Dear BBC,
Congratulations BBC on the Weathershow. This was shown at 7.30A.M. on Sunday morning, Jan 1st and I fear that many of my friends and colleagues might have missed this show, after seeing the New Year in. Happily they can all pick it up again on their computers with iPlayer.
This was a revue of the weather in 2011. It was explained that La Nina was exceptionally cold at the beginning of the year and this weather system moving across the South Pacific collided with the warmer air over Australia with the result that Queensland was devastated by enormous floods. Here we see clearly Great Nature strutting her stuff.
This was not the only result of this weather system, as hurricanes and tornadoes battered a USA, which was exceptionally cold in the first 3 months, followed by exceptional heat in Texas later on. In fact the hot, dry period was also mirrored in the horn of Africa, which was devastated by drought.
Meanwhile earthquakes devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, and we must remember the tsunami in Japan, both caused by the movement of the tectonic plates. In every instance we can see the power and the unpredictability of Great Nature.
In the UK the severe winter was followed by an exceptionally warm April. So frost-free was this month that apple blossom thrived and my apple trees produced such a bumper crop that apples formed a layer a foot deep under the trees. This early or late Spring, take your pick, suited some birds and did not suit others, as caterpillars appeared too early for some species.