Jackfrost

Perfect, thanks worldairgroup. I understand that cold is not popular with many and that it can prove dangerous, but I can also remember several instances where BBC Wales forecasters have downplayed cold and snow events compared to coverage by national and other regional forecasts. It really isn't a huge issue for me, it just leaves me feeling a bit... deflated.

Did anybody happen to catch Derek/Benhaz/Sue's forecast on BBC Wales? It makes me sad that Derek is such a lover of mild.

Completely off-topic but I've had an entertaining ten minutes with this: http://elevationmap.net/ Just click on the map if you want to find a place's altitude. Slightly surprised to find that I'm at a higher elevation than Brecon and that Merthyr town centre is barely higher than Nelson.

It's about time we saw a repeat of the Feb 78/Jan 82 events in the SW quadrant of the UK. It's been well over thirty years! Will 2015 be our year? Most likely not, based on both a warming climate and the law of averages, but there's always a chance.

Tuesday, Matty.

Haw haw haw. References also being made in the MOD thread to Wales doing particularly well. I really do feel bad for our long-suffering Southwestern friends, though. Perhaps we should share some of our (potential) snow with them?

Snap. Facing towards and being only a short distance from the edge of a major ocean makes getting a good sleep on stormy nights almost impossible. Still, the combination of rain splattering against the window and a howling wind combined with low lighting makes for a pretty atmospheric room!

Frequent thunder and blue lightning up here. Snow just starting up again.

Yeah, it's fairly heavy and settling on all surfaces. Really sorry to hear that you're getting rain down in Cardiff town.

Exactly Jay. You would have thought my elevation and inland location would have produced something meaningful earlier than 2am, but here we are!

Snow beginning here and yes, it's all snow. None of that horrible rain/hail mix. Looks like it's about to turn quite heavy for SE Wales according to the radar.

Shower after shower is falling as rain and/or hail. I apologise for being negative but this is a little pathetic when areas at lower elevation and towards the coast have seen some snow.

Raining heavily with occasional hail, gusty winds and no lightning. I'm growing antsy and exasperated.

Raining here. How odd.

Snowing heavily at Dowlais Top but nothing seems to be settling as of yet, and I doubt it will. Heavy sleet here.

Sleet falling here. I have vague hopes of a spell of snow before temperatures rise in the morning, courtesy of the warm sector.

No, you're quite right. I lost sight of context when I embarked on my rant last night. I vividly remember those early Netweather days, especially between 2003-7, when we in South Wales saw decent snowfalls which weren't particularly spectacular but which far eclipsed anything seen in Central and Southern England. I recall the Valleys doing well from several frontal snow events during that period, while you in Swansea seemed to benefit from Northerly streamers. The initial January 2013 event was fairly disappointing for me. I recall around 6-8 inches of snow when, perhaps being greedy, I'd expected considerably more given the MetO's red warning covering my area. The following two heavy snowfalls over the proceeding days were what made it, and the lack of any real snowmelt for the duration of the cold spell. Here are some pictures from that period: So yes, all is not lost for us in South Wales. This is sometimes true, more particularly for Southwest England, but being on the edge of a huge ocean often works in our favour since we're further north (and so more likely to be under the influence of a large, cold high) and many of us have elevation on our side.

I posted this on the Wales forum during a fit of frustration and self-pity, but I'm sure you guys down in the Southwest share our feelings! ------------------------------------ Forgive my despondency and negativity, but almost a third of the meteorological winter has now passed by without a significant snow event for most of us and it's safe to say that, bar a few sleety showers tomorrow, the rest of the month is a write-off and with milder, unsettled weather set to return in the New Year. Before we know it it'll be late March with longer, warmer days which will be a welcome relief if this winter continues on its current path. The last comparable cluster of cold winters prior to 2008/9-2012/13 was 1977/8-1981/2 and during those four-and-a-bit year there were two major blizzards from which Southwestern Britain bore the brunt (Feb 78 and Jan 82), that's not to mention the generally very snowy winter of 1978/9 and the equally snowy December '81. Despite the cluster of cold winters in recent years, what have we in South Wales (and more particularly our friends in Southwest England) had to show for it? A couple of moderate falls of snow and one admittedly very decent fall, IMBY at least, in December 2010. We even missed out on any meaningful snow in March 2013, the "coldest since 1962", during which North Wales was absolutely buried. Thank you, St. Scumbag the Saint of Snow.

Forgive my despondency and negativity, but almost a third of the meteorological winter has now passed by without a significant snow event for most of us and it's safe to say that, bar a few sleety showers tomorrow, the rest of the month is a write-off and with milder, unsettled weather set to return in the New Year. Before we know it it'll be late March with longer, warmer days which will be a welcome relief if this winter continues on its current path. The last comparable cluster of cold winters prior to 2008/9-2012/13 were 1977/8-1981/2 and during those four-and-a-bit year there were two major blizzards from which Southwestern Britain bore the brunt (Feb 78 and Jan 82), that's not to mention the generally very snowy winter of 1978/9 and the equally snowy December '81. Despite the cluster of cold winters in recent years, what have we in South Wales (and more particularly our friends in Southwest England) had to show for it? A couple of moderate falls of snow and one admittedly very decent fall, IMBY at least, in December 2010. We even missed out on any meaningful snow in March 2013, the "coldest since 1962", during which North Wales was absolutely buried. Thank you, St. Scumbag the Saint of Snow.

The one consolation is that temperatures are unlikely to rise any further and like Panayiotis said, the colder air over Ireland will move our way over the coming hours. Whether there's sufficient precipitation around by that time is debatable.

Because it beats watching Only Fools and Horses and Vicar of Dibley re-runs.

Make that the central part of the valleys Ju, and I'll personally be a very happy camper!