December 1988 was a very mild month with a CET of 7.5. Pressure was high to the south and this allowed a westerly and southwesterly flow to dominate. Frosts were very few and most areas were snow free. The month however began with an easterly flow over the UK and a high over Scandinavia. The flow was cold but not severe and any snow that fell was confined to the hills in the north. By the 3rd, the high had slipped eastwards and Atlantic systems moved in from the west. By the 6th, high pressure was increasing to the west of the UK and it was generally sunny up to the 9th as a warm front moved around the high and across the UK. This pattern repeated itself a few times over that December, with high pressure to the south and fronts rolling over the high and across the UK. Cold air did come across the north of Scotland on the 23rd but by the next day, a warm front moved up from the SW and reintroduced the milder air. The high was over central Europe and became a Bartlett high. The effect of this was to bring up even milder SWlies across the UK and it was a very mild festive season with maxima in double figures, up to 13C in places. This pattern continued up to the New Year with SWlies drawn up from the Canaries across the UK. Lossiemouth recorded a maximum of 15.6C on the 28th. It was the mildest December since 1974. Many places didn't see any falling snow and frosts were very few.




December CET maximum: 9.8
December CET minimum:  5.2
22nd-28th December: 9.7
Highest daily CET maximum: 13.0 (26th)

Very mild Boxing Day (C)
Cardiff: 13.3
Durham: 13.0
Elmdon: 13.6
Finningley: 14.4
Heathrow: 13.9
Manchester: 13.6

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Unsurprisingly, no comments until now

This was in the middle winter of three that were dire for anything wintry in Essex (where I lived at that time)

Cheers for that Kevin.

That was an amazing mild December. But without intending to boast - December 1974 I think was the most impressive mild winter month I recall - That one had a CET of 8.1C.

In fact looking at the description of the synoptics of December 1988 - I reckon the 1974 record could have been broken if the Bartlett high had established itself earlier.

Amazing thought really.

 

 

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Was 2C warmer than November 1988! A similar thing happened in 1985 but only once since then has December been warmer than November

http://www.climate-uk.com/provisional.htm

And yet there was a notable wintry spell in November of that year, where even Folkestone saw to a covering of snow on the evening of 21st Nov.
  Of course, I can also remember the kind of winter that followed - it was mostly flat and dry thanks to a Bartlett high firmly stuck over Central Europe - as the orginal poster has already mentioned.
   Even the European ski resorts were very starved of snow by February due to lack of precpitation (but I think it caught up in the following Spring).

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What an awful thread! I hope the so called 'modern' winter term has fully been forgotten now!

Remember it well. A traditional Christmas Day fire was insisted upon in the house, and we ended up with the windows open because it was so warm. Seasonal it was not.

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Remember this month well, it was heaven if you like Bartletts and set us up for an exceptionally milf winter, worse than anything seen in the internet age!

January was so mild it was a joke, I remember one Sunday afternoon walking along the sea front at Dartmouth with just a T-shirt on!

Andy

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 Nothing on the bottom half then? Bet that went down well with all the Dartmouth residents.

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It's the idea of an "exceptionally milf winter" that intrigues me.

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The start of the "dark times" 1988-2007.

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Christmas day and Boxing day 2011 wasn't much better  

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/archive/ra/2011/Rrea00120111226.gif

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You mean the "modern winter"!

I think it may be back again!

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So... A 'milf' winter on the beach with JUST a tshirt on? ...sounds like an 18-30's holiday in Benidorm.

This very mild December of 1988 helped deliver the 4th mildest winter on record.

 

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ha ha, best typo ever on TWO

 

And yet, we had 7 Christmas Days up here during that time with either snow falling or lying (or both!).

Yes, December wasn't as mild as January and February in that period.

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I reckon the most incredible part of December 1988 was the 22nd to 28th which is practically a week in which the CET ran at 9.7C

That is just amazing - it really is.

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Just browsed through charts at 10 day intervals through that winter and it's the most tedious winter synoptics imaginable... I dread to think of the depths of depression that would have been present on this site had we had the internet then.

 Andrew

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It was the mildest winter on record for Aberdeen. Dyce recorded only 2 air frosts up to 20th January: -0.5 on 3rd Dec and -0.2 on 10th January👎

2011/12 was almost as bad. Christmas was even milder than 1988 and there were no frosts for 3 weeks.

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