18 Golds? I'm Starting to Lose Count.

I wont bang on about Team GB today, but well done to Tim Brabants for his Gold medal in the men's K1 1000m .

But with only 3 days left until the end of the Beijing Olympics the weather is behaving itself at all the venues with clear skies and temperatures near 90 degrees. The exception to that is Hong Kong where a tropical cyclone is still close enough to produce heavy rain and strong winds.

The outlook for the final few days is similar, although the closing ceremony could be interrupted by one or two hefty showers.

Team GB - Their Greatest Olympics!

Doesn't it make you proud to be British?

ok...I'm beating the jingoism drum again...but why not! What an olympics for the british. Not since 1908 have we had such success. And 1908 was the London olympics and included events such as tug of war (all british competitors), raquets and probably tiddlywinks too.

We are currently third in the medal table (third!) and who knows whether we will remain there, and no-one cares such has been the success of our boys and girls in China.

Here follows a list of the british gold medal winners. So far.


Nicole Cooke
Cycling - road race


Rebecca Adlington
Swimming - 400m freestyle
Report Swimming - 800m freestyle

Jamie Staff/Jason Kenny/Chris Hoy
Cycling - men's team sprint

Tom James/Steve Williams/Pete Reed/Andy Hodge
Rowing - men's four

Bradley Wiggins
Cycling - men's individual pursuit

Chris Hoy
Cycling - men's keirin

Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb, Pippa Wilson
Sailing - yngling

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter
Rowing - lightweight men's double sculls

Ben Ainslie
Sailing - finn

Rebecca Romero
Cycling - women's individual pursuit

Bradley Wiggins/Paul Manning/Geraint Thomas/Ed Clancy
Cycling - men's team pursuit

Paul Goodison
Sailing - men's laser

Christine Ohuruogu
Athletics - Women's 400 metre

Chris Hoy
Cycling - Men's sprint

Victoria Pendleton
Cycling - Women's sprint


As for the weather, well there is a high chance of thunderstorms for the Thursday with the temperature around 71 degrees...but after that the skys will clear and the temperatures rise into the upper 80's to give us a glorious end to the olympics!

Rebecca Adlington Smashes World Record!

A bit of blatant jingoism today! Well done to Rebecca Adlington for winning her 2nd olympic gold medal in the 800m freestyle, and also for smashing the world record by over 2 seconds!
This is a big deal to us Brits as we don't have a great record in the pool. Until Rebecca won her first gold on Monday we hadn't had a woman win a gold medal in the Olympic swimming events since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960.

As for the weather, ah well...same old same old! It's a bit cooler in the lower 80's, it's dry and clear, but no one really cares because Britain won another Gold in the pool!

Well done Rebecca!

Olympic Weather 14th August 2008

Those thunderstorms certainly arrived. Rain, wind, thunder and lightning blasted through beijing and Shuny. This curtailed all racing on the lake as the weather went from hot, clear and sunny to a torrential electrical storm in a matter of minutes. That's storms for you, they just roll in sometimes with little warning.

And the forecast reamins as is for the next few days. Warm but not too hot (temperatures in the mid 80's), cloudy and humid, and always the chance of another thunderstorm. Let's hope that Friday remains dry so they can catch up at the lake.

Olympic Weather 13th August

The heat and humidity is starting to build again across north east China. Temperatures at the national stadium in Beijing are expected to hit 88 degrees, but with it remaining cloudy the athletes will really feel the humidity.
The greatest heat is to the south, and in Hong Kong at the Olympic Equestrian Venue temperatures are more likely to peak in the low 90's.
There is, once again, a thunderstorm warning in place for Beijing, and as we have seen, when one of these storms comes through it can be very intense.

One thing I haven't mentioned for those of you who may be at the games, the UV index is very high at this time of year, so be careful and avoid the midday sun (Unless you are either English or a mad dog of course)

Olympic Weather 12th August

Well it certainly turned out a lot wetter than I expected yesterday! Heavy and prolonged showers produced something of a deluge in Beijing.

This pattern will continue today with a small chance of thunderstorms and showers, temperatures peaking at around 88 degrees. Gentle winds continue to blow across from the Yellow Sea keeping the humidity pretty high.

The long range forecast for Beijing is very similar, mostly dry and warm, but not too hot.

Bye the way, it's raining in Macclesfield again today. hey ho!

Beijing Olympic Weather 11th August 2008

First of all I would like to say congratulations to Rebecca Adlington and Jo Jackson for their gold and bronze medals in the women's 400M freestyle. It was a fantastic race and the first women's gold medal in the pool for Britain in 48 years. Looks like that lottery funding is paying off.

The weather over in Beijing continues to be pretty good, with temperatures topping out at around 80 degrees with the humidity dropping from the stifling conditions of the first few days. There is still a chance of a shower or thunderstorm, but this chance starts to diminish as the week progresses. Incidentally these conditions are pretty much what they should be for this time of year in Beijing. The air quality is still a little poor with the air remaining hazy. There is certainly no severe weather in the forecast for the next few days unless a rogue thunderstorm wanders through.

For those of you who may be interested, Britain is in for a cool and wet week...just how I like it!