We could sure do with plenty of warmth and sun during the upcoming spring and summer to get the ground round here dried out, Matty. It's like friggin' swampland at the moment.

Good to see you posting again btw.

Well it's certainly in my top three for mild, wet, windy, muddy and decidedly all round uselessness!

Matty - When you say best winter ever you can recall? are you referring to the fact that it's been mild!? As many are fed up of their homes being flooded and the persistent wind and rain day after day and week after week and trees down and flooded houses esp my cousins in near Bristol!!

And? People die when it’s the cold and snow you crave for in a bit of a bizarre, creepy and unsettling way. Personally I cannot stand winter and cold weather, so that makes this winter absolutely fantastic for me. 10/10

Whilst flooded homes are a real shame for those affected, my advice is don’t buy a house close enough to a river that this may happen  

Any reports of the demise of rain and wind seem much exaggerated, specially the rain http://www.wxmaps.org/pix/prec4.

GFS varies the pressure pattern somewhat with more localised depressions than previously, but it's still stuff rolling in off the Atlantic - Mon 24th 980mb Clyde, Thu 27th 990 mb Clyde, Mon 2nd 965mb Orkney, Thu 5th 980mb Clyde (again! GFS hates Scotland?), most of these dragging in some cold PM air. Finally a break around Sat 7th with a ridge of HP bringing air from the S. ECM similar with slight differences in timing and position.

GEFS has up and down temps at first, a dip around the 26th, a bit milder around 29th, and not much agreement after that but the mean is in the cold side, Rain (or snow on northern hills) continuing generally..

Massive surprise if this summer isn't warmer than average.

What has happened to Euro 4? It was the model for me to go to for snow prospects at short range. If it wasn't on board, you should be concerned if you want snow. 

I used it during 2009-10, I remember the snow shadow for parts of Greater Manchester it was showing for late March 2013, it showed snow but not lying during mid Feb 2018, which is what happened.

But now, its just bonkers!

How the hell we think it is a great idea to live on flood plains is beyond me, nice enough in the summer, but as this year proves again, living near rivers or on flood plains is a no no. 

Must be tragic seeing your home flooded, poor people.

Same here; aside from one of two quieter and less wet interludes, it's been a damn awful winter where I live too.

If it had been something along the lines of that wonderful early springlike spell we had in mid-late Feb last year, I doubt that anyone would have been complaining- I certainly wouldn't have been. But near-endless rain is something I can do without thanks!

Hopefully it'll be drier than average too, Brian. I really think we could do with such a summer, especially in view of all that has happened recently.

Has it's range increased as before it used to just be 48 hours?

I do know some people were posting snowfall rather than accumulation charts recently though which gave a distorted picture.

I hope that is true for Monday am. Possibly, Met Office automated shows heavy snow here at 6am and ECM shows some snow accumulation.

Looked at GFS after 4-5 days rest but more of the same really! But in short term there is snow potential even for the south west on Tuesday evening/ night:

Cold rain or heavy wet snow - the Moors could get a covering if this comes about - uppers of -7c @ 850hpa and it's cold zonality.

ECM:

GFS Op:

Indeed. A growing trend towards a much colder and wintry March. 

Jetstream still running strongly close to UK but for much of the period to the south. That suggests a mobile rather cold pattern and snow on hills with lower ground seeing sleet or a quick dump of wet snow. 200+mph streaks today & Thu 5th. Some big loops developing Mon 9th with the UK under a section of the stream directly from the north.

http://www.wxmaps.org/pix/temp4 shows below zero day-night averages picking out high ground in W Europe.

GFS has westerly flows with LP centres crossing the UK and mostly pulling in some polar maritime air behind Tue 25th, Thu 27th, Sat 29th, Tue 3rd, Thu 5th, Sat 7th - doesn't come more unsettled than that! Finally a ridge of HP on Tue 10th with the caveat that GFS has been showing this in previous runs but at progressively later dates.

ECM agrees though tending to place the centre of the LPs towards the north of the UK

GEFS ens generally wet (if anything, the focus moves south) and temp a couple of degrees below the seasonal norm. Snow row figures mid-teens for the north but even the south has a few high values in today's runs.

I wonder if it could be similar in nature to March 1995. That March saw quite a lot of cold zonality in my neck of the woods with a fair amount of snow at times, more than we saw during the 1994/95 winter itself.

It would be good for sure if this year's summer is like its counterpart from 1995!

Just looked at the 00z GFS.

It surprised me just how chilly it’s looking - with a few snow marginal snow opportunities for the north through the coming week. 

I know that people stick two fingers up to any sort of LRF but I do think there is something in it.

I stand by what I said a few pages back and believe that we will have a wintry March in many places.

Do you ever not make reference to CG and GW in the MO thread?  It’s not the only answer to everything weather related.  

The JS is very active still and continues to be so going into March.  It looks to me at the moment like a rather cold wet period, not a winter wonderland is likely for the 1st week of March.  

If you need a new line of work perhaps you should consider a roofing or fencing business.  Boom times around here. A big fence near to me which was destroyed by Ciara was blown over again last night. 

My fence is being propped by the neighbours hedge and ivy. Just as well its always a westerly wind. I've propped it up with rocks on my side

Will wait till the weather calms down before getting it fixed, but looks like another few weeks of this rubbish