peborant

Surprisingly enough temps have dipped to 1.8 (EDIT: 1.6, EDIT2:1.4) at the rooftop and the surrounding Ochils reflect that with snow cover down to about 400ft. In the village there's snowflakes mixed in with the rain. I suppose tis the first day of sleet/snow falling of 2016! May it not be the last!

4.7 academy rain or whatever it is edging closer by the minute according to the radar, it's drizzly stuff outside. Hanging on to that valiant green pixel just north of us over the Ochils!

We've just had a fairly heavy shower thanks to the northernmost band of precipitation of the 3rd band of this 'cold low'. Albeit it was water there was a wintry aspect, I could see ice crystals on my coat so definitely some evaporative cooling might happen in a bit when the most hearty bit is on top of us. It'd be nice to record the first falling snow of the year! Currently 4.3 academy, 3.2 sensor.

So what are our immediate chances of some snow from the next band of precipitation? It sure looks more beefy than the two gone but quite disappointed about not even getting some lying snow on top of the Ochils despite us being under 4C all day so not expecting a lot

In la la land there is a trended northerly that would attack Europe toward the end of the run, maybe that is a reload for the future. Who said January was going to be like December? There is still a lot of winter to go, at least up here we can start feeling a difference -even though it has rained at 2C today which is never great and cold has been certainly downgraded and delayed but seems pretty settled on being here for Wednesday, Thursday from the folk south of Manchester. Roll on frosts and snow!

To be honest with you, I would not be too encouraged if I was in your area (English Channel), again you guys need a very specific setup for a pretty snowfall, 2013-style with the famed low on its way to the Continent dragging much colder air behind. This time round though the cold air boundary is higher up, closer to me than it is to you and that's not game for people away from the Highlands. We need to see the jet stream take a plunge into central-southern Iberia and cold will follow!

What a particularly stunning bit of Scotland you're in, and of course prone to low temperatures due to your position although I am fairly sure nothing compared to 20mi down the road when you reach the Glencoe valley and the tundra-like plateau (I was there in March 2013 and I could not believe how 'baltic' it looked, I certainly had not seen anything like that. My mum was on the (right) wheel shouting at me in harsh Spanish: 'you SO knew that we would end up in this wasteland, this road is all frozen etc.' I was astonished and loving the whole scene. Memories of a day in which we drove the route down from Portree into Edinburgh via Glencoe-Crianlarich-Glen Ogle. By the time we got to the motorway in Bridge of Allan we were ready to cry. And also we had quite a bit more of snaw in Edinburgh, where I used to live, even when she left. I remember she was in central Spain soon after and sending me pictures of flooded streams there. Jet Stream was proper where IT NEEDS TO BE for a nice chance. There were snow drifts until 4th April on top of Arthur (L) and cool-ish dynamic into mid-April. Now I am doubtful, praying for calm weather to allow for some evaporative cooling when rains arrive. Temps are forecast to be in the range of 2-3 when that happens but sensor is recording 0.3 and school 1.6 (EDIT: 2.1), which is lower than expected so everything could happen. Nice frost this morning, with a min of -2.8 though although clearly melting now. Sensor was recording 0.3 at 10.40 at 11.05 it is 1.1. Note how temps when increase, they increase together but last night the difference with the clear skies was much more marked (school -0.3 and outside -3.1 under the most precious, star-filled skies). It is cool to see the impact of the building and a more 'real' reading. I bet sensor did hit -5 last night at some point if not less, this morning when I first checked it (7.45am), it was reading -2.6 and a hard frost about that has lingered until 10.30am or so. How can a degree of difference have so much of an impact though and how does this affect my chances for some snow later? After all it is a 'dry' day with a 92% rh and dew point is at a healthy 0.9, probably lower on open air so we will see. Looking good for the central belt I think though. Have a good day!

Sorry for my cutting words, England does have beautiful spots as well as Scotland has its share of not so nice places to live. In that respect it's a bit like everywhere else! Mum texted before saying it was 22º in Barcelona today - which is weird at this point of the year. Just checked and station in the city centre reads 18.5º now so very warm indeed. Warmest max of the day in the country recorded in a southern little village surrounded by orange trees and the lush river Ebro at 25º. You complain about lack of cold but man if you are a coldie in the coastal areas of Catalonia (and even worse, Valencia or Murcia) you need a perfect sort of setup in order to get decent cold, which usually implies Scotland being warmer at 850hpa than northern Morocco ideally. At least there's PM and AM and Continental here Back on my bit of Blighty the skies have cleared and temp has plummeted! sensor -3.6 now the skies are clear temperature is dropping faster on the grassed ground? school -0.3 however experience has shown that if school shows minus everything freezes over at a nice pace so good to be at this point. Night everyone let's see what tomorrow brings!

Tell us about it! We have ended up suffering cloud cover but no ppn and as a result temperatures have gone up by a painful half a degree or so in an hour (about a degree on the grass), now it seems it's bouncing back down so we'll see what happens-. Grass turning mushy again as well but that'd change pretty quickly if academy ventured under 0.5, Which leads me on to a question why if the sensor is showing minus temperatures the grass is not frozen? I thought ground air was meant to be colder? Unless it's because it's cloudy? Thanks for your thoughts! rooftop 0,8 sensor -0.5

To be fair, who could care about their rants? There is a clear reason why the Romans built that wall and that is essentially the inhospitable land and weather which make this country so utterly beautiful and striking and clean and heart-awing. I am just sorry I have spent three out of five years in the UK living south of the Borders pretty much Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds-Newcastle is an endless overpopulated strip of Industrial Europe and I suppose their more benign climes and plains allowed for more "improvement and development"! Long may live the bare hills o'Scotland though. On a more political note, they blank us as well and from atop too. When the weather presenter is going through a UK-wide map, they -almost- always talk about England and Wales first, at best mentioning Scotland every other time. While 'poor' Londoners were enjoying their balmy 16º last month, I have serious doubt that the general populace was aware that we under cold rain, wind and the occasional snowfall especially on the hills at the back of the village. So it goes both ways, as it tends to do on these cases, me being a Catalan I feel strongly for Scotland as I myself have seen the myriad of things that difference these two countries, which at least you are 'permitted' to call them. In Spain calling Catalonia a country is a -bad- separatist wording of affairs. They only allow us to call it a 'historic nationality' (not 'nation'. There was great upset about that one, too.) The Union is, at the end of the day, a Union and that has always been acknowledged, England and Scotland being two separate entities. Castilians, however, lost their national identity in favour of a more powerful Spain, formed and shaped through centuries of conquests and oppression of other nations, be it in Iberia or overseas. Sorry about massive off-topic, weather-wise happy for all of you and as much as I am jealous for some of the pics, I congratulate you and relish in the start of a colder period for this part of the world over the next few days, let's enjoy the ride! Top'o the school reading 0.5C so I assume it's around -2C in sensor, I will give update when back from the gym. Nae snow, it's all fizzled out N of the Forth butcertainly they never predicted all the snaw for the central belt so late into the day; some things cannot be predicted by the models, today has effectively been a last-minute upgrade and that's always good. Now let's look forward to some clear skies and nice minima temps for everyone

Painfully slow moving ppn band still hanging on...Will it make it?! -1.6 sensor 0.9 rooftop Surprisingly enough skies have cleared despite the fact that it's raining/snowing not far at all from here. Well I guess they will cover up if they have to.

By the way may I add that this band of ppn that has blanketed parts of S Scotland has been terribly forecast in my opinion. Beebs maps showing full on snow at 8AM south of Peebles something that never happened until 11am and then fizzling out quite quickly before sunset - when it is still drifting north and I am actually getting my hopes up that it might leg the last 20 miles or so that separate me from it (L)

What are the chances to get some snaw north of the Forth? Glad to see some of you have done so well. Current temp 1,2 on the rooftop of the academy but my garden sensor reading -1 so no doubt which one of the readings I am settling down for

Well in all fairness it's not me keeping it but the fantastic weather station that school bought That proper air frost you're on about happened on 13th December which was the only day with an average below 0 (-0.3) for us but yes as you are saying milder air made an appearance during the later part of the evening and so the max for that day was 3.3C at 23.59 but for all practical purposes I would consider it an ice day like winter should be with frost lingering all day under blue, clear skies. When the front arrived, that was when it was RAINING at all levels at 0C but snowing heavily in parts of the Highlands at 1C. Frustrating times lol

Some rather distressing December stats, which is the first calendar month ever recorded at the Dollar Academy (and boy, what a month!): Average temp: 6.8 Max temp: 14.2 Min temp: -3.8 (however I recorded -6.7 on a sensor placed at 1.5m over grassed roof, clearly the fact that the station is sitting on a roof is not good when it comes to minimum temperatures especially) Total rainfall: 287.2mm (wowzers) 18 days with a max temp of or over 10C 3 air frosts measured 3 days of falling snow (believe it or not, I suppose it's still Scotland)

Hello guys, Impressive model outputs this morning. We could all do with a good northerly to bring some frost and brightness but do not worry my central belters as I am convinced that if things come to fruition we would see some of the white stuff too. Some rather distressing December stats, which is the first complete month ever recorded at the Dollar Academy (and boy, what a month!): Average temp: 6.8 Max temp: 14.2 Min temp: -3.8 (however I recorded -6.7 on a sensor placed at 1.5m over grassed roof, clearly the fact that the station is sitting on a roof is not good when it comes to minimum temperatures especially) Total rainfall: 287.2mm (wowzers) 18 days with a max temp of or over 10C 3 air frosts measured 3 days of falling snow (believe it or not, I suppose it's still Scotland) Really looking forward to some proper winter weather although we will feel it when it comes! It is a waiting game now. Best

I would not say 'seriously' cold, only a few degrees below average which, admittedly, would feel seriously cold considering the temperatures we have been accustomed to as of late! Was outside before and I felt it was freezing under the belting rain but temp was 7º so not cold enough for it to snow on the hills. Worst weather type ever and SW Saltire in Dollar we have recorded 30 days with measurable precipitation so the figure in Stirling will not be far off. Only three completely dry days since 1st Nov, rather freakish if you think about it, although that takes into account the 0.2mm measured each day on 1st, 2nd and 3rd Nov by the dense fog. Happy this evening with the BBC's outlook, let's hope we do get a cold snap next week, I for one would not mind piling up on wet days as long as they are of a white nature!

Well, that's my first white christmas eve! As I type, big fat flakes fall onto warm, soggy ground so no chance of it settling but oh it's so pleasing to look at...long may it continue!

You can say that, it was very unexpected which makes it all the most exciting -today has been a good meteorological day. Next heavy shower knocking at the door...

Good to see higher Scotland blanketed for the occasion. In Dollar temps plummeted to 3.4 and we had rain, hail and some wet snow from the heaviest shower on the mainland at the time (which I found exciting). It has settled over Whitewisp Hill and the King's Seat from my position, lying down to about 1000-1500ft. Nice to see some snow in winter for a change and not a blooming cherry tree!

Just north of the Forth Valley we have had 22/23 wet days in December with a total a little over 200mm thanks to yet more heavy showers last night. Not that it is set to change soon so the spell of wet days will still be growing.

Amazingly mild again, 12.8max but now we are going down again 11.3 Total rain 12mm and a gust of 40mph to start the day at 7.30. Would not want to be a commuter in such weather! EDIT: 11.1

That is, I am afraid, the thrill and the punishment of being a weather aficionado, especially if you're a coldie in the Northern Hemisphere's Mi(l)d Atlantic Gap. This geographical area I just made up would encomprise from Gibraltar to southern bits of Scandinavia all the way into the border of Germany and Poland, probably a tad further east. Areas that, due to ocean modification, are less prone to any sustained periods with lying snow on the ground according to data from NOAA, the number of days of snow falling and settling decreasing the closer you are to the Atlantic. Therefore we cannot expect big cold set-ups every year as we do happen to be in a mild part of the world, thanks to the ration of raging lows we endure every other day in the British Isles, i.e. being on the Jet Stream's pathway. It's not easy -maybe these days?- for it to move further down into southern France / northern Iberia / Italy / Balcans, which is what we really do need for cold to establish itself over central and northern Europe. It now looks as this might just happen but I am sure 18z-06z will slightly modify the outcome as these things always go, but it is undeniable that the trend has been there on the past few runs and it is worth keeping a -keen!- eye on it. Worst comes to worst here we will always scrap some snaw on top o'the hill off some rancid westerly! But oh boy wouldn't be a -15 or less be nice? Easterlies can be epic and this year might be one to watch out for them to be directed towards us as that Anticyclone is misbehaving so much. It clearly wants to stay and develop badly wherever it chooses to go as it already has done in Italy and Iberia and now it looks as it could be headed to more favourable parts for us in terms of cold, i.e. Scandinavia. We will certainly see what happens.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/35095864 Nice beebs vid that explains the non-event of last Sunday, it was colder down'ere than it was in some Highland valleys and it still snowed lots there whilst it rained south of the Highland Shield. Sad times but interesting as well! Temps stalled around 8. Min was after a beefy shower in the morning at 7.6, it's noticeably cooler than yesterday, thank god. And of course almost 3mm more towards December's already impressive rainfall amount. Need snow in the Ochils NOW.

Is there any chance of snow in the Ochils on 23rd/24th Dec? Relentless rain atm, it has been a dry night though. 0.6mm so far with a high gust of 35mph. Current temp 8.7º, roll on average temps!