Susanna Reid.... Phwoarrr!!!

Ah, a fellow infophile (an unnatural attraction to newsreaders)

Re: The Express. Yea, whatever.

From the other place - apparently Joe B tweeting about SSW starting in Asia - blocking could be on its way.

Well I'm not seeing much in the model data on this:
Strat temp forecast

Me too, not much to cling to there either

UK Outlook for Tuesday 24 Dec 2013 to Tuesday 7 Jan 2014:

Remaining rather unsettled, especially towards the north and northwest of the UK, with the best of any drier and brighter conditions towards the south and southeast. Temperatures probably staying around normal across the UK generally, although there could be some colder nights in the south and east of the UK with a risk of frost and fog in places.

Issued at: 1600 on Mon 9 Dec 2013

Not much hope even into the New year

Joe B always thinks blocking is on the way. 

Someone raised this last night - the GFS model is showing very modest warming over NE Asia but it's not going to have any positive impact (in terms of blocking and cold) on our side of the Pole, if anywhere at all.   The sort of warming being forecast seems to happen quite regularly.

Joe B isn't as bad as the Daily Express but he is fond of excessive hype and colourful turns of phrase when he thinks he sees cold weather coming.  Based on the last couple of winters he doesn't have a much better accuracy rate than that newspaper....

The animation thingy on his tweet is for what has been - not a lot - hope he's not basing it on that as there is nothing much in the forecast as you say.

Alex Deakin was on BBC Radio 2 this morning talking about the prospects for Christmas.  He sounded very confident that Christmas would be mild...  Not surprising given the model output at the moment.  Does anyone else remember 2004 when I think Helen Young confidently declared on the Countryfile week ahead forecast about a week before that there would be no white Christmas anywhere in the UK and the NE did end up with snow?!

Yes, it was on a Countryfile Sunday forecast on the 19th I think. GFS has been very bullish about colder weather, but the Euros I seem to recall being very reluctant on the idea. The Euros flipped toward the GFS early the next week. The reason it sticks in the mind was it being one of the few notable "chalk one up to GFS" moments.

Rain?   What's that?  

'Wintry' What's that?

Itl be interesting to see what excuses the people predicting 100ft snow drifts and -30C temps come up with. 

I assume you mean The Express?
They won't even think about explaining why their forecast(s) when so horribly and predictably wrong.  Why should they? Melodrama, shock, exaggeration and lies sell newspapers not reasoned debate and retractions.

No I mean some of their sources, which I won't mention for fear of libel. 

Rather depressingly, that's 100% accurate.

A sound defence against the accusation of libel is "fair comment"

Go for it!

One of the positives if this mild weather continues is that the Daily Excess and it's scaremongering will have been put out to pasture - until the story in March about impending drought 100C (sic) heatwaves and impending firey death for us all in July.

Hello,

Yesterday I so one of the newpapers had a headline saying 180 miles gales for xmas. This is just complete rubbish. Is there anyway of complaining about this stuff as well as the daily express's coldest winter for 300 years. I like cold winters however i am so pleased it is mild and makes those newspapers look so stupid. Do they care , i think not.

Couldn't weatheroutlook complain to these papers.

Matthew Hugo @MattHugo81

A highly positive NAO & AO can only mean one thing...A sustained period of relatively mild, wet & very windy weather

I would outside TWO, but I don't want to get Brian into trouble 🙂 .