Just had Thunder Snow with superb fork lighting over Nunthorpe Middlesbrough! One very happy weather geek!

Sorry, I don't follow what you mean by a good symptom?

Yes, if you like wintry weather. The higher the index, the more wintrier that winter was.

For instance last winter was just 7. I have never know a winter as so lacking in wintry weather than last winter. It was an absolute shocker. 

Same here, Kevin. I can hardly recall another winter which saw so little by way of even any frost, let alone snow.

Last 7 winters

2008-09: 105

2009-10: 197

2010-11: 119

2011-12: 47

2012-13: 102

2013-14: 7

2014-15: 63 (up to 30th January)

An average of 91. Compare to the previous 7 winters prior to this grouping: 44

Winters of recent times have been more wintrier than those of late 80s to mid 2000s despite have in effect a non winter in 2013-14.

Manchester Winter Index

1978-79: 262
2009-10: 197
1985-86: 159
1981-82: 149
1976-77: 141
1984-85: 140
1995-96: 135
1990-91: 126
2010-11: 119
2008-09: 105
2012-13: 102
1986-87: 100
1977-78: 90
1989-81: 90
1982-83: 85
1983-84: 82
1993-94: 78

2014-15: 78 (up to 10th Feb)

2000-01: 77

1996-97: 72
1979-80: 66
2005-06: 59
2001-02: 50
2003-04: 50
1998-99: 47
2004-05: 47
2011-12: 47
1994-95: 45
2002-03: 44
1992-93: 43
1975-76: 41
1991-92: 40
1987-88: 37
2007-08: 37
1973-74: 30
1974-75: 26
1989-90: 26
1997-98: 25
2006-07: 21
1988-89: 20
2013-14: 7 

Not exactly on topic, but a spring discussion thread rarely fares well on TWO so I'll stick this here:

That's a pretty strong signal emerging for March from the CFS model. It translates to surface highs more toward Central/Eastern Europe with surface lows running close to the NW of the UK.

Potentially chilly at times if an easterly flow has any influence early in the month, otherwise a good chance of increasingly above average temperatures in a SW flow with variable surface conditions in the UK, driest in the SE.

Usual caveats apply - only one model, LRFs are often a bit hopeless, etc.

Looking on an broader time scale, here's the Met Office ensemble mean outlook for SLP across spring 2015 as a whole:

Another strong signal,  this time for the Azores High to be strong and often displaced or ridging across the UK.

By contrast, the January update had a fairly strong negative pressure anomaly centered over Scotland. Though this was for Feb-Apr rather than Mar-May, it still suggests a fairly big shift in the model's ideas for a fairly large part of spring.

As usual, a similar setup then persists with only slight changes when looking at the Apr-Jun and May-Jul maps. Overall, that would be a very dry outcome for the SW in particular, but then this model suite does seem to have a habit of sticking with the same idea for months on end.

I do wish we could freely see mean charts for the upcoming month in isolation, but I guess they feel that would take some value away from the pay-to-access products that offer such focus.

Background conditions for these winters

1974-75

Low sunspot number, East QBO, weak La Niña, a November Canadian warming, January monthly mean temp. at 90N at 30hpa: -65C

1978-79

High sunspot number, West QBO, neutral ENSO, cold November mean 30hpa, temp., a December Canadian warming, January monthly mean temp. at 90N at 30hpa: -75C

Yet 1974-75 is one of the mildest winters on record and 1978-79 was a severe winter.

Manchester Winter Index
1978-79: 262
2009-10: 197
1985-86: 159
1981-82: 149
1976-77: 141
1984-85: 140
1995-96: 135
1990-91: 126
2010-11: 119
2008-09: 105
2012-13: 102
1986-87: 100
1977-78: 90
1980-81: 90
1982-83: 85
1983-84: 82
2014-15: 82
1993-94: 78
2000-01: 77
1996-97: 72
1979-80: 66
2005-06: 59
2001-02: 50
2003-04: 50
1998-99: 47
2004-05: 47
2011-12: 47
1994-95: 45
2002-03: 44
1992-93: 43
1975-76: 41
1991-92: 40
1987-88: 37
2007-08: 37
1973-74: 30
1974-75: 26
1989-90: 26
1997-98: 25
2006-07: 21
1988-89: 20
2013-14: 7

There is an issue with what I call 'cold without reward' in which conditions are notably cold but not quite enough for decent snow to fall and accumulate.

This winter had a fair bit of that, though on some occasions hard frosts were of some interest and kept the mood higher than it could have been.

February, though, barely managed more than a few slight frosts beyond that promising start with a morning of lying snow. That one event saved it from being the least interesting month I've ever known.

At least there was plenty of sunshine, in fact it's been two record-breaking winters of sunshine down here, with this year beating last by just 0.9 hours.

Have issued a verification for the Winter 2014/15 forecast which you can see here;

http://www.gavsweathervids.com/verification-winter-14-15.php

This brings the curtain down on Winter 14/15.

Shocked this winter was so high, certainly my perception of the 2000/01 winter was that it was much better - although one of the 2 good snow events took place in March, so strictly speaking not winter.

Anyway, this winter was consistently *cool* and only actually cold for one brief spell. We had - I think - 3 occasions of lying snow, with the unexpected 2-3cm on Boxing Day the best. But on each occasion the snow was far too shortlived; on BD for instance it turned to rain toward the end of the period of PPN and halved the depth into a slush-fest

A really frustrating winter to experience.

I think this winter more than any recent winter has been dependent on location. I think that was due to the marginality and the polar maritime airmases that occurred more often than recent winters. Snow covered the field behind me in total for 7 days. Patches of snow lasted in the back garden in total for nearly a fortnight.

I don't recall  March 2001 delivering a snow event here. I remember the snow coming from that frontal system pushing up from the south but it never stuck at least here.

Met Office charts and stats for this winter

The E and NE of England saw rainfall 21% below average and sunshine 46% above average compared to the 1981-2010 mean.

W and N Scotland saw rainfall about one-third above normal

Northern Ireland was the only region that saw mean temperatures below normal. Everywhere else was just above average.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2015/winter

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2015/winter/regional-values

And the shady part of my back garden had snow lying for around 7 days. Where my dad cleared his drive, the snow-pile stuck around for about a fortnight (it became a running joke)

It just seemed the wrong side of marginal, as you say, for anything interesting to be sustained. I remember the Dec 09 (and indeed the Xmas 04) snowfall being from PM air - characterised here by a mixing in of snow pellets. This time, even though the local atmospheric parameters seemed very similar, what fell from the sky was too often rain/sleet instead of snow.

We got around 5cmcm. I remember going to Haigh Hall near Wigan that day and they had about 15cm. Our snow cover didn't last much beyond the next day. But, given the great snowfall on the preceding 29th Dec, and the snow-drought that had come in the winters before, it was a winter that stuck in the mind.

I've realised that, in many set-ups, there's no prescriptive methodology when it comes to forecasting snow in particular locales. Yes, the odds are that Buxton and other high-altitude places will get snow anyway.

But we've had snow here in St Helens when other neighbouring areas have had none.

Until 2013, I never had much hope for snow from an easterly, yet we had 2 or 3 events in Jan/Mar where further east toward Manchester there was little/no snow, yet here further west we got a few decent dumpings.

Similarly, we've benefitted from a NW'ly off the Irish Sea (track is around 20 miles to the sea from here looking NW'wards) with heavier/more sustained snow at times than further inland, yet other times we've had sleet/wet snow/even rain when further inland has had snow.

I've learnt to not expect anything (but sulk if we don't get snow and others do )