For the UK for 1st-31st December 2014 and going by the official Met Office station reports what/when will be:

- The first ice day (maximum temperature 0*C or below)              - The total number of nights hitting 0*C or below somewhere in the UK

- The first day falling snow is reported from at least one of the following locations:
  London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Exeter or Southampton.

- The highest UK temperature?              - The lowest UK temperature?

- The rainfall as a percentage of the long term average?              - The sunshine as a percentage of the LTA?

Christmas bonus: will it be a White Christmas?

You can choose to sit on the fence (no points to gain or lose), or take a punt, chancing a total score reduction of 3 points if you get it right or addition of 3 points if you get it wrong!

Here's to an at least seasonal December with a cracking festive season for all  

For those wondering about the description I've given, I anticipate having a lot more on my plate in 2015 outside of TWO, so I'm afraid I can't see myself continuing this prediction game without a lot of delays and forgotten months. It's been great these past two years though 

Taking the plunge ...

First Ice Day    18th.         Number of nights 0*c  or Below    8 nights.

First day of Falling Snow     12th. For Newcastle ....

The Highest UK Temperature   12.0c.        The Lowest   UK Temperature  - 4.5c.

Rainfall LTA   92%.     Sunshine  LTA   84%.

White Christmas    YES...

Bump. ....

• The first ice day (maximum temperature 0*C or below)     10th


• The total number of nights hitting 0*C or below somewhere in the UK  15


• The first day falling snow is reported from at least one of the following locations:
    London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Exeter or Southampton.   12th


• The highest UK temperature?   12c


• The lowest UK temperature?  - 8


• The rainfall as a percentage of the long term average?      95%


• The sunshine as a percentage of the LTA?  95%

 Christmas bonus: will it be a White Christmas?  Yes, somewhere in the UK.

SC - I've thoroughly enjoyed the past couple of years, or is it 3 years we've been running this competition?  Anyway I do hope you continue with it but I fully understand you have other commitments that might take priority over your time. 

First Ice Day    15th.         Number of nights 0*c  or Below    11 nights.

First day of Falling Snow     14th. For Newcastle ....

The Highest UK Temperature   11.2c.        The Lowest   UK Temperature  - 8.5c.

Rainfall LTA   85%.     Sunshine  LTA   90%.

White Christmas    NO...

- The first ice day (maximum temperature 0*C or below)   Nil    - The total number of nights hitting 0*C or below somewhere in the UK- 5

- The first day falling snow is reported from at least one of the following locations:
  London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Exeter or Southampton. 13th

- The highest UK temperature? 14.7c             - The lowest UK temperature? -7.5c

- The rainfall as a percentage of the long term average?  70%            - The sunshine as a percentage of the LTA? 75%

Christmas bonus: will it be a White Christmas

No White Christmas this year.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gary

• The first ice day (maximum temperature 0*C or below)     16th


• The total number of nights hitting 0*C or below somewhere in the UK  22


• The first day falling snow is reported from at least one of the following locations:
    London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Exeter or Southampton.   12th


• The highest UK temperature?   13.1


• The lowest UK temperature?  - 10.7


• The rainfall as a percentage of the long term average?      75%


• The sunshine as a percentage of the LTA?  103%

 Christmas bonus: will it be a White Christmas?  Yes

Thanks SC for keeping this going this last couple of years, when you've been so busy too. Good luck with the new opportunities which may lie ahead next year. I'm hoping to end on a high.

Here's to a very snowy Christmas Eve/Day.

The first ice day (maximum temperature 0*C or below) = 10th
The total number of nights hitting 0*C or below somewhere in the UK = 22
The first day falling snow is reported from at least one of the following locations:
London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Exeter or Southampton. = 14th - for Newcastle, possibly Norwich
The highest UK temperature? = 13 C
The lowest UK temperature? = - 9.6 C
The rainfall as a percentage of the long term average? = 100%
The sunshine as a percentage of the LTA? = 90%
Christmas bonus: will it be a White Christmas? = Yes, somewhere in the UK, but not in London.

- The first ice day (maximum temperature 0*C or below): 17th - The total number of nights hitting 0*C or below somewhere in the UK: 24

- The first day falling snow is reported from at least one of the following locations:
  London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Exeter or Southampton.

12th

- The highest UK temperature? 14.2*C             - The lowest UK temperature?  - 8.4*C

- The rainfall as a percentage of the long term average? 75%             - The sunshine as a percentage of the LTA? 105%

As for the white Christmas, I'm going to say YES and hope for the best!


Cheers as always for the entries everyone 

Just bumping up in case there are more predictions to come in!!

Recon the snow date needs changing to sooner than predicted....

Actually, thinking about it, it'll probably snow in Manchester on Sunday as hubby and I are driving up there.  He's taking part in the Santa Fun Run and I'll be in the Old Trafford stadium cheering him past the finishing line.  Best wrap up warm!!    

Checking the hourly reports, no snow at any of the city locations this weekend... plenty of opportunities during the coming week though!

Surely we'll see snow in one of our designated cities by the end of the week.

This morning between 5.30 and 6.00, we had thunder snow!  It was wet snow that only settled on cars and was quickly followed by sleet, then rain so it didn't last long but we had a few lightning flashes and a couple of rumbles of thunder that showed up on the lightning map.

The Met Office station reports just inland from Newcastle (Albemarle is the station name) suggest that snow fell in the area sometime between 5am and not long after 7am.

I don't suppose anybody has friends or relatives from Newcastle who might be able to confirm that...?

If not, I'll probably just go with it given that the weather situation certainly supports such conditions up there.

After a slightly bonkers 15.3*C at Hereford yesterday, there's no question that Domma was closest for the highest UK temperature, as nobody went for anything higher than her 14.7*C prediction:

So well done Domma, and the same goes for Rob, ARTzeman and Caz who like me were all closest with their predictions for the first falling snow in a city location, in fact just one day out 

There still hasn't been an ice day anywhere, and it's now later than all but one of us predicted - the exception being Domma who went for no ice days at all this month, which means I can't do preliminary results for that one yet.

What a poor month from me

Cheers SC

Cheers SC! 

Gooner, don't lose heart.  It's not over 'till the fat lady sings!  This month has already thrown up a surprise high temp, so there's hope for us all! 

We had the first ice day back on 25th December of all days, when Balmoral maxed at -2.1*C... so yeah, no question about that 

Meanwhile we're at 23 nights hitting zero or below somewhere in the UK with more on the way, so the scores for that category have also been done. It reflects how seasonal this month has managed to be despite a couple of very mild interludes in the run up to Christmas.

So where are we at... I seemed to have turned the table from November, which of course had Gooner on top of it .

By contrast Rob is continuing his steady assault on podium finishes and as usual Caz is not far away.

ARTzeman is flying high and it will be interesting to see what the rainfall and sunshine figures do to the standings.

As I've already explained, there won't be a new game for 2015 as I will have even more work coming my way one way or another. Perhaps someone else will take it up one day 

Just realised I haven't done the White Christmas category results!

Does anyone know what the bookies called it as? I know there was the chance of some snow showers for easternmost parts of the UK but I'm not aware of any reports of snow prior to Boxing Day.

If it wasn't white, it sure was a near-miss and very hard luck for the five of us who predicted one 

Thanks for the chart it looks great...