AderynCoch

7th July

Oh well, only a month out.

That's one of those images which says a thousand words. I'm bit late on this, but here it is anyway - it's the beginning of February and Hitler is still waiting for winter to arrive... It's my very first attempt at a Downfall video, so don't be too harsh!

Well, there's confirmation (if confirmation was needed) of what a poverty of wintry weather there has been for so many of us. I'm sure the rankings for my location can't be significantly different. Absolutely dreadful.

5.9

7th April

Normally I find the arrant codswallop emanating from the Express and their cohorts to be merely risible, but this latest piece is nothing short of contemptible. It's about time someone in the media takes these charlatans to task over their incessant, mendacious tripe which is not only irritating but also damaging to meteorology as a science.

I'm going to go for 97/98 or 06/07, or maybe even 07/08. I would never call this current abomination of a season a "winter".

Crumbling land! If the recent spate of sinkholes in some parts of the country is anything to go by.

That really is a shocking figure. This winter may not even reach double-figures never mind match 88/89's final index of 20, and that season is regularly held up as the quintessential antiwinter. Unbelievably poor.

That was a good spell of weather in Sheffield, though not as good as late February the following year. Everyone went outside the night it started coming down and had a big snowball fight. It didn't disappear for well over a week.

Indeed. Second wettest season behind Autumn 2000 is very much up for grabs though. That's quite remarkable really.

In terms of what I've come to expect in my 20-odd years of observation: December - I look forward to December very much, as the magic of Christmas coupled with the long nights and a much-increased chance of wintry weather over November give great excitement. It's not very reliable of course but no month is for weather in this country, and December usually gives us some decent frosty spells if it doesn't snow (which it actually often has done late in the month). July - high summer: nights are still short and landmasses and oceans alike still heating up, so sunny days are more likely to be accompanied by higher temperatures, day and night, than June. It's usually wetter than June but summer rainfall tends to be short and heavy rather than drizzly. July was disappointing (often revolting) between 2007 and 2012 but I'm willing to mark that fecal run of Julys down as bad luck. June - the potential for very fine summer weather but with too much cool crap ruining it (including fine sunny days which lead to chilly nights), which isn't that common in July and August. The best perk is the sun being at its strongest, so even days with unremarkable temperatures feel warm when the sun comes out (which it does at least as reliably as July and definitely moreso than August). May - very hit and miss. May is glorious when summer gives an early showing but is miserable when spring decides to drag its heels. April - the month which can give you anything. The flip side of this is that actual extremes are limited, with snow not hanging around and proper summer warmth (about 25C for me) being rare. February - pretty unremarkable though it often saves the day in mild winters with a least something wintry. Less Atlantic dross than January and December too. August - I have some very good weather memories of this month (1995 in particular) but it tends to be more unsettled than June or July. Still pretty good if there's enough sunshine, and the nights are rarely chilly. March - not bad really, capable of putting January to shame despite the now-noticeable increase in daylight hours. Actual warmth like in 2012 is too rare for me to get excited about though. September - rather bland for the most part but late summer warmth isn't that uncommon either and is nice when it occurs (plus the nights are still quite mild). January - flatters to deceive most years despite historically being the standout winter month. It's especially disappointing when the Christmas feeling evaporates into the new year and you're left with nothing to lighten up the mood and even more so when any wintriness in December has receded (this has happened so many times). Drab. November - the only consolation is that it's not October. The chance of wintry weather increases but it's still not very common. October - rubbish. Hardly any warmth or frost. Strong winds can be interesting (and they're as likely in October as at any other time of the year), but most of the time it's just moderate gusts and lots of rain.

A really wild evening here with the lights flickering and the wind making an unholy racket through the fireplace. Glad I don't have to go out!

Just checked outside and much of the ice has thawed. Thanks a lot reality.

It's icy out there tonight with all that surface moisture frozen over. Bodes well for any stickage tonight, though of course that probably means I'll get nothing!

It's stopped now as brighter skies appear in the west. Just the slightest of coverings on the back of some cars, though that might be the hail from previously. At least this winter now betters 07/08 in the snow stakes (unless you include April).

Hail just turned to snow! Now we just need it to start sticking...

That's of little consolation at the moment!

That's what's so frustrating about our climate in general: the fact that we so often miss out by a whisker, not just in winter but in summer too. You don't get disappointed by the lack of snow if you live somewhere like the Amazon Rainforest, nor do you expect to get beach weather if you spend a summer at the South Pole - because it's just not possible. Here it's possible but you spend most of the time being mocked by the weather gods. Maybe someone could change the title of this thread so that the word "Winter" is bookended by quotation marks.

Good by UK standards but bettered by many places abroad. Also, the summers are naff.

20C is the record high. The average high for that time of year is just 6C. Alert is the most northerly settlement in the world after all. Check out the variation in sunshine hours.

This one's not too bad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volgograd#Climate

Mushy is right of course when he says the cold love-in on here is disproportionate to real life, but I'd query whether the "vast majority" dislike cold. Just look at how many happy faces there are when it snows. If we're talking about extreme cold, I think a lot of "coldies" in here aren't looking for that either but rather moderate cold and short-lived snow events. So far this winter we've struggled even to get ground frosts never mind houses buried in snow and -20C, so I'm sure a lot more people than just extreme cold junkies are frustrated at the moment. By the way Mushy, I'd wager at least as many people hated July 2006 for its heat as they did December 2010 for its cold. More like "a month to forget" for the "vast majority" of people (not me by the way - I loved it too).

You might not be too surprised to learn that the range of daily CET values (5.4C, from 8.4C on the 7th to 3.0C on the 30th) was the smallest of any January in the entire record. beating the previous record of 6.3C (1842 & 1991). The average range for January is 10.7C, and historically has been as high as 19.4C (1867). The lowest daily mean of 3.0C is the 4th highest for any January in the CET record, behind 1796 (4.0), 1916 (3.8 ) and 1990 (3.6). In contrast, the highest daily CET mean for January 1814 was 0.8C. 1963 (2.4) and 1830 (2.8 ) are the only other two Januaries to produce a lower highest daily mean than January 2014's lowest daily mean.