The warmest day recorded in May locally was 32.1C on the 27th in 2005. The same day saw 30.7C recorded at Heathrow. wansteadmeteo.com/2018/05/05/l...

If 30C is achieved in the UK this coming Saturday, it will be the earliest 30C since 1952. All metrics earlier than average in 2026 First 20C: 18th March (avg 5th April) First 25C: 8th April (avg 5th May) First 30C: 23rd May possibly (avg 30th June)

Our undercover reporter went on the Tommy Robinson rally this weekend, posing as a far right news channel, and found Tommy Robinson supporters fuming about his criminal record youtu.be/qtUSs7ODzZU

Fantastic to be interviewed by wonderful Jacqueline Shepherd on BBC Radio London on behalf of @phoenixhealthm.bsky.social & @onevoicenetwork.bsky.social to talk about Skin Like Mine - the HIV prevention programme by & for Black Londoners funded by @doitldn.bsky.social

All together now! ... "But Nige did take five million quid, and Nige would take five million more!" 💥💥💥 #RefUKkers

A squally shower yesterday hit Streatham Hill about 14:15. We lost a branch on a birch tree, neighbours lower down the Hill found a broken roof tile on the ground from their house. Any other reports?

Rather lovely lenticular clouds seen in SW London this morning.

‘The Speech I Wish Keir Starmer Had Given’ Alexandra Hall Hall delivers the big reset speech she wishes the Prime Minister actually had made after Labour's local elections defeats

1.4mm fell today. Most that I've recorded locally since 25th March. That's how dry it has been for the last seven weeks. Crazy after Jan & Feb delivered 200mm (third of annual rainfall for London).

That’s a bit more like it. Please rain for a few hours.

Ancient Greek ballots used to kick politicians out of Athens! Broken pieces of pot, known as ‘ostraca’, were used in a democratic process known as an ‘ostracism’. If a candidate received 6,000 votes, they were exiled for 10 years! Ostraca inscribed ‘Themistocles’, 482 BC 📷 by me #Archaeology

A bit nippy this morning. 🥶 Down to 2.1°C last night. Brrr!

An earlier me - privileged, white, wealthy - could not have imagined finding this stuff terrifying or understood why othered people - Black, Jewish, immigrants - did. But I listened, and I watched, and I learned. And they were right. I'm begging you to listen and watch and learn.

Labour lose control of Lambeth, but there is now no overall control. That means the parties have to work together for the benefit of residents of Lambeth. What are the chances?

Sadly, I think that most ppl don't consider a difference to how political parties run local councils to how they would be in Government. It's an important distinction in London, at least. Overall, it really is a dismal outlook with FPTP voting for general elections. Another argument for PR.

Look at the state of this. Three parties within a handful of votes from each other. Under First Past the Post, no matter who wins in a seat like this, 3/4 of voters are left unrepresented.

🧵 As part of Irish education, kids are taught about discrimination, either based on nationality or religion. The British publication Punch is used to illustrate Hibernophobia. The British media are still at it. If you are a left wing or centrist activist you will be described as ‘antisemitic’ - [1]

Our breakdown of Wes Streeting’s donors has been doing the rounds online for the last year. Now we’ve updated it – with another £55,000 from OPD Group.

A very nice funnel cloud seen by KentStormChaser from the Birchington multicellular thunderstorm earlier this afternoon at 14:40 BST - perspective from Sea Road is looking right into the hook seen on radar.

So there are crazy headlines, and then there are "I'm sorry WTAF now?" headlines...😳 Yes, the Telegraph have deduced that Ed Miliband hates mothers because of some new legislation making tumble dryers more efficient and cheaper to run! 🧵 1/24

So much for the expected heavy rain and possible thunderstorms in the South and East. On the Hill we scraped 0.6mm hardly enough to wet the ground. The forecast for next week offers some hope for gardeners.

Haopy May Day, Beltane, Floralia! People have celebrated this day with fire and flowers through the ages. I'm off to pick some hawthorn blossom to bring into the house!

Can someone explain to me why we shouldn't police incitement to hatred against some groups but we should against others?

The Government's useless model of mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse in the Crime and Policing Bill, enabled by IICSA, received Royal Assent today. It's the antithesis of Starmer's considered Panorama suggestion of 2013, which was good for the most part audioboom.com/posts/415438...

This story in The Times has been shared a lot this weekend. There *is* a very real chance Labour will lose control of Lambeth Council in local elections on May 7th. But it is *much* less likely that there will be an overall Green majority in Lambeth Town Hall. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Exceptionally dry air this evening in SW16, London, with exceptional fire risk too. Caused by high pressure, and the dessicating winds intensify the risk and it's rather unusual when the winds are coming off the North Sea.

The air across the UK & Ireland today is even drier than it was yesterday. Air temperatures are similar yet the relative humidity is lower, in places below 30%. Up on the Pennines it's as low as 14% at Spadeadam. Head there without lip salve at your peril 😄

I'm Jewish. I condemn genocide. I condemn the Labour Governments role in the Genocide. The Prime Minister repeatedly conflating criticism of the Israeli Governments genocide and actual antisemitism is disgusting - and makes so many of us as Jewish people feel less safe.

Lies Industry UK - Sopel from News Agents podcast now: “Starmer must resign because he appointed Mandelson.” Sopel then: “Mandelson is a class act.”

Fun fact that lying UK journalistic hacks won’t tell you because they hate Labour: Boris Johnson did not pass vetting when Theresa May appointed him Foreign Secretary. #UKPolitics

Successive Governments have promised to bring in a ban on LGBT+ conversion practices - but we’re still waiting. Let’s up the pressure for a fully inclusive ban on this unscientific, ineffective, cruel practice. Please tell us why a ban on conversion practices matters to you. bit.ly/3POIuS7

You'd think this whole bizarre affair would be a far bigger story

When Angela Rayner underpaid £40,000 stamp duty on her flat, Richard Tice said it was "morally completely indefensible” and she should immediately resign if she had “any moral decency”. Now we learn he personally made £91,000 in excess payments by failing to pay the tax his company legally owed

After such an epic moonset, I was delighted to go home with just that but this day last year had another trick up its sleeve in the opposite direction. The horizon was all hazy, perfect to align the sunrise with North Bull Lighthouse.

The real headline: crypto crook (who pleaded guilty to breaking US money laundering rules) plans to try and buy UK politics www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

This is the latest in a growing drumbeat of politicians on the right of British politics asking whether it’s time to ditch First Past the Post and move to a more proportional voting system. buff.ly/Pd0lWFa

Welcome back altocumulus castellanus!

A warm night on Streatham Hill min 12.1ºC following yesterday's astonishingly warm Spring day 27.1ºC (don't mention that the daffodils are still out!). Looking like another warm day although a bit hazy with Saharan dust and a welcome cool change later bringing fresher and clearer air for tomorrow.

I’m going to say this. Daffodils at 27°C isn’t a typical Spring day 🤷🏼‍♂️🥵

History lesson www.attitude.co.uk/culture/sexu...

It's only worth going back to the Moon if it makes us look properly again at Earth, and appreciate how beautiful, precious and fragile what we have here is. The most famous images from Apollo aren't about the Moon - they're pictures of Earth. We need to stop taking our home for granted.

#ArtemisII launch captured on mid-level water vapour imagery from the GOES-East satellite 🚀🛰️ Credit: College of DuPage

This being human is a guest house… A wonderful poem by Jalaluddin Rumi.

Since writing about myths and monsters I've been wrestling with the dark side of the stories I love: Whilst we joyfully reclaim our monsters... are the pitchforks being sharpened? Thanks to @bearlypolitics.co.uk for the space to write something on this. www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/queer-be-d...

This afternoon...

Giving the US Temperature Anomalies the SST graph treatment. Plotting the cumulative sum of the average daily US-wide anomaly (using data averaged over 2.5 x 2.5 deg grid). 2026 off to a flyer; just about the warmest since 2000 (anomaly w.r.t 2000-2025).

White core to south of Brixton, S London the cell might be producing a lot of hail. You will know if you’re under that

A rather impressive thunderstorm and hail shower covered the ground just now on Streatham Hill. It was very squally with it, so gave the sense of a blizzard for a few minutes.