Wildswimmer Pete

Then the cold plunge next weekend with a maxes around 10C, with northerly or NW winds for the foreseeable future. Bit like General Election day in 1997: 4th May hot and sunny, the following Tuesday heavy snowfall. Typical British climate, couple of days of warmth followed by weeks of cold.

Firefox 1024 x 638 Chrome 1024 x 677 Using Chrome for this posting; size, format and content as they should be.

The screen definition is the the same, but the content is completely different. On the daily forecasts for my area they fill the screen with "swipe" and two arrows present at the bottom. Also, on the forum threads have much less information that on the original version displayed on Chrome. Is there a way to switch Firefox to display the original version? This version infuriates me.

For some reason using Firefox 39.0.3 your system now serves the mobile version, and I'm using a Windows XP PC. On Chrome the "right" version is served. I don't like the mobile version at all especially as I can't "swipe" anything on my screen.

This is more like it: 24C in my (sheltered) back garden and an afternoon sunbathing in nothing but shorts. Only 6C last night but I suspect this night will be milder. Just turned off the central heating, hope this is it now until October. However despite the warmth, I suspect my swim in Hatchmere on Sunday will still be chilly (expect 10-12C), gloves, boots and helmet needed.

The winter of 1947 is held to be the second coldest winter of the 20th Century, the coldest being 62/63 (which I endured). However winter 62/63 was the filling of a sandwich of two mediocre summers.

In my neck of the woods, "summer" '15 rarely even reached 20C let alone anything remotely resembling "hot". Day after day of PM air and cold NW winds when maxima usually didn't even make 16C meanwhile every breakfast time saw the grey lid slamming down only to melt away around 8pm leading to another unseasonably cold, clear night.

On the right is my standard winter kit but without the T-shirt and with neoprene boots instead of flip-flops.

Well, the lousy British climate has really excelled itself today. Late April and 5C at teatime and snow expected overnight. Couldn't make it up I suspect this will kill a large number of lambs.

I'm a bare-skin winter swimmer and swim in just Speedos in water down to 0C however that involves physiological adaptation which took years to acquire. My cold-hardening kicks in below 12C water temp. Above that I feel the cold as badly as any 66yo, both water and chilly breezes.

Not so much fun for those of us who are still having to pay through the nose to run the central heating at full blast at the end of April. Those of us in our later years feel the cold and the current extension of winter is not just unwelcome but potentially fatal. I can (and do) withstand extreme cold without harm for a limited time, but this continuing chilly weather I find enervating and in fact is beginning to affect my health.

Could such atmospheric "traffic jams" become more frequent given the recent signals pointing to a possible Grand Minimum?

I hope the current synoptics aren't a reloading of those of the past few years: low anchors itself over the North Sea and fills, only to be replaced with a new one. Rinse and repeat until September. Does anyone know the reason for this stalling? Cold winds all through the "warm" months with the heat just across the North Sea and the Channel? Steep temperature gradients across just 20-30 miles. The jet diverts downwards to south of the UK, then to return northwards to resume its original course. To be a little crude, looking at the thickness charts, a sea of red surrounding us far to the north, while here in the UK a blob of green snot dangling from the Arctic sticks hard to us.

Dry and quite warm today but not quite as warm as yesterday. Hazy sun until late afternoon when it clouded over. Was out and about in hoody, shorts and open sandals however the next few days will put paid to that. When will winter finally relax its grip?

Spent the afternoon sunbathing in just shorts. Liverpool ATIS currently reports 16C. Last night 3.4C min, very cold for late April but much worse round the corner. Strikes me are getting a repeat of last year: a cold spring, basically an elongated winter that looks to be lasting through May.

My feelings? Chilly NW winds, cold nights, cloud bubbling up around 10am only to melt away around 8pm leading to another cold night. Daytime maxima barely exceeding 16C let alone 20-25C. In other words, "Summer" 2015 rinsed and repeated. Since 2011 hot summer spells appear to have been restricted to a diminishing number of hot days in July, 2015 saw just three tolerably warm days at the beginning of July and that was it. Otherwise that cold, NWly breeze all day every day.

Generally cloudy with brief glimpses of hazy sunshine. I'm currently moving my outdoor sensor but outdoors feels like the reported 16C. Last night went down to around 7C so quite mild.

Rode back from leisure centre last evening through what I thought was sleet. Cold and showery all night all the time I was awake and this morning a fence panel in the downstairs garden has been partly brought down by the wind. Really thought I'd seen the last of the loathsome winter however I suspect the coming spring will be like the past two: persistent PM incursions with clear, cold nights and sunless cloudy days.

We had BST all year from 1968 to 1971, an unmitigated disaster - I lived through it. Riding a bike to work on icy roads because the sun didn't rise until around 9am. Schoolkids being knocked down by dozy drivers as they made their way to school in the dark. RoSPA shrilly denounced the experiment (it was an experiment), however the very same RoSPA now appears to support the madcap suggestion to reimpose all year BST. All year BST was a political decision to make things easier for big business. Bugger the plebs who had to make their way to school or work in the dark and ice. What everyone seems to forget, is that however much we muck about with the clock, in mid-winter we only have about eight hours' of daylight.

Of course from Monday it'll be now dark in the morning again, although not for long.

Last "summer" saw many spells here where the max temp didn't even reach 16C, let alone 21C which I regard to be the lowest reasonable for a summer day. It was the relentless "cold clear night, cloud bubbling up around 9am then melting away at 8pm leading to another cold night, rinse and repeat" PM regime that stuck for months while of course last May broke records for coldness here. It concerns me that spring and summer '16 will be following the same steps of the last one. El Nino? I'm more worried over the possible imminence of a Grand Minimum. I can't highlight anything to quote because of this awful new software.

The over 65s in my area have their individual swims discounted however despite being 65 I still pay full whack for my subscription - no discount. Still cheaper than paying each time with OAP discount. The time I spend in the pool I'm in the warm and not using power to heat my home. I'm already dreading the electricity bill for the past winter - I'm on quarterly. However I fear for those on State pension (like me) who have pre-payment meters and have to try keep the heat and light on. Hence "Heat or eat". In addition the energy companies are screwing over pre-payment customers however I understand that particular scam is being shortly stopped. Extra charges used to be justified for pre-payment because someone had to visit properties to collect the cash from meters, but not now as keys are replenished electronically in a local shop.

In hot weather vulnerable people are advised to stay indoors with the windows closed and have cold drinks, even a cool bath or shower. Much easier and cheaper than the stark "heat or eat" option for many pensioners, hence the annual winter cull. Do you have the figures for heat-related deaths amongst the over-65s? I'm 65 but because of my bare-skin winter swimmer's cold-hardening I'm not so badly affected by the cold - what you see me holding in my avatar is a 1" thick slab of ice. Although I swim outdoors (hence my forum name) I also swim in pools. I pay £21/month for my subscription and given my current use each swim effectively costs me £1 which is hardly expensive even for a pensioner. Many pools issue "season tickets" which are much cheaper than paying each time.

On the hand too little sun is harmful. It's not only for SAD sufferers like myself but sun exposure creates Vitamin D3 under the skin from "harmful" cholesterol. Most supplements contain Vit D2 which isn't anywhere as bio-available as D3. Vit D3 is implicated in the suppression of many cancers. Despite being fair-skinned and freckled all over (I'm an inveterate sunbather) my GP informed me that I've got the complexion of a man ten years younger. It should be borne in mind that most melanomas occur in places "the sun don't shine" (unless you're a naturist), and my single mole is regularly checked.