the near future... and on the right also by Nathan Rao from the Daily Express on the 19th MayJonathan Powell had this to say.. “We will get a glimpse of summer next week with temperatures reaching 73F in the South.
It's little wonder people don't take longe range weather forecast seriously....I can't help but think if being a long range weather forecaster saying cold one day and then hot another is such a difficult thing to do.....is that why the Daily Express promote him and is that why Jonathan Powell's Positive Weather service stopped last year only to start again this year as Jonathan Powell Vantage Weather Services?
Jonathan Powell went on to say the following about the rest of May and the Summer in the UK....GR
The Met Office has reported that the wet weather will continue right through until June, with only a few dry spells.
The weather is set to continue for the rest of the month, possibly dampening Jubilee celebrations (PA)
If you're dreaming of summer, keep dreaming – the leaden skies and thundery showers will be sticking around for the rest of the month.
Temperatures will rise slightly above the May average, however, with some parts of the south reaching highs of 19C (66F).
Met Office forecaster Sarah Holland said: ‘The beginning of next week will be mainly dry but there’s going to be a lot of cloud around. Towards the end of the week, there will be quite a few outbreaks of sunshine – especially in the south-east.
'But cloud and rain is likely to spread north-easterly and these unsettled conditions could persist for the rest of the month.’
The Met Office also warned that the weather conditions over the Queen's Diamond Jubilee will also be poor, with 'no strong signal for a period of warm, dry weather.'
After rain for the South and North and downpours for the Midlands on Friday the Met Office said heavy weekend showers will hit the South.
Weather Channel forecaster Leon Brown said: “It’s cold in the North due to a plunge of Arctic air.”
Beaches will be empty again as rain disrupts England’s first cricket Test against the West Indies at Lord’s and soaks fans at football’s Championship play-off-final at Wembley and rugby’s Heineken Cup final at Twickenham.
Brighter weekend spells will see 16C in the South - but just 10-11C in the Midlands, with the drier North at 8-9C.
Up to three inches’ snow fell over the Highlands on Thursday after -5C overnight lows on Cairngorm, with lunchtime temperatures of 4C in parts of Scotland and 6-8C in the North.
MeteoGroup forecaster Nick Prebble said: “Umbrellas have been needed through an unsettled week, with below-average temperatures in the North.”
The North will be colder on Friday at 5-7C, with two inches more snow due in Scotland’s Highlands.
Snowfall at this time of year isn’t an annual event, so it’s not completely normal, but it’s fair to say it’s not completely unusual either. We last saw snow in May all the way back in… 2011, just last year, and we also saw more snow in 2010.
If we look back through the records dating back to 1910, the snowiest May on record was most likely in 1979 when 342 weather observation sites reported snow on 2 May.
This snowy spell lasted through the whole of the first week of that month. The light snow showers we’ve seen this May seem slight in comparison.
BRITAIN was shivering in a late winter blast which brought two inches of snow to parts of the country yesterday.
With only 17 days to go before the start of “flaming” June, snow flurries were seen as far south as Wolverhampton after temperatures plunged to -5C (23F) overnight.
Up to two inches of snow were also reported in parts of Scotland, the Pennines and Cumbria.
Weather experts said the UK was still “stuck” in a system of bitter cold air from the Arctic which shows no signs of moving on. Jonathan Powell, forecaster for Vantage Weather Services, added: “We are still very much in a northerly air flow.
“It is significantly colder than normal for the time of year, and looks like staying that way at least until the end of May.”
The entire country is at risk of widespread frost all this week with daytime and overnight temperatures about 5C lower than normal for the time of year.
Snow fall as far south as the Midlands and overnight frosts were described as “unusual” weather for mid May by the Met Office as the forecasters admitted the Jubilee could be a washout.
Just 17 days before summer starts, hail and sleet hit the morning rush-hour in Wolverhampton, West Mids, as well as Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire and Durham.
The Met Office said Scotland - where temperatures fell to a near record low for this time of year at -4C (25F) at Cairngorm, could see snow settling on the mountains and in the Pennines, Cumbria and southern Scotland,
Temperatures could even get below freezing overnight in the south in sheltered spots as the “unusual but not unprecedented” mid-May weather continues.
Usually temperatures are up to 16C (61F) at this time of year but even in the sunshine the mercury is only reaching 14C and in the wind most parts of the country are much colder.
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Reports of snow showers in parts of the UK over the past 24 hours and the prospect of more on high ground tonight may seem a little out of context at this time of year, but is it unusual?
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