News

Field notesFrom the southern UK chasing community

Event recaps stitched together from member reports, season commentary from the desk, and kit reviews from the field.

Event recap22 Jun 2026

Lightning over Britain: the heat breaks into storms — 22 June 2026

More than 1,800 strikes — 73% of them within 50 km of Bristol — lit up the southwest this afternoon as the heatwave fired its first big thunderstorms. We were out chasing, and we'll grow this post as the pattern builds toward midweek's red‑warning peak.

CSU-ONE · 22 Jun 2026

Event recap10 Jun 2026

The deep June low: coastal gales and a soaked Saturday open the month

A deep Atlantic low parked itself next to the UK on Saturday 6 June — 50 mph gusts on the north Cornwall and Devon coasts, widespread heavy rain, and a June day that chased like autumn.

CSU-ONE · 06 Jun 2026

Event recap22 May 2026

Britain's first megafire: how the Dava blaze rewrote the rulebook on UK wildfire risk

11,827 hectares, four days, 85% peat combustion. The 2025 Dava fire has been formally classified as the UK's first-ever megafire — and new research in Nature Geoscience suggests what burned won't recover for centuries.

CSU-ONE · Scotland · 28 Jun 2025

Event recap19 May 2026

Storm Chandra — major incident declared as Somerset floods for the third winter running

50mm in 24 hours, a major incident, and 1.2 million cubic metres of water per hour moving through the Somerset river system. January 2026's wettest storm since records began.

CSU-ONE · South West England · 27 Jan 2026

Event recap18 May 2026

May 2026 Season Opener: Bank Holiday Convection and Mid-Month Thunderstorms

Steep lapse rates, scattered hail, and the season's first real setups across England and Wales.

CSU-ONE · England and Wales · 15 May 2026

Event recap11 May 2026

Aurora watch — 15–16 May 2026

CME glancing blow forecast for Friday night into Saturday morning. G1 storm conditions possible; Scotland is the watch zone.

CSU-ONE

Event recap28 Apr 2026

Cromer hail — 19 June 2026

Discrete supercell on the north Norfolk coast dropping 25 mm hail. Marginal CAPE, the right shear, and a cell with attitude.

CSU-ONE · east_anglia · 19 Jun 2026