Jackfrost

I suppose this isn't exactly what you want to hear, but I'll also be welcoming some milder after discovering how much energy it takes to walk through deep drifts!

But you didn't *know* it was coming a whole week ago. None of us did. We knew there was a good chance but a good chance alone is not enough to issue severe warnings one week in advance, given that the blizzard was far from a certainty at that stage. And besides, once it became much more certain that Emma was going to impact us (around the 26th, I think), countless warnings and endless TV and radio coverage was given to the impending snow and two-three days is plenty of time to prepare and decide not to venture out, I think. I guarantee, if you were BBC Wales's weather presenter and you told people a whole week ago that a killer snowstorm was coming only for the forecast to change at the last minute (which it sometimes does and, not to get personal, but how many times have you (and the rest of us!) got excited over low-res chart output showing major snow events which don't materialise?), you'd be in a lot of trouble.

What the hell! That really is an amazing shot.

But accurately forecasting the exact track of a complex storm a week in advance is impossible in a country like ours, surrounded by ocean and susceptible to competing air masses. There would have been (justified) uproar if amber or even red warnings had been issued a week ago leading to schools being pre-emptively closed and fixtures cancelled, only for nothing to happen. Not to mention the anger and bitterness on here (and similar calls for people to be sacked.)

None of that is at all fair, Andy. If anything, I think both the Met Office and BBC Weather forecasters have done a great job of forecasting this accurately and keeping the public updated, and the media in general couldn't have been more hysterical with expressions like "polar BLIZZARD set to SLAM into Britain." Let's be realistic, yes, conditions are bad and there's a lot of disruption (which there would be if 50 cm of snow hit, say, Stockholm) but it isn't a life-or-death situation for the vast majority of people and certainly doesn't justify calling for sackings of people who were mentioning Emma up to a week ago. If people have found themselves stuck, without power or in hospital after slipping, that's unfortunate but the forecasters themselves aren't to blame. The UK Met Office is still one of the best and most highly-respected in the world.

Small but potent batch of snow moving in across Cardiff and the Valleys, seemingly sparking off over the Bristol Channel.

Feel free to return. Our snow events tend to outdo those in Essex!

Not quite, @snowyqueen, it's the bottom of Shingrig Road, near the handball court. What connection do you have to Nelson?

Some photos from a late-night "stroll" around Nelson. Your eyes are not deceiving you, that really is snow beginning to drift over front windows. Many areas now covered in one or two feet, making it difficult to walk.

Guess I'm being a little greedy when I say that I feel a little disappointed to see the really heavy stuff over Somerset decaying as it moves towards Southeast Wales.

Are those the old orange streetlights you have? God, I miss them for snow watching.

Don't. The point is that Britain isn't Canada, Finland or Hokkaido, we're a fairly small and crowded island whose infrastructure isn't designed for this weather. And I feel that even somebody from Montreal or Helsinki would find the blizzard currently raging outside severe.

Two photos, the first from around 6:20 just as the snow was beginning to drift, and the second of level snow in my garden just this minute (approaching 8", if you can't make it out.)

Some seriously large depths beginning to build up here, both drifting and level, and the amazing thing is that the heavy precipitation, according to the Netweather radar and forecast for my area, won't arrive until midnight or so. This will rival '82 if it intensifies and rages through the night. Just spectacular what I'm witnessing tonight.

Those bright reds and oranges in the English Channel are heading towards South Wales. They might lose some intensity as they come up against the cold block but expect some very heavy snow regardless. With conditions as serious as they currently are, I'm a bit concerned about power cuts later which would plunge us into not just darkness, but coldness too. I dread to think of anybody sleeping rough tonight. Fortunately, the cold weather has led to people really opening their hearts and the authorities taking some belated action.

Whiteout conditions here in the red zone. Drifts building, deep level snow in sheltered places, swirling clouds of snow in the strong wind, limited visibility and covered main roads.

Unfortunately Jay, too many people - my mother included - are threatened with disciplinary action if they fail to show up at work when their workplace is open. It's outrageous, especially on a day like this. Blame the bosses.

What snow do you mean? Emma or the light stuff to our east? If Emma, then yes it is.

Specks of light snow now breaking out over South Wales associated with that band of patchy precipitation moving in from the east.

And we'll really be in a pickle when the Bwlch starts spewing lava. Really, I think this could end up as the most severe snowstorm in Southeast Wales since 1982. I don't think level depths will be as great as that event but with a howling bitter wind whipping up drifts we really will be in for a treat.

Emma's outer bands now approaching the Channel coast of Northern France. Fascinating to watch it spilling northwards on the radar. Really, we're incredibly lucky to be witnessing this. It's rare event. How often do the stars align completely in our favour in sending a major named storm on a collision course with an unusually cold block over the UK? I can recall many events where fronts approaching from the southwest have bumped into cold air over us but nothing with this complexity or intensity.

There's a lot of wishful thinking involved in situations like this. There has been a slight eastwards shift this evening but nowhere near enough to result in Southeast England copping it all, but perhaps with a little more eastwards spread of the snow. Southeast Wales is still the place to be though, along with Exmoor and Dartmoor. This is now becoming a nowcasting event. Can't believe we've actually reached made it this far without mass emotional breakdowns!

Yes (slightly) and no.

Probably fairly little, but not quite nothing!

I'm expecting at least double that, just up the road from you.