Peter H

Since we didn't have any cold, growth hasn't been affected whatsoever. Grass still needs cut but it's far to damp to do anything., Don't ever remember it this long in the middle of February.

Same here. I had a delivery of 900 litres of oil in late September and it's lasted until now.. I'll be needing more soon, but I'll only be getting 500 litres this time as I'll be turning it off soon. That should last until next November at least. I suppose that's one advantage of an exceptionally mild winter.

We had mild weather for about the first 10 days of the month, then 2 weeks of average temperatures i.e. naxima plus 5/6 and night time minima of 0 or slightly below. No day had a persistant frost. We had a 15 minute skiff of snow and that was about it. From the 24th onwards it was exceptionally mild here with daily maxima 12 or above. Christmas day was the mildest in Northern Ireland since records began. We've had no full night of frost since 23rd December. What a winter. One of the worst ever in these parts.

Well, mild throughout this week. A slightly colder few days from Saturday through to Monday, and then mild from next Tuesday, at least according to weather online. That takes us into the last full week of February. The BBC aren't predicting anything exceptional either on their monthly forecast this morning. Looking at the Weather |Infirmation Site's long range models it looks like a predominantly southwest or westerly theme for the rest of the montth, so I'd say either an average or above average CET overall Don't forget, everyone was predicting an exceptional cold month (4 weeks of arctic weather etc.) for the whole of February, not just the first week or so, and for all of the UK. As someone said a while back, February promised much but really delievered very little indeed. .http://www.ukweather.freeserve.co.uk/nwp.htm I'm afraid that's it for this winter.

We'll see. Wish I was that optomistic.

Notice the BBC weekly Ceefax forecasts are showing a mild week for all of the UK, with only northern Scotland turning slightly colder by the end of the week. It appears even Europe will lose the extreme cold they've had for the last couple of weeks. Despite the cold in parts of England recently, February could turn out to be mild overall, even in places that have had the cold. Funny how things can change so quickly.

Well, we didn't even get the cold ! January 2011 was both a cold month and quite snowy in these parts, but nothing more than what we normally got in the 1960's..January 1969 was actually better for example. Still, the winter of 1979/80 was mild and that was after the excellent 1978/79 so you never know. Winter 2012/13 might turn out OK.

I still can't remember seeing daffodils in full boom at the end of January, even in 1974/75 and 2006/07

An exceptionally mild December/January, especially in the south of the UK. 9 days of decent winter weather in the South East last few days of Jan first week or so Feb. ? Rest of February to be generally average or mild ? Dream on. Winter is over, and not just for those of us who didn't see any of it. Definitely one to forget.

I don't ever remember Daffodils in bloom at the end of January, ever. Do you ? I think that's a fair indication how mild this winter has been overall in the Bristish Isles. Definitely one to forget.

Jan 2011 was average and February 2011 exceptionally mild. I've never denied that. However, December 2011 and January 2012 have been mild throughout most of the UK, and particularly so in the the South. People seem to have air brushed that from their memory

No, that is totally wrong. December here was distinctly average, with some frosts and a 15 minute skiff of snow but nothing exeptional. Late December and all of January has been completely frost free and exceptionally mild. We've had virtually no frost since December 24th I wonder how the Scottish ski resorts are faring. I would imagine it can't be all that good.

Yep, exactly. One of the worst winters I can recall in living memory, and that goes back 50 odd years. Certainly on a par with some of the truly awful ones, e.g. 1974/75 and 2006/07. Roll on 2012/13. Hope it's at least a bit better than this one.

No we aren't. The atlantic has been dominent in the northwest of the UK and hasn't been in "full retreat". That's what makes this wimter different from 2009/10 and December 2010. The cold air then affected the whole of the Britiah Isles, not just Southeast Eanglend so you can hardly say the Atlantic is in "full retreat". In anay case, it'll be the dominent feature throughout next week with temperatures well above average.

This winter has been overall very mild, and not just in the northwest of the UK. 9 days of decent winter weather in the Sotheast DOES NOT make it a brilliant winter by any stretch of the imagination. Have you forgotten just how mild it's been over all the UK in both December 2011 and January 2012 ?

Hardly. Mild weather for the next week over all of the UK is now certain, with daily maxima at least +10C. by Wed./Thurs. There's nothing in any of the models that's suggesting extreme cold for the followsing week i.e. the last full wqeek of Feb.so overall this month will be average in the Southeast, and probably above average elsewhere in the UK: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ni/ni_forecast_weather.html It's really far to late in the season now for any widespread snow unless there is an exceptional wether set up, and that now seems increasingly unlikey. Why aren't people on this forum being realistic about this winter ?

Come on. A week and a half of decent winter weather in S.E England and everybody's screaming it's a brilliant winter ? Who are you trying to kid ? This winter will be overall mild. Both December and January's CET are well above average. If the rest of February is mild, as current models are predicting, that's probably going to work out ether average or above.

I actually would tend to disagree, even for S.E England. The week ahead will see daily maxima +10C and above. throughout the U.K. and nothing remotely cold on the horizon for the next couple of weeks, and distinctly mild by the looks of it, if the models are to be believed. A week and a half of cold weather for S.E. England is hardly likely to lead to a below average C.E.T for February. Funny how the long range forecasts for February suddenly all changed.

We're now rapidly aproaching the point of no return for this winter in this part of the UK. If it doesn't snow over the next couple of weeks then that's it for 2011/12 I'm afraid. Looks like the southeast is going to join in with the mild weather too over the next couple of days. February 2012 could turn out to be nothing exeptional overall, The seasonal forecasts from all the amateur sites, including this one, have been so hopelessly wrong this time.

Not in this part of the UK It's unusual for the dividing line between cold continental air, and the milder atlantic air to be so stark over the Bristiah Isles, in my opinion.

Well, nothing remotely cold in this, the mildest part of the whole of Europe at present. Tempt. well above freezing +9 at present, but at least we have a glimmer of sun. Nothing of any significance on the horizon either. The increasingly wintery showers theme for Monday and Tuesday has vanished, only to be replaced by the dreaded rain. We even have noirth/northwesterly winds and max. tepts of 8/9 C. The snowless and frost free winter continues in Nortern Ireland. It'll be interesting to see RTE's summery of the winter in a couple of weeks at the end of February. In these parts, this has to go down as one of the mildest on record.

Lucky old you. Still nothing in this part of Europe with temperatures of plus 9/10 by Thurs/Friday, and heavy rain to boot. The models were forcasting a North Easterly next week, but they've now flipped back to a westerly again. More of the same I suppose.

Cold spell ? What cold spell ? Still nothing for this part of the UK/Europe at least until Sunday. Tempts of 9/10 expected by Thurs/Frid. The Mild, snowless. frost free winter continues. We did have a temporary frost yesterday evening. Wow.

..It'll be gone by next week, wait'll you see, and we'll only be halfway through the month by then.. .

I second that. Looking at the models for the next couple of weeks, it looks highly likely the "block" will break down quite dramatically and we'll be back to the southwesterlies, so nothing on the horizon for the snow starved west and north western parts of the UK.. Really, once you get into the middle/later parts of February it really is too late with the sun being quite strong (less than 6 weeks until the spring equinox). The problem isn't just the Azores high, but a persistant hight pressure over France and Spain which has fed mild southwesterlies/westerlies over the UK for most of the winter (and Autumn too I might add). February promised much but has delivered very little, and virtually all the long range forecasts have dropped the cold theme for the month now (apart from some daft newspaper headlines today). I wonder how the Scottish Ski resorts are getting on ? I would imagine they haven't had any decent snow for weeks.. Oh, and we haven't had one drop of snow all winter, apart from a wee skiff from a couple of showers in December.