As we approach the end of the least blocked December I can recall, and here I am referring back to the late 1950s I feel it worth making a few points about current events. At the time of the outrageous press predictions (sourced from elsewhere maybe... but the press is responsible for its sourcing), the major models were already showing a strong signal that December would pan out in the way it has.
Moving forward, much has also been made on the weather forums about how some severe spells did not kick off until later in January. (1947, 1991 to the fore). There have been many Januarys that have produced major cold shots even across Southern Britain after an earlier milder spell. However from memory and looking at the archives in the last 60 years, cold spells in January are always preceded at some point in December by some colder weather over the UK and/or an element of HLB at least somewhere in the area from Greenland to Northern Europe even if a milder less blocked spell intervenes through into the New Year. I stand to be challenged on this and I do appreciate that my argument (as any challenge) can only be subjective. I know this does not look good for cold lovers and one crumb of comfort was that 2011-12 came close to being an exception with the freeze over Europe. Summing up, the chances of cold even up to the end of January were beginning to look rather slim at the point the Express produced the first of those headlines.