The annoying thing is well probably get our proper cold arrive in Spring 

.....just when we start to get the spring bedding plants in 

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LOL at the quoted bit. You don't live here, do you?

Being a coastal village didn't cause any problems until 1998 (onwards) - before that it was the opposite, we had far more snow here than most parts of southern England. That was because we really do benefit from easterlies... the last midwinter one of which was 1997.

I'll say it again. The last time we in Leysdown had any of the following was January 1997. Before then we had one or more in the following years: 1996, 1995, 1993, 1991, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1979, 1970... you get the idea.

• Powder snow (as opposed to the slushy, sopping wet easy-to-melt stuff we've had since then)


• A high of -1C or lower


• Icicles


• Sublimation (as opposed to melting) of snow

While I appreciate that inland the increase in temperatures hasn't made much difference to snow chances, here by the coast it's made one hell of a difference.

 

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Darren is 100% correct. Even up on the Downs, its been close to marginal more often than not. DPs have been too high, we get mild sectors entrained and the flow has often been NE rather than E. Even Jan 1997 was a tad underwhelming.

Feb 1991 was the last really decent easterly and Jan 1987 remains the standout snow event of my lifetime with a daytime max of -8C recorded on the 12th (I think) in parts of Kent.

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Think it's safe to write-off December for any proper wintry weather.

Turning out to be a [so far] rubbish winter - especially so after the pre-winter hype and promise

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Looks like we're going to keep the usual UK dross, can't see any sign of a nailed on change.

The 1981/82 winter was pretty bad, i remember my sister had a burst water pipe, and being as the temperatures went below -15C the carpet downstairs was crunching under our feet, the snow then was very powdery as this event came from the east/northeast, that was one of the coldest events i remember, as some temps went down to -26C in Shropshire which was only about 15 miles away.

I haven't seen low level powdery snow - or anything close to a snowdrift - since I moved from Suffolk in 1995

Just saying

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Don't worry.  We'll never, ever, fall for the hype again.....

 

 

 

 

....  Until next year 

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Christmas period now almost certainly a dire unseasonable write-off for the fifth year out of six which will assure this month’s place amongst the all time worst, as well as setting a new record set for mildest pair of consecutive December’s. Late December should be the coldest period the year. It is ridiculous that it is now six years since there has been any snow at this time and beyond incredulous that, apart from 2014, there has barely been a frost either.

Yet another dark, grey sunless day today, to add to the pile, with the added misery of a nasty cold wind. The grimmest day yet. A fortnight since the sole frost of this ghastly write-off month and eight consecutive days with rain. Completely useless, worthless weather and beyond depressing. Just what is there to enjoy about these endlessly damp, grey and miserable conditions?

I said I wouldn’t be surprised if no winter month matches November’s frost duration but I could never have imagined that this month would be so bad as to be a virtual repeat of December 2015. Now I’m wondering if the entire winter will be able to match November’s frost duration. Nothing but windy and/or cloudy frost-free crud in the outlook. It looks so bad that we could even beat last year’s repellent spell of 27 consecutive frost-free nights from 14th Dec to 8th Jan.

Just unbelievable the depths to which our weather as sunk. All the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel are well and truly gone now leaving us reduced to drawing from the stew, dust and grime of the rat infested foundations beneath the cellar

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A sunny day today - and I'm liking the look of the high pressure-dominated outlook. After Sunday, no more low pressure. 

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Brilliant!  And I totally agree with you Richard.

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I'm patiently waiting for the Spring predictions/forecast thread to open.

I bet well see plenty of these 

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And you just know that summer will herald persistent HLB

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Solstice been and passed! Roll on spring! I've been working nights over the last few weeks and I've barely seen any daylight in weeks. To go to sleep right as it's getting light and then to wake up as it's going dark again is thoroughly depressing. I actually feel like a vampire at the moment.

At least now we're starting the road back to better times.

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Why have we still got a winter moaning thread when winter ended nearly 3 weeks ago?   

No-one surely expects any more decent frosts now, do they? 

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Fixed that for you 

PS - Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition either? 

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A short, sharp thunderstorm rolled through last night so at least something to be had this December.

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After looking at the Christmas Day forecast I need good recipes for BBQ Turkey 

We might have to rethink how we design Christmas Cards in this country if this theme continues 

 

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Potentially record breaking temperatures and a White Christmas - now that would be interesting! (Although probably not in the same location)

You've got to love the British weather!

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When SSTs and Sea Ice are at record highs and lows respectively, to expect anything else would be wishful thinking.  The facts on how warm it is in the Arctic (our usual source of cold) this year are plain and accessible.  We will be relying on a looping jet stream to fall favourably for us.  Thus far we are in the wrong part of any loops that have occurred (the southern warmer bit).  The unanswered question, is that when eventually (in my book, mid -late Feb) we are sat on the northern side of a loop for a significant run of time, will there be sufficient cold to deliver the craved snow except on hills?

For more detail on my thinking see my LRF in the predictions thread, issued 21/12

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A good read WI but I hope it's way off the mark as it sounds crap  Once Spring starts I want Mild Sunny Days 

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On the wireless they keep playing "In the Bleak Midwinter". How inappropriate! The temperature right now is pushing +10C and the sun is blazing down. That's before the blowtorch set-up we're expecting at Xmas. What a laugh. 

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Jonsey, you are a card! That forecast would be the snowiest for four years locally! Clearly even that is not good enough

It may just turn out to be nearer the mark than a typical forecast  of bitter cold, which ends up being a real pile of faeces, that has been front-loaded.

WI

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Actually I should have added a zero to the scale, which is probably better called the 'M' scale, for moaning.

M 0 would be a harsh frost- maybe -7C in the south and as low as -15 over Scotland, just before a 50cm snow dump over most of England due to an intense low sucking in moisture from the med, positioned over France beneath a huge high pressure belt stretching from Central Norway to Southern Greenland, central pressure 1065mb, with a brisk easterly over the UK, fetch from the Volga,  and a multiple warm and occluded front set-up at around 50N running zonally, projected to be near-stationary for at east 3 days. The reason this beats M1 is that the expectation is - well, stimulating shall we say, as is fitting for Advent: the 'Coming' or 'Expected'.

 

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Both 2014 & 2015 were very mild here over Christmas. Last year it was almost 15C on boxing day and we had several days in December where lows barely got below 10C. This year it's slightly cooler but still very mild. We had the one cold snap that brought frosts across the whole country a couple of weeks ago, but since then it has been nice and mild. Not a popular opinion on this thread by the looks of it but I do like a mild winter. Sadly January, February and March (and in some cases April and May) have felt much more wintery than December in recent years. If we can get through until the end of January with no more frosts I'll be delighted.