andreas

Now chucking it down with snow in Crystal Palace

Currently -1.4, the lowest April minimum since I began recording fifteen years ago. Also colder than any night in the 'winter' of 2019 to 2020.

Hi - I think that may have been Sunday 6 April 2008 - in Crystal Palace we woke up to four inches of snow and a fun morning was had by many in the local parks. Most of the snow thawed during the afternoon. That day I recorded a maximum of 9.2 and a minimum of (+) 1.7, so it was less cold than today is likely to be, exactly thirteen years later.

Excellent news for cold lovers - as casual observation over the years suggests that the actual weather is generally (with one or two exceptions) the opposite of what the Met Office predict in their 16-30 day forecast.

I do find quite odd the lack of attention that the Met Office give to basic considerations of style and grammar in their updates. It doesn't do them any favours.

We're reached that magical moment when the snow starts to settle on the leaves of evergreens and then on the tops of grass and all of a sudden trees begin to glow silver.

Update to Crystal Palace - light to moderate snow, still not settling - but temperature now down to 1.3, so I think the trend is our friend

Moderate snow in Crystal Palace, just beginning to settle on parked cars, 1.7 degrees and falling steadily.

And in Crystal Palace it has just started to snow.

It's something they used to have in the past... Joking aside, I am hopeful that there will be some evidence for many of us over the coming weeks - anyhow I did see some even in south London recently on a walk last Sunday at Selsdon Wood near Croydon, around 600 feet, a thin covering in shaded patches surviving from the new year. Here it was just rain for the most part, just one or two flakes. Anyhow, I jinxed that one this morning, nothing came of it and dry now. I think I could cycle faster than the 0 degree dewpoint line is creeping into East Anglia.

I've seen it before - when the air is still and there is cold air not so far away moving towards us, some of the rain looks like flakes of recently melted snow. Normally within an hour or two it will have turned to sleet, and then if conditions are favourable to proper snow.

The rain now has that look about it that suggests that sooner or later it will turn to sleet.

Yes the rain is definitely more sleety than yesterday's. Oh the excitement of the winters of today

hi - updated here Friday 8 Jan - Sunday 17 Jan Some outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow are likely across central areas initially, with wintry showers also feeding in from the North Sea. Through Friday precipitation will be tending to decay in both of these regions, with cold, fine and dry conditions becoming more widespread. Over the weekend conditions across the country are likely to turn more unsettled with cloud and patchy rain spreading east and temperatures recovering to near average for many, by this time the risk of sleet and snow will most likely become confined to the north of the country. Through the following week rather cold conditions are most likely to re-establish nationwide, with northern and western areas continuing to see frosts. Updated: 16:00 (UTC) on Sun 3 Jan 2021 Sunday 17 Jan - Sunday 31 Jan Confidence is low during this time, but more unsettled conditions are signalled to affect at least southern and central parts of the UK, with drier and colder weather being retained in the north. Whilst generally remaining colder than average, some milder interludes are possible in the south around the beginning of this period. Later in the month, an increased chance of colder conditions returning nationwide. Throughout, there remains a risk of snowfall and other wintry hazards for some parts of the UK. Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (Greater London) weather WWW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 7 day weather forecast including weather warnings, temperature, rain, wind, visibility, humidity and UV

I was just thinking how despite it being overcast there is just a tad more light after 4 pm - and already (in London) sunset is nine minutes later than in the run-up to the solstice. It feels so welcome after this year. Sunrise and sunset times in London WWW.TIMEANDDATE.COM Calculations of sunrise and sunset in London – England – United Kingdom for December 2020. Generic astronomy calculator to calculate times for sunrise...

I posted too soon, there was a subsequent dip to -0.8 (not very impressive admittedly, but that's from being on a slope towards the top of a hill) and now hovering around -0.6.

The first air frost in this part of Crystal Palace in the whole of 2020 - a minimum of -0.5. the lowest since February 2019.

I'm looking forward to a severe cold spell at the start of 2021 then (as generally the actual weather turns out to be the opposite of the MetO extended forecast)

The lowest maximum temperature here so far in 2020 (including Jan-Mar): 4.7 degrees - a proper old-fashioned winter's day. Congratulations to those with snow

Hi - I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, so please feel free to delete/move. But I rather grimly wonder when we have synoptic patterns like today's that deliver only rain whether these are events that fifty years (or even thirty years) ago would have brought low level snow. Obviously it's never possible to give definitive answers but I'd be interested in views on which all-rain events (for low ground) over recent years would have been most likely to have delivered snow in the past. Thanks

I do so hope that this is not going to be yet another of those dismal winters where the Met Office further outlook is for it perhaps to turn colder eventually, but with the start date for this transition pushed back from late November, to early December, and then so on until finally all we get is a chilly spell in early April.

The first snow flakes in Crystal Palace.

First rumble of thunder here in Crystal Palace, south London.

A few light snow flurries, temperature 3.4, dewpoint -0.4.

Snow now startling to settle in Crystal Palace - always worth heading for the hills in London.