TORRENTIAL rain, thunder and lightning, hail it might seem like the topsy turvy weather of this year has taken another twist, but Bournemouth- based weather forecaster Richard Wild has seen it all before.

"We do have hail and lightning in November. There was a warm pulse of air coming up from the south-west. I've seen thunderstorms in January, so there's nothing out of the ordinary," he said.

Dr Wild, of WeatherNet, said even yesterday's snow over the Pennines could have been anticipated. "It generally snows there in November one out of four years," he said.

As for the outlook, he says there will be more showers today, with the possibility of thunder, but the weather could be turning drier and cooler towards the end of the week, with more chance of sunshine.

Torrential rain and strong winds in Dorset wrecked most people's plans on Sunday but sudden hail storms proved even more of a shock yesterday morning.

Traffic ground to a halt in many places as flash floods made many roads impossible to negotiate.

Met Office spokesman John Hammond agreed that the apparently freakish weather was entirely normal for the region at this time of year, but had seemed more dramatic because of the contrast with the recent settled spell of autumn sunshine.

He said the heavy showers would continue until the end of the week, with up to 15mm of rain on Dorset roads.

As for the long term forecast, the Met Office is predicting this winter will be less mild than the last one, but will also be drier.

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