Relativistic

Devastating: "Causing severe shock, distress, or grief." (Among other definitions) Works for me.

Cairngorm summit is only managing 6.9C. Unbelievable for this time of year really.

It's 5:45am and outside it's a totally ridiculous 14C. Devastating.

Even if there are signs that colder weather is on the horizon now, we all know that the models will probably be showing extreme super-hot 1000C temperatures for the next month by tomorrow morning.

We did that in 2013. But it would be great to beat 2013 in 2016!

I sincerely hope you're right.

15C. ... Okay, maybe that's a tad high. I'll go for 7.1C instead please.

I would take the mildest December on record for the coldest February any day. I think we should at least pay some attention to him. He doesn't forecast exceptionally cold temperatures and deep snow every Winter like some do, and often (in many cases rightly) rubbishes such sensationalist claims.

Interestingly, Piers Corbyn said this. "This will be a memorable Winter, but that doesn't mean whatever speculation you might have heard on the web will happen." And by speculation I am guessing he means the usual cold and snow talk that comes around every year. Perhaps he has gone for a super-mild Winter right the way through.

To add to my last post... It gets crazier. February 1794 recorded a CET of 7.2C, the second highest on record for February at the time. So the swing from February 1794 to January 1795 is 10.3C. It's hard to imagine a series of Winters like 1794, 1795, 1796. Totally and utterly ridiculous. Something else I noticed, which is more achievable for December's 2010/ 2015, is February's 1945/ 1947. February 1945 was 7.1C, while February 1947 was -1.9C, a difference of 9C. For this to be beaten, December 2015 would have to record 8.4C, something which looks very much like being on the cards.

Take a look at 1795 and 1796. 1795 was the coldest January (and month) on the CET record, at -3.1C. A year later in 1796, January recorded a CET of 7.3C. That's a range of 10.4C! In a year! Edit: At the time, January 1796 was the warmest January on the CET record, and it still stands at joint second with 1921. So in the space of a year the warmest and coldest January's on record were recorded. Staggering really. They say our weather is beginning to swing from one extreme to the other, but it's happened all before! Anyway, to keep this on topic, to beat this remarkable swing December 2015 would have to record a CET of 9.8C or higher. A tall order.

It very nearly smashed the record. The period 26th November to the 27th December had a CET of -1.5C, had the timing been correct (i.e. the cold spell nudged forwards a few days) then the record would have been obliterated. Looks like we are currently experiencing December 2010's anomalously above average cousin.

I may be completely wrong but I thought the first half of January 1947 was exceptionally mild?

So a 9.0+C December is looking very likely at this stage. I think this sort of thing was only a matter of time. If we have other years at similar or even higher CET values to the same date as this year (1898, 2000, etc.), surely at some stage we were going to see a December that, instead of giving up mid-month, decided to go all the way and smash the record. This year looks like being the year. May 1833 may be about to lose its crown.

I really hope something changes soon. No matter how much I love or loathe the weather at any given time, I normally just get along with it. But this current spell of weather is really beginning to test me. I have taken a keen interest in the weather since 2011, and this is the first time that I can truly say that the weather is starting to get me down. This unrelenting 7-week long super-mild crap is actually starting to make me feel quite sad. It's just utterly, utterly awful this weather. And there is still no light at the end of the tunnel Still, I console myself with the fact that I haven't been affected by flooding. I can't even begin to imagine how bad it must be for those who have had to vacate their homes for Christmas.

I can't even begin to imagine the horrors that those in Cumbria are going through. The current pattern needs to end.

This month has so far been a complete horror show. I am so desperate for a change to more seasonal conditions. They just aren't coming though. Ever.

Well given that both January and February are on average colder than December, that upward slope to warmer evenings has a couple of months yet. As the saying goes, "As the days grow longer, the cold grows stronger"!

You clearly misunderstood me, or perhaps I didn't make it clear. I am not looking for super cold weather at the moment (although that would be nice), I just want to see the end of this extremely mild spell that we have been enduring for weeks now. I just want something more average, some frosty days now and then, some single figure maxima, etc. We may be only four days into December, but we are well over four weeks into this horribly mild and unseasonable pattern. And yet the end is still not in sight. When I said "I give up" I was not referring to Winter at all, but the current spell of relentless, unseasonably mild weather. I am sorry that my post caused you some frustration.

Model watching is so painful at the moment. Lots of "signs" signalling change but we never get anywhere and it's always pushed back. I give up.

Of course, they could discuss this at the summit: http://www.intellectualventureslab.com/invent/introducing-the-stratoshield Why no one ever seems to mention this is beyond me. Perhaps it's not the immediate solution, and that we really should focus on becoming less dependent on non-renewables, but surely this is worthy of some discussion at some point?

Wow, a very mild month in the end, with the final figure at 9.5C, making it the joint 3rd (with 1818) mildest November on the CET series. Almost no downward correction at all. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/mly_cet_mean_sort.txt 1994 still sitting firmly on top though at 10.1C, a full 0.5C above 2nd place (2011).

4.8C please, although I would prefer -4.8C.

Indeed, a dreadful month. I'd love to see a truly, consistently cold November in my lifetime, but months like these only help to cast doubt on those hopes. Having said that, this time five years ago the country was shivering...