Harve

What was your maximum on 20/12/10? I remember Buxton's was something like -6.6c although it may have rose above that by 9am the next day. In the (upper) Dove Valley it was -16c at 8am and still -9c at 1pm. I think the morning inversion lasted all day, so the maximum could have been even lower than -6.6c. I should really invest in my own equipment once I've got a more permanent home.

In addition to this weekend's northerly toppler (of sorts), the 0z has brought in the idea of a rather chilly north-westerly in the semi-reliable timeframe - in a week's time. -5c uppers cover the entirety of the British Isles with -8c uppers covering much of Scotland despite a very close Azores High. I don't think I've seen such a setup before and it could be very good for north-western areas; drier and merely chilly further south and east. The 18z's FI northerly has mostly disappeared and instead we are left with a settled pattern with cold on the continent and average across the UK:

Just be thankful he has, at least, acknowledged SSWs and not blamed it entirely on the sun or calling it something vague and wacky like "extra-terrestrial forces".

How about the French Alps? In lean years, perhaps: And the same place in old-school years: These aren't my photos but I'm proud to say I really HAVE seen snow depths like this as I was there for that winter. You forget it's normally something below your feet and eventually it's just something that surrounds you...

Did any other city not see any lying snow whatsoever? Glasgow didn't. Perhaps Plymouth, Exeter and some on the south coast didn't either, and maybe even Inverness? December's cold spell was slightly shorter but it also felt colder (there may have been a few ice days but there were definitely 0 this month) and had a few days of lying snow. I don't think there was too much difference between the two here, anyway.

3.9c, very slightly warmer than January. Perhaps having a similar feel, although the mild start won't be quite so mild but the potentially cold middle won't be quite as cold (or prolonged).

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/riverlevels/120751.aspx?stationId=2150 Further downstream, the River Dove is approaching record high levels in south Derbyshire and still rising. It looks wet but not excessively so, so hopefully the worst will be over soon enough.

Fully agreed; I don't think this is notable enough (even if it were certain or an entire paradigm shifts occurred to more moderate warming) for the course of action to particularly change. At the moment, targets to avoid even the best case scenario are being missed.

Could've been snow given reports from Campsie, I was still asleep, but there was a pretty heavy hail shower for January half an hour ago. Felt like a summer downpour.

I can think of more notable, recent snow events in April than I can in March...

The next week isn't exactly looking chilly though. I'm happy with 3.9c, even though it's likely to come in a few notches lower than that.

Pretty sure Derbyshire had 8 or 9 consecutive ice days while Glasgow had 0. There was certainly sunshine here though and when the forecast looks like this I particularly crave the cold to come back.

Even though I haven't been in Derbyshire for this cold spell, I feel as though I can still rank it amongst the others from best to worst: November/December 2010 - had everything you'd want from a winter except for extreme drifting, which was provided nicely by the previous January. December/January 2009-2010 January 2013 <large gap> February 2009 February 2012 All of which, I should add, beat any other cold spell I've seen before that (but bear in my I don't remember most of the 90's, never mind before that)

That would break the record by a considerable margin, although for only since 2003, for the sunniest year ever in Buxton, Derbyshire. Even if March saw no sun at all in Aberdeen then it's possible you still wouldn't drop below our record sunniest (1248 hours), depending on just how sunny that March was. I've found that compared to the Peak District/Pennines/North-West England, the West of Scotland gets a lot of bad weather but it also gets a lot of good weather, and blue sky never seems to be far away. Not a very scientific description, I admit.

I'll make a full judgement once it's fully over (i.e. in about 18 hours) but has anyone acknowledged just how much the cold spell has been lengthened? I recall that the first hints of it suggested a few days of cold and before the cold had even arrived, we were looking at when it would warm up again. Not only did the cold's arrival date get moved forward, but its end was also delayed.

All rain here, however Glasgow Bishopton, despite being a good bit further west, has been reporting 0.1c and heavy snow?

December's cold spell was almost as good, with much more lying snow then (still not much). Back in the Peak District it's been fantastic though, shame I haven't been there. Unfortunately I've been spoilt by living almost as far inland as is possible in the UK and at a high altitude, so even months like February and December 2011 saw more snow compared to down in oceanic Glasgow. There's still time for more snow though, and even after winter proper get the feeling there's far more possibility for April snow here compared to sea level further south.

I missed that it was by someone as prominent as Boris Johnson until I read the full article. Shocking and rather pretentious language/references. I'm loving the irony of his use of "by my calculations" in the midst of that article when the only calculations he's made are his observations from his corner of a relatively small island. Before he challenges "warming" he should first consider the "global" definition that precedes it. Thank god he doesn't have the foolishness to deny mainstream science outright.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=map&map=Warnings&zoom=7&lon=-4.50&lat=55.74&fcTime=1358683260 Hadn't realised there was a Westward extension to the warnings. If Arran and the far South-west are likely to get snow, then surely Glasgow can and the rest of the Central Belt. ...just started snowing again now.

Snow has been laying although seems to have stopped now. Meanwhile back at home there's around 40cm. Ouch.

What's the coldest February CET since 1986? 1991? 1996? 2010? They were all cold but nothing hugely noteworthy, it would be nice to get something <2c.

Even if much of Scotland hasn't received any snowfall, I'm very grateful that it's halted the incessant rainfall and we've had plenty of cold, crisp and sunny weather. This is far better when it follows a dumping of snow, but it's welcome all the same.

http://webcam.saimanet.kg/ Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan looking snowy.

Yep, at high altitudes in France I don't get excited by 10-20cm of snow because it's snow, it just means better skiing. If I were to see this: then this: and then this: ...in the UK then I would be far more astonished.

I'm not sure if it fell during one continuous event, but not even January 2010? It depends on what part of the Peak District you're from, I suppose: there were phenomenal depths west of Buxton where the drifts lasted into May above 400m.