I'm guessing you weren't online in the late 90s, early 2000s, when a whopping great high ended up over the Alps seemingly every winter. The Bartlett high, it was nicknamed (by those on weather forums/newsgroups), and there was a chap on here in the early days who kept going on about the pressure in Berne. Fun times!
It makes a change to see such a settled outlook, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it - makes a change from the usual zonality this time of year. I'm trying not to remind myself though of the old maxim, "be it dry or be it wet, nature always pays her debt". Instead, I'm hoping that the trend we've seen in recent years for patterns to repeat every 6 to 8 weeks kicks in - a long settled spell in winter is well overdue.
Incidentally this high isn't a cold one - yet. The moist Atlantic air is definitely making itself felt, and the dewpoint (14C here) is impressively high for this time of year. The MetO raw does, however, show a characteristic gradual drop in temperatures over the next week, a high of 17 today versus 11 in a week's time, reflecting the fact that the sun is now too weak to warm things up, and instead under stagnant conditions things just get colder and colder. There's a hell of a long way to go though compared to the old days: in the 80s and 90s it wasn't at all unusual to get an air frost for bonfire night, something which seldom happens these days.
It'll be interesting to see how long this can persist and whether, with time, we can pull some drier air in from the continent - that would be the catalyst for clear skies and frosts, but at the moment it looks unlikely.
Originally Posted by: Retron