It's sad really - yet people panic or get excited with just 1cm of snow that fell and melted the next day - like last weekend or a sleety shower with flakes and temperatures of 1c. - The worse cold spell I can ever remember.

Yet my Dad always reminds me of the winter of 63 - he could walk on hedges ...the edge of the sea froze...snow up to your waist - this lasted for several months. Every morning he had to help his parents dig driveway and car out of snow!

So with regards to what we had last week (2-3 days of maximum 2c to +3c with sleet or rain with wet snow giving a slushy covering of 2cms before melting less than a day later makes me laugh!).

The fact is that because snow is now becoming such a rare event - even a flake falling from the sky becomes 'breaking news'

At least we have (SW) finally got below freezing. -1.5c so far.

That's fine - but we all have those memories. I have similar memories growing up in the 90s - but I know that most winters were largely snowless, because that is what a typical UK winter entails. We have always gotten excited by the prospect of snow precisely because it is not a common occurrence. If it was, it would soon lose its magical appeal and would become tiresome and annoying.. ask anyone living in Canada what they think.

I remember those days...............................brilliant and will never been seen again by many

I lived quite happily through thw winter of 62-63. It was fabulous. but there were also some downsides. My pet rabbit dyingof the cold because the oil lamp providing heat in the room ran out in the night. Not fun finding your pet frozen stiff. Also no water due to pipes in the road being frozen. We took it in turns to keep the water bowser warmed with a fire underneath it. Of course no flushing toilets because of said pipes being frozen we had to make little packets of our "products" and once  a week a council lorry would come and collect them!

 but the brilliant white and the gin clear blue skies between the blizzards..and i do men blizzards, were epic! And the moon and stars at night were awe inspiring.

That winter cemented my interest in weather, and thats why I studied and became a meteorolgist years later. Paid for my hobby..brilliant! Then later being a train driver seeing weather in close up was wonderful. it's all good!

Despite BBC North West weather telling us it would be down to 0c in towns & cities and perhaps down to -4c in rural areas, MBY (in the hinterland between town & rural) didn't dip below +2.4c last night.

The *amazing* cold spell continues....

(on the plus side, the remnants of the larger snowman &  path-clearing snowpile from Sunday are still there, dwindling slowly. Grey skies I guess bring one positive...)

I'm in SE Gloucestershire at the moment and this so far disappointing spell has pulled a rabbit out of the hat by producing two wonderfully sunny days and clear frosty nights here. Locally it was down to -6C last night, and this morning the rime glistening in the sunshine was a sight to behold. Just had a walk by the Thames and watched the swirls of vapour rising off the surface as the sun warms it. Lots of ice in the flooded fields around. Marvellous winter day.

aye - was 3.8*c here in wirral.

That makes it the warmest evening for the past week.

Eno up to her tricks again?

No, it was cold-hater extraordinaire Diane Oxberry (who actually has meteorology training & somewhat knows her stuff)

Think it was a case of more cloud cover than the Met anticipated

Well big let down it is then! - Just watched the BBC N24 weather for the week ahead.

The forecast for the so called "Disruptive snow" - Will now fall as freezing rain even over Scotland! I also endorse what Tom Schaf said "Cold weather is NOT set to return!"

But looks like we will see wind and rain - no mention of any frost either.

Well, now it's down to the first week of February to produce something wintry!? - Time is ticking by and slowly days are getting longer and sun is getting stronger.

I am never too fussed if we don't see cold and frosts.........but........and its a huge but...............I am a huge lover of snow like many many others here..

My moan is not only confined to the lame attempt at a snow event this winter season so far (amounting to a centimetre of slush around these parts). It is snow events in general that I need to moan about. Because whilst the kid in me always felt that living a couple of miles away from Enfield's greenbelt meant we were more prone to snow as we would be that much colder than inner areas of London. The hard reality is that we are usually too far South to get snow from northerlies as the snow fizzles out in Hertfordshire which is a few miles to our North. To far East for snow that encroaches into London from the West when for example Heathrow could get pasted this snow usually fizzles out around the Barnet area which is one borough over to our West. Thames streamers usually die out by the time they reach maybe Wood Green which is a few miles South of us. Snow fronts from the English channel usually fizzles out around the M4 which is, you guessed, a few miles to our South. Even snow pushing in off the North sea will end up fizzling out by the time it reaches areas such as Walthamstow which is a few miles to our East.............

Honestly unless it's one of those nationwide disruptive snow events we here in Enfield fare worse than any others in London.....

So close yet so far......so often

Moan complete

Jammy

Nice enjoy......post Pic or two for eye candy please 

By the looks of things , its 3 months still to go before I have any chance of seeing Snow .....

Back to drops of clear stuff today.....

Hope you post lot of pictures

He's not coming back you know, perhaps only in flashback

CETs for the winters of the 1960s

1959-60: 4.6

1960-61: 4.9

1961-62: 3.6

1962-63: -0.3

1963-64: 3.5

1964-65: 3.3

1965-66: 4.4

1966-67: 5.1

1967-68: 3.5

1968-69: 3.2

I think 1962-63 has distorted the view of the 1960 winters somewhat at least in the CET area. Last winter's CET, believe it or not, was colder than 3 of them and it was only 4.5, both 2009-10 and 2010-11 were colder than all of them except 1962-63. 

Take out 1962-63 and the winters of the 1960s , temperature wise were not that outstanding overall. 

Similarly, the 1970s. Nothing to write home about- 1979 of course more interesting.

1970        3.3    
1971        4.4    
1972        4.9    
1973        4.9   
1974        5.4    
1975        6.4    
1976        5.2    
1977        3.3    
1978        4.1    
1979        1.6

My thoughts are increasingly turning to spring - when the ground starts to dry up, the days draw out, the sun has enough strength to warm your face, the birds start nesting, we can start sowing seeds and I don't have to clean and dry the dogs every morning and afternoon.

Yes, winter will most probably have a sting in the tail but there is barely a month and a half to go!

Geese flying NORTH over Diddy Towers today, Winter is Over, evidently...

 little moan about seeing all this Snow footage from the states wishing that just for once we in this country could experience it.

Really does pee me off

 Back in the rain again.  When is the next flood.

Well into yet another spell of rank, putrid mind-numbing dross. More unwanted rain, that the ground can't cope with on Friday, and yesterdays supposed sunny day was yet another flop. Sun was stuck behind high cloud in the morning which thickened up to give a rubbish grey afternoon full of ugly ragged cloud 

Another crap day today as well. It's grey and damp with rain earlier on. Temperature never dropped below 6C - some 5C above average following two hideous mild nights more than 3C above average. Contrast that with the useless so-called cold spell when most nights were barely below average 

Sick to death of this. All mild weather now seems to come with revolting SE or S winds so is wet/drizzly instead of dry and all cold spells are either anticyclonic or cold zonality so fail to deliver any snow.

Absolutely nothing of interest for a weather enthusiast in this godforsaken country any more. Just endless crap 

Don`t worry,the system that brought all the snow to ne usa will hit the uk on Tuesday,but it will bring heavy and gale force winds with temps of +12c