Noting the extreme cold in North America and E. Europe right now. A moment to reflect on how lucky we are, here in the UK, to benefit from the 'Gulf Stream', driven by low Arctic temperatures causing cold water to sink and pulling warmer water up from the Caribbean. For how much longer though....

It's legal to carry a concealed gun in Minnesota, isn't it? I mean, here in the UK, we think that's insanity, but in the US it's just fine, I gather. So how come '..he had a gun, which I removed from under his coat' is grounds for being shot dead?

. @stephengbyrne.bsky.social ...

Ah yes, Farage. Honest Nige, man of the people, solid, 'ornery bloke....

Dear BBC - you run four major TV channels. Could you just please put 'TV schedule' on the home page on your website? It shouldn't take me ten minutes to find out what time a programme starts. Some of us still like to watch things when broadcast.

Phenomenal stuff....

Look - Hamnet is a gorgeous film and I especially loved the scenes towards the end in The Globe. But... Echinaceas weren't introduced into the UK until the 18thC. And not just a glancing shot but white ones, in full view for several seconds, along with what I think was Primula vialii...>>

.. @stephengbyrne.bsky.social Just in time....

GREEN GAIN FROM REFORM 🎉 First ever Green by-election gain from Reform Massive congratulations to new Cllr Lian Pizzey and Amber Valley Green Party

Your occasional Arctic sea ice update. Jan 19th 1979: 15.509 million sq. km. Jan 19th 2025: 13.083 million sq. km. The pale grey band through the middle is the 1981-2010 average. nsidc.org/sea-ice-toda.... Something, something Greenland...

. @stephengbyrne.bsky.social ...

New York, August 4, 1916. "the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland"

Who will rid U.S. of this turbulent President?

What's that sound? Ah, must be the screeching handbrake turns at @telegraph.co.uk . "Trump's gone rogue on NATO, Farage is a laughing stock. Get Kemi on the phone. Write her a Thatcher headline. And fast..."

Immaculate timing...

Well that's it then. NATO is officially over. One member has applied economic sanctions on several other members for refusing to give up NATO territory. Tantamount to a declaration of war, in effect.

Signed...

Good to spend a fine January afternoon renovating the old Bramley apple tree. A delight to clamber among the branches and commune with the goldfinches.

Decades ago, when I worked at British Airways, Colin Marshall affirmed that the planned new IT systems would require more staff, not less. The point was competitive advantage and innovation. Roles would change, but more people would be needed, overall. Same applies to AI, I feel.

Jenrick is just another middle-aged, very average bloke who thinks he's something special, in ar elationship he's become bored with. Farage offers him a exciting new life and so he hops the fence, full of joie-de-vivre, feeling young-ish, vibrant and wanted. It always ends the same way, doesn't it?

Might just have to visit the Hague.... www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

A perfect illustration of heat pump self-regulation. As the outside temperature rises (dotted white line), the heat pump automatically does less work and therefore uses less electricity (orange bars), to maintain a near constant temperature indoors (pale blue line at top).

That's two nights in the run we've dropped to -9C in Cheshire, with a daytime high of -2C. I'm sure for lots of you that's no big deal, but it's been several years since we've seen temps that low.

The real reason hotels have window opening restrictions on the third floor...

The Starlings of Eastbourne Pier.

Always good to see #solarPV generating over 10% of UK electricity in the middle of winter. Note that gas generation is lower at 9.3%nd that excludes demand reduction through domestic PV too.

A full year of our electricity use and exports, giving a total usage bill for 2025 of £386.53, or £32/month. This includes all our heating and hot water via the heatpump, cooking/washing/drying + charging our electric vehicles. How come? 6.4kW of #solarPV and 13kWhr #battery. We have no gas or oil.

. @stephengbyrne.bsky.social ....

Nailed...

Inspired by @stephengbyrne.bsky.social 's annual Dickens reading, I've read Bleak House for the first time. What a rewarding, gripping read. Anything but 'bleak'. Kept me up late a few times :-).

At this time of year you can really see the power of the Gulf Stream (part of the AMOC) and how it transfers heat from the Caribbean to the waters around the UK, which would otherwise be at least 10C colder. It's mainly powered by water cooling and sinking in the cold Arctic.... Source: windy.com

Reservoir levels in the north west UK (United Utilities area) have recovered spectacularly after the dry summer. Currently all are well above levels this time last year, and all but one are above average.

New wind power record in the UK today - 23.38GW - broke through 23GW for the first time. On the left - screenshot of the new record. On the right, pie chart showing generation by source over the last 12 months - 39.9% wind, solar and hydro.

One day the specifics of the Farage/Russia connection will be laid bare. Until then, all we have are the words that come out of his own mouth.

Oh, the white flower buds look like fairy lights, don't they?

The Edgeworthia popping in the dusk...

This is surely not the intent of the Supreme Court. I can see that in sport, and for under 18's the inclusion of transwomen brings specific challenges, but for the W.I. to reach the same conclusion, after legal advice, is extraordinary, after decades of inclusion. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Arctic sea-ice is at its lowest recorded for the 1st December, down almost 3 million square kilometers on the same day in 1982. Source: nsidc.org/sea-ice-toda...

"It's not ideal that OpenAI's success may depend on big companies using it to replace human workers at huge scales. How will people pay for OpenAI if nobody has a job?" Exactly my thoughts. If AI fails, it fails. If it succeeds, it still fails...

Stuck for gift ideas for the gardener in your life? How about a kit to encourage them to save seeds, with a 'how-to' booklet? Or help them start growing with our very own annual meadow mix. Both beautifully presented in attractive, re-usable tins and created at our nursery in Cheshire. x

I'm reading with some amusement that 'Your Party' conference is riven with factions, mired in petty rows and that Sultana has swanned off in a huff. But what has really caught my attention are the party banners behind Corbyn. Dark grey on grey. Brooding, glowering, gothically gloomy.

Excellent work!!

Looking at lines on a graph, it's hard to get a sense of the scale of Arctic sea ice loss over 40 years. Try this... Same day of the year. It's about 23% lower, or 2.7 million square kilometers. That's equivalent to about 32 times the entire island of Ireland. Source: nsidc.org/sea-ice-toda...

Yesterday it was -4C and the ground was too frozen to work. Today it's +14C and I'm planting tulips in a shirt. Cheshire, U.K.

#GMB discussing @zackpolanski.bsky.social

-4C outside this morning. The house is steadily warm at 19.5C throughout and the 200L hot water tank is full of hot water. Yes, air source heat pumps work absolutely fine in sub-zero temperatures.

Note the contents of the letter from 1981. This is a contemporaneous record, in print expressing deep concern about #Farage's fascist views and racist comments. This is why he cannot deny it in this interivew he knows there is evidence.

Hilarious!!