Damien

Hence my new signature. A reminder of THE authority of THE authority on how this winter is likely to turn out. If it's another 1995/96 he says, then it's another 1995/96 we may get, and nothing more beyond. Think about it realistically: 1995/96 - satisfying and fewer deaths, 1962/63 - chaotic and many deaths.

I am surprised Brian Gaze is buying all this stuff. I personally won't believe it until I see it, and refuse to prepare for a winter on par with 1962/93 or 1739/40. At times like this I am glad he forecast 2001/02 like he did - now I know not to go on with "media" forecasts like this, and be bluntly disappointed in the aftermath. You're quite right, TWS! I think we should all remember this: "We have to be careful not to be too dramatic, 62-63 was a particularly cold winter. We are probably looking at winters going back to 95-96 which was colder" - Ewan McCallum, Head of Forecasting at the Met Office. I would be grateful if someone could regurgitate this on TWO to calm everybody down. John P? A 1995/96 winter would be a dream come true for me. To claim a 1962/63 repeat is just outright proposterous. I won't believe this until I hear it come from Ewan McCallum's mouth.

But listen again, SnowmanReturns!: Which is also what Hudson said, and what MetO Ireland alluded to. Certainly there is some interesting yet very much questionable early consensus of something this winter not to just top the mid-1990s, but the mid-1980s. However, in spite of who's saying it, I won't believe it until I see the snow fall with my very own eyes. A 1995/96 winter is just about plausible, but a 1978/79 (so that's snow depths of some 1 metre? ) I just cannot honestly see happening this year of any, what given recent years. If we had just come out of a succession of 1995/96s, like in the 1980s, then I would perhaps agree with it, as we saw in mid-January 1987. This all said, remember the North York Moors late last February/early March? That was quite deep for the 2000s so far....