I think too many people are looking at the latest GFS run through their cold easterly tinted glasses - it's chilly or cold throughout with several heavy snow events and yet again a persistent signal for significant northern blocking.
Wipe the disappointment of an easterly that may or may not happen away and check the calendar - it's 19th Jan, we're in a chilly or cold pattern with the possibility of snowfall just about anywhere and a low but decent chance of getting some properly cold air in at some point over the next 2-3 weeks.
"yeah but it's always FI etc" - what the low key snowfall parts of the country have just experienced? That was FI at one point and now it's not. The chilly, sometimes cold and unsettled regime that some people were resolutely ignoring when the GFS FI flagged it has now arrived and as it showed there'll be colder and milder (but not mild) interludes with snowfall a possibility just about anywhere. Shall we look at Tuesday for next point of snowy interest? That's not FI either.
I get the temptation to get excited about -10 850s ushered in by Scandi blocking, that's pretty much jackpot territory for my tiny part of the country but until it's T96 or at a push T120 if the support is good, they're just a representation of what might happen. Given the uncertainty in the GFS ens it was very much just one possible outcome too, albeit one with decent support (and one there's still a chance might happen too I guess).
With the persistence of the cold/chilly signal throughout I'm happy with what's happening and the chance of something more significant down the line.
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