It was bin day today and some had packed 'em high after the seasonal indulgence. As a result, our road is full of discarded ephemera. Earlier, when the wind was up, everything remotely aerodynamic was flying around in different directions. It was quite a sight.

Had to fish 2 plastic chairs out of the pond.

What a difference a day makes. This might be the first winter day I can actually enjoy, by getting out.

I haven't decided whether to clear the woodland bank in the garden, or drag the tribe up the Downs for a walk. But I bet it feels great afterwards. I feel like a meteorological prisoner boxed up inside, watching the world shake and soak.

Why have sunshine last day of the month and possible clear sky tonight..  It will mean Glenfiddich on the patio stargazing 

Getting a sense of deja-vu this winter, similarities to the past 2 winters with endless chasing of rainbows in FI that never come to anything, then before we know it it's Spring. Been so long since we had snow here it's becoming hard to see how it could ever happen again, it will of course, just feels that way

Yet another awful day. Grey, miserable, windy and dark by 3pm. Temperature rising and now at it's highest point all day of 4.7C. Total garbage and not at all what was forecast

January looking like having a milder first half.  I'm just glad the days are now lengthening and we start the trek towards spring and the light.

New Year same old crap  Clear skies all night but another frost failure. It is beyond a joke how something once considered routine and normal has become impossible to achieve. 19 consecutive frost free nights now. A totally dire run only matched by similarly disgusting runs of below average days in many recent summers 

No sign of the sunny day that was forecast either. Another day of mind-numbing grey muck and it's about to get a whole lot worse with an outlook that's beyond revolting. Horror show does not even begin to describe this catastrophe of a winter 

Totally agree 100%...next week looks disgustingly dire. Endless Atlantic systems....bringing winds rain and no frosts. Nicosia is colder today !  Totally relentless foul weather.

Well, at least I didn't hear the stereotypical by BBC weather presenters - "New Year, old weather!"

But after a brief drier autumnal feel to the weather yesterday it almost felt like December for the first time with temperatures plummeting to 1c above freezing for a few hours and now we are back to 10c with heavy rain! It's less mild but it's miserable outside - I was looking forward to waking up to one morning of frost. JUST ONE! - (Seeing as we can't manage any snow). But nope 2016's first day is utterly repulsive.

More rain to come tonight and another batch of heavy rain tomorrow - surprise there were not weather warnings issued. - How long can this go on for seriously?

Also - Eastern Europe and western Russia was meant to have above average temperatures - yet it's been some 3-5c below average for weeks - if not a month now:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/ru/moscow/294021/weather-forecast/294021

The average for Moscow in December/January should be around -7c. - They have had weeks of temperatures not rising above -10c.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

By weeks, do you mean hours? The max in Moscow has been above -10°C every day this month and indeed above freezing until Boxing Day.

As for weeks of below average temperatures, the opposite is very much the case http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/global_monitoring/temperature/tn27612_30.gif 

Not according to my friends who are there and in Saint Petersburg over Christmas and New Year. Got a Whatsapp it's -15c in Saint Petersburg today - Looks like getting colder next week! And so much for this:

http://travel.aol.co.uk/2015/10/13/uk-weather-longest-winter-50-years-siberian-swan-arrives-early/

So 2016 has started exactly the same way 2015 ended, only the rain is a bit colder, oh joy. 

It's been exceptionally mild in Saint Pete - and Moscow. On Christmas Day, Saint Pete had a high of 5C and a low of 3C, no snow. Moscow had a high of 5C and a low of 1C.

Just to confirm st Petersburg has been VERY MILD in December....daytime highs have been in the maIn between 35f and 45f and has been above 50f !!! It's only in the last day or so temps have dropped.

I've seen some recent temperature anomaly charts that confirm that huge areas of Europe have been well above normal going deep into Russia

Meteorologists must be the most hated people in the UK this winter, always forecasting horrible destructive weather, endless rain and gloom. Even I feel annoyed by them, even though they don't control it and simply forecast what is showing. If I was going to become a weather forecast I'd move to a country with a nicer climate personally.

Yes, very mild all over Europe. Most above average in S Britain, Benelux, Germany, Baltic and Western Russia.

If you were to become a weather forecast it would say: cloudy with a chance of LeedsLad