Warnings were issued yesterday as freak weather tragically struck a small area of north Dorset. At about 1:30 GMT heavy clouds temporarily separated allowing a shaft of summer sunshine to scorch an area the size of at least half a tennis court, sending local temperatures souring to upwards of 16C.
Albert Wheelwright, 94, a retired sheep catcher from Lower Duncombe was believed to be in his cottage at the time of the heat wave. He was later found dead. Although a post mortem examination is expected to show death by natural causes, the effect of the sudden heat wave cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor.
A spokesman for the Met Office based at nearby RNAS Yeovilton, warned of the dangers of sudden sun bursts. “These flashes of summer sun are virtually impossible to predict,” he explained, “short of looking out of the window and seeing what the clouds are doing, there is no way of knowing where they will strike next.”
Schools throughout the area have been issued an extra directive, warning against complacency. The memo reminds teachers that, although wet, overcast and chilly, it is too easy to allow children to venture outside without factor 50+, a hat or a full hijab.
The killer flare was witnessed by up to three people on the fateful day, including teaching assistant, Lucy Bream, who was having a rest break when it happened. “It were ironic really” she quivered, still clearly shocked by the experience. “I’d spent the morning dozing through a health and safety briefing about protecting the children from the sun during playtime, and then this happens. I were leaning against the lavvy block having a fag when, flash! There it were, like a sign from the heavens in that old painting, like, with the clouds parting and that. Thank God the pasty little bastards was all inside.”
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Southern England rocked by unpredicted sunshine
(8 posts) (5 voices)
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beau-jolly
offlineMemberPosted 1 year ago # -
beau-jolly
offlineMemberOK I'll change the pigging headline if that helps. Thankyou whoever dropped off a few stars. A hello would have been nice. Just eaten a whole packet of jam teacakes and feel sick now -hence grump.
Posted 1 year ago # -
waylandsmithy
offlineMemberI like it, but isn't Dorset famously sunny? Would work better with Wales, or Manchester maybe?
We've all got rickets up here.
Posted 1 year ago # -
writinginbsl
offlineMemberHello (was that nice?)
I can confirm that Yobville / Yo!Ville was also sunny for a few minutes.(Somerset)
I was spoiling a y6s breaktime (when the sunny breakthrough happened) as I insisted he got out of the loaded up skip in the playground that he was rummaging through.
5*Posted 1 year ago # -
beau-jolly
offlineMemberTrue Smithy, it should be sunny but it bloody isn't, nor was it last summer. The past 2 weeks have been really shit as writingbsl can confirm. No-one would believe a story about sunshine in Madchester.
Also: I'm sure I read somewhere that schools were worrying about letting kids outside at all in case they got skin cancer later in life. It never hurt me when I was a kid - apart from the carcinoma I had removed last month.Posted 1 year ago # -
SpankyMonkey
offlineMemberWinge if you want, but I'm sitting in a tent in the supposedly hot South of France and it's raining and 12 degrees. Forecasted to continue for the next three days. Dorset, in the other hand, looks sunny and 16 degrees. And I travelled for 16 hours in the car with a wife and many children for the privilege.
Posted 1 year ago #
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