Brought to my attention this evening the weather back home.
Unseasonably fantastic walking weather on the C Blanca these past 3 weeks…due back into LBA Saturday. Pilot friend thinks we’ll be delayed or diverted, given the current wind speed forecast.
Two weeks of rain potentially with not a dry day. Utterly depressing.
Take up thy bed and walk. No thanks Jesus, I’ll stay in it.
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...Still, it's keeping the cost of my electricity down. 13.1p a unit tomorrow. Wind has that effect on the wholesale price which flows through into the tracker tariff :-)
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>> ...Still, it's keeping the cost of my electricity down. 13.1p a unit tomorrow. Wind has
>> that effect on the wholesale price which flows through into the tracker tariff :-)
How far in advance do you see the prices?
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"How far in advance do you see the prices?"
They are published about 11 am the day before. So I now know that Friday is 12.35p, so I'll holding back charging the car another day...
There are websites with longer range forecasts which are usually a good guide - they work on pretty much the same factors that determine the auction price - renewables, expected demand etc. Here's one, but some are easier/more difficult to follow depending on your understanding! emoncms.org/ukgrid
There is, of course, the Agile tariff which changes half hourly, and in the current timeframe includes quite a few slots where you get paid for using the electricity (generally but not exclusively overnight). Such fun for those of us who can automate stuff dependent on other stuff :-)
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Tomorrow's electricity price for me is 8.35p. Must still be windy where it matters!!
I read that the industry auction for tomorrow settled at -15p so those users on Agil will probably be paid for each kW they use.
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>>Must still be windy where it matters!!
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...it certainly is where it matters to me.
I'm picking number 1 son up from an East Coast Main Line train. Significant delays at the moment due to a tree down between Stevenage and Peterborough. At least his train hasn't been cancelled.......yet!
(Silly sod left his MOT to the last minute, and of course it failed. Only a suspension boot, but still a "major". Can't fix until after Xmas, so train required. Oddly enough, there were still advanced purchase tickets available, and it's costing him very close to the petrol cost for the return journey!)
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>>Oddly enough, there were still advanced purchase tickets available,
I'm going to South London tomorrow and looked into rail travel, the ticket price was £17, period return. I was going to use it, but after hearing about the travel chaos on Thursday and yesterday (due to insufficient staff turning up), decide I'll risk the M25.
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...as his train was eventually 45 minutes late, he'll be getting 50% of the fare back as a refund.
Now cheaper than the petrol cost! :-)
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>Now cheaper than the petrol cost! :-)
Return might yet be cancelled and you'll have to drive him back. ;-(
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...if so, the refund is going in my pocket.....
(I have somewhat less of an issue using the A1 on a quieter day of my choosing for the return than driving today or tomorrow to bring him here).
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>> Pilot friend thinks we’ll be delayed or diverted, given the current wind speed forecast.
>> Two weeks of rain potentially with not a dry day. Utterly depressing.
As you know I've a more or less life long interest in LBA's goings and comings. Looking at the forecast I was thinking buses from Manchester or EMA would be the verdict for a lot of Xmas travellers.
I'd imagine the recent runway excursion by the TUI 737 will lead to Captains being more wary than before.
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It's already blowing mightily in NW England/NE Wales.
Daughter says the Flint bridge is closed due winds with traffic diverted through Shotton where they're dodging bins and Lord knows what else blowing around. Took her 25 mins instead of the usual ten to get home after dropping the Grandson for his last nursery session of the year.
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...watching Manchester Airport on Flightradar this morning has been interesting.
Though many landings appear to be taking place, there are/have been some very long holding patterns, and diversions to less obvious alternatives such as Heathrow and Gatwick.
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Leeds can't even get the departures away; long time since I saw that.
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...one just going as I type...
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Looks as though it's improved slightly. Departure board shows whole set of flights waiting info at 10:30.
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...well it's certainly still a bit bumpy at Manchester as you can see from the live stream:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QjPi-zt_0A
Just watched a Ryanair flight land (reasonably smoothly) but the preceding Turkish Airlines flight chickened out fairly late and is now on "go around".
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>> ...one just going as I type...
Friend of mine, fellow plane enthusiast, is currently at LBA for a morning flight to Malaga with RYR and posting on Facebook. Now delayed until late afternoon.
He says Jet2 are able to get flights away using their 300 series 737s rather than the 800s as they have a higher crosswind limit.
RYR are all 800/Max so more tightly restricted.
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...frankly, I should be doing other things, but that live stream from Manchester is addictive.
Just had another Ryanair go around following a successful, if bumpy, Emirates 380 landing.
somebody stating 17 GAs at Manchester so far.
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Birmingham seems to be Go Around city too....
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A friend is currently on a small cruise ship, due back at Tilbury yesterday after a Northern Lights cruise but currently heading in to Bremerhaven accompanied by two tugs.
www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9247728
it was hit by a big wave that damaged the bridge and affected power. They had the passengers in rescue suits and gathered at the muster stations. He'll have a good story to tell.
It has been sailing partly under its own power, steered from the engine room.
Dramatised account here from an American passenger
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12894879/American-woman-horror-MS-Maud-cruise-North-Sea-says-feared-ship-capsize-drown-400-board-describes-hunkering-buffet-tables-avoid-flying-furniture.html
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I checked the weather across northern Europe on Thursday. Northern Denmark was being battered by NNWesterlies coming straight off the North Sea at a sustained 60mph with gusts over 90mph.
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Returned on time ALC > LBA today. LS271 departed on time so assumed I’d be home on schedule. The usual strong crosswind at LBA, final few minutes some chop but the pilot must have been on his A game because wheel/tarmac interaction was incredibly smooth…only 20 seconds before touchdown, from my window seat I half expected a go around.
Grey here innit ? Three weeks of almost wall to wall sun…-3C in the mountains at 9AM yesterday when parked up, and frost still on the ground at 15:00 yesterday up high where it was permanent shade. 21C in the valley.
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That's pretty good all things considered.
LBA had a lot of delays and diversions earlier in the week. Friend bound for Malaga with RYR on Thursday was supposed to leave in the early wave but was delayed due to wind. Eventually all 3 based aircraft were sent out to other places and he had to wait until early evening in UK while a Malaga based a/c ran the route in reverse. Got to his place at 01:00 local....
He'd saved a bit by going RYR rather than EXS and being a 'Mr Ow Much' type of Yorkshireman was feeling proud. Given that the EXS flight was a wee bit late but not much, partly due to their 737-300 having better x/wind limits that RYR's 738s, and was in Malaga for afternoon tea he might need to think some more....
Yesterday most of the based operators flights got in but Wizz sent 2 down to Castledon after going around *2.
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Excellent in fact.
Had to collect my old mum from the Care Home where she stays when I’m away, so plans put in place in case of a prolonged delay did not need come into play.
re the RYR vs Jet2. The former are ok if you only have a very small piece of hand luggage..but after paying extra for a 10kg bag, and extra again to check it ( I take Black Diamond Z poles) their fare is usually more expensive than Jet2.
You can get very cheap Jet2 flights on occasion…friends recently flew out a few days early, decided to ‘lose’ their RYR and only paid £35 outbound LBA > ALC.
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Christmas weather - smokie
