WX charts show the area below freezing (as shown by 0C isotherm) breaking up in week 1 and retreting to the NE of a line from S Norway to N Ukraine in week 2. For all that, Britain remains cold for the time of year, with any advance of milder weather just about getting to N France (confirmed by temp chart shown on BBC last night). Dry in France and Germany in week 1 with pptn on all sides of that; in week 2 heavier from Atlantic through France and Spain and across the Med to the Balkans, with a tongue from the N Sea to the Baltic. Britain on the edge of this activity.
GFS Op - current cloudy E-lies replaced by N-lies, which should at least allow some sunshine even if colder, by Thu 8th under control of LP 1000mb S Norway. This sticks around, though without any connection to really cold air either to N or E until Mon 12th when no less than 3 LPs are close to but not directly affecting Britain; 990mb SW Iceland, 965 mb Azores (maybe not technically a hurricane, though if you were in a cruise ship in the middle of it, you could be forgiven for thinking so), and 995mb Adriatic. The two Atlantic disturbances join forces 990mb SW Ireland Thu 15th reviving the NE-lies for Britain and this time linking back to the Arctic. This moves off SE-wards and pressure rises over Britain with a promising large area of HP 1040 mb Severn Estuary Tue 20th. With areas of LP all moving around, I feel this outlook is unstable and subject to change.
ECM is simpler and only has one LP developed on Mon 12th, SW of Ireland, 955 mb (?isobars too close to count!) which fills as it moves to UK Wed 14th where it interacts with the LP over Scandinavia (which never goes away in this model) producing a rather indeterminate mix of temps, cold for the N and milder for the S maybe. Another deep LP has formed in mid-Atlantic at this time, as it does on GFS, but the ECM charts don't go forward far enough to indicate whether this is fended of by the rise of pressure.
GEFS - virtually all the ens members agree on a cold or very cold spell to Tue 13th, lowest 7 or 8C below norm around Fri 9th, after which the mean temp rises to or a little below seasonal norm by Fri 16th and stays there. There is a difference between N and S, the N having ens members broadly agreeing but in the S the mean is an average of widely contrasting runs. Pptn starting around Fri 9th, snow row figures from 20s in the N to single figures in the S at this date, but declining thereafter but not to zero. Heaviest pptn in the SW around Fri 16th.
Sorry this has gone on a bit, but blame the uncertainties in the charts!
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell
Chichester 12m asl