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Just looked up the long range forecast on Metcheck - says Tue 20th and wed 21st the night temps will dip to 1C and feel like -1c in the wind!!!
I live in sunny South of England near Horsham

Was intending to put out the toms at the weekend, that's on hold now but what about my poor sweetcorn?????  I have a large patch 8x12 plants so there is no way of covering them up - any ideas????
Ta
Sue

Can you get hold of some fleece (it can be quite cheap in some places) and drape it over the tops of your tender plants?
It might just keep the temperature a couple of degrees above the surrounding air.
I'm certainly going to do that as I have all my courgettes/pumpkins/squashs out already.

Suzie, thanks for the heads up!
Fleece going over mine, and holding back the ones I haven't had time to put in yet. I am just down the road to you in sunny Crowborough! ;D

Have been known to whip out the odd net curtain.

Thanks for the warning Suzie, it's worth keeping an eye on but I'm not going to buy more fleece until Monday! - we have a very variable weather system at the moment which means that it's impossible to forecast for more than a couple of days... Metcheck is nearly always a bit pessimistic for longer forecasts, I find...

Think I will cover on Monday if they are still saying frost - BBC can't seem to predict more that a few hours at a time without some hiccup - something to watch though as I thought we were 'out of the woods' as far as frost was concerned.....

it is the full moon on Tuesday 20th and that is why the temp could well fall at night  :(

I bought some fleece the day before yesterday just in case, and just in case  the garden centres run out of fleece

Quote from: calendula on May 15, 2008, 13:51:48
it is the full moon on Tuesday 20th and that is why the temp could well fall at night  :(

huh ???

Quote from: calendula on May 15, 2008, 13:51:48
it is the full moon on Tuesday 20th and that is why the temp could well fall at night  :(

Science would disagree.

During a full moon Earth's average global temperature is 0.02 K warmer than during a new moon. Robert Balling and Randall Cerveny at Arizona State were able to correlate daily measurements of global temperature for the period 1979 to 1994 with the 29.53-day lunar cycle. The scientists assert that their results underscore both the accuracy of daily global temperature readings and the notion that the lunar phase needs to be considered in studies of short-term temperature variability on Earth.

for every bit of research that says there isn't there is some to say there is  :) - coincidence then that the met people pull out the 20th for the dip in temperatures - in this country I follow the full moon through all the colder months for being fore warned about a frost at full moon when the sky is clearer, no clouds to bring protection etc and very rarely is it wrong but each to their own

I'd honestly never heard of this before, calendula - I have to admit I don't see how there could be a link but am always happy to test a theory... please can you point me towards some impartial evidence that supports a link?

well there is my own research which is extensive but is not in publishable form yet unfortunately, maybe next year - it all depends where you live as well because the same full moon doesn't mean the same to everyone in different locations so my own research only rests on British circumstances but I'll see what I can find for you

but it isn't just full moons, the weather patterns often change with each phase of the moon - probably rains for all as this moon begins to wane

How about during neap tides more water is exposed to that .02 K rise in temp therefore there is increased evaporation which will have an increased cooling effect during the night. This process will have the greatest effect on islands and coastal areas with estuaries.

Or the more obvious explanation: moonlight is cold so the more we get of it the colder the night is.

I'll be leaving now......

more to the point the first test match has started so it is bound to be freezing  ;D