Isle of Harry

Cooling down in Ramsgate (Probably will get something in the next 20 minutes).

We didn't have our first frost till the first week of Feb last year after a really bland and wet January...4 weeks later - Beastie arrived! It was disheartening though to see bloody models last week saying we'd be buried and frozen in a winter wonderland next week, but now the BBC saying unseasonable warmth by Friday.

Finally an extensive hard frost, haven't seen one of these since March last year.

That's more like it! Beautiful wintry scenes across Thanet this morning.

Most certainly and the cloud covering possibly as well. We did just drop below 0C on Friday night but it wasn't cold enough for a hard frost to form due to some cloud cover. Temperatures are chilly though and are hovering just above freezing but there is no real temperature difference between day and night.

Well temperatures remained above freezing all night in Thanet - ridiculous

Chillier this morning with similar conditions to yesterday, dry and calm. We had our first negative low last night since 15th Dec at -0.2C So at 09:00 Current Temp: 2.2C Real Feel: -4.8C

Surprised to see there was no hard frost this morning. Still very chilly and calm with temperatures just below freezing at 0800, it has now risen to 3C.

Very Chilly, Dry and calm. Temperature: -0.1C Real Feel: -3.3C

4.2C with a windchill of -0.4C. Dry, Cloudy, Cold, Windy. Had some rain last night for only the second time since 23rd Dec.

Here in Thanet it's the same picture. Friday (11th) was the only day so far since 23rd Dec of any significant rainfall (1.5mm). The last time we had an incipient dry spell of this nature locally was back in January 2009.

Yeah, can't wait for unseasonable warmth to set in the next two weeks.

https://www.vedur.is/hafis/tilkynningar/ - Sea Ice approaching fast towards Iceland. Sea Ice typically around Iceland has diminished since 1987 and recent levels have been similar to the late 1920's-30's and 50's, but recently Ice is slowly starting to reappear again. https://www.vedur.is/media/hafis/frodleikur/is_koch_hlynur_1877-1968.pdf - Ice levels around Iceland between 1881-1968 (I saw a copy of this book when I was in Reykjavik 3 years ago - Interesting read)

Finally had some rain over the last two days even if it was just mundane drizzle. Been very cloudy over the last 6 days. BBC Weather shows light snow for the 22nd and 23rd - becoming colder.

LOL I've stared at the same weather pattern now for 2 weeks on the bbc. Still no significant rainfall (18 days now). Might have a small rain shower tomorrow but nobody really knows. This Atlantic high whilst keeping everything dry is starting to get annoying - come on easterlies start nudging it, you can do it! (And don't forget the snow)

Has anybody noticed how dry it's been recently or is it just the southeast? Over in my neck of the woods we've had no significant rainfall since 23rd December (17 days ago) and with dry conditions now set to continue into next week and a slight possibility of snowfall towards the end of the month, agriculture may struggle.

We've had no rainfall here in Broadstairs for almost three weeks now.

Intriguing - Predictions for my location: January 2019 (Sunny days interspersed with Cold and Mild snaps) I think for now we won't be seeing much in the way of snowy conditions (Until Feb), as the Atlantic lows are still dominant and will continue for the weeks ahead (I feel). We may see a change of conditions from 28th Jan to more wintry, if the stratospheric warming starts to take effect with more stronger easterlies forming. Mean Temperature: 5.3 (2018 Mean Temp: 6.6) February 2019 (Snowy conditions at first but turning Damp and Milder later) Snow showers begin to hit the eastern coastlines sending temperatures below freezing. Thawing begins around the 12th and milder, wetter conditions return from the Atlantic lows. Mean temperature 4.0 (2018 Mean Temp: 3.6) March 2019 (Fairly Wet but remaining cool) Wet days interspersed with a few bright days with daytime temperatures remaining low. Mean Temperature: 4.7 (2018 Mean Temp: 5.0) April 2019 (Warmer but showery) April Showers dominate but temperatures begin to pick up mid-month - maybe our first 20C of the year. Mean Temperature: 11.8 (2018 Mean Temp: 11.3) May 2019 (Unseasonably cold but dry) Colder air moves down from the North developing morning frosts. Temperatures struggle to get higher than 18C - abnormal cold conditions throughout. Mean Temperature: 9.9 (2018 Mean Temp: 13.7) June 2019 (Becoming warmer but wet) Atlantic lows become stronger bringing warmer but wetter conditions across the UK. The conditions become calmer and drier towards the end of the month. Temperatures remain below 25C with nights being cool. Mean Temperature: 15.2 (2018 Mean Temp: 16.7) July 2019 (Hot and dry) Similar conditions to 2018, bright sunny days throughout with temperatures in the low 30's for several days but not as oppressive as 2018. Highest temperature 31.8C Mean Temperature: 19.5 (2018 Mean Temp: 20.7) August 2019 (Heatwave first week but becomes cooler and wetter towards the end). Sultry conditions to start with, as the jet stream continues to drag dry warm air up from the tropics. It becomes milder towards the middle of the second week (11th August) and the month ends with heavy rain and a dismal 15C on the 31st August. Mean Temperature: 18.6 (2018 Mean Temp: 18.8) September 2019 (Unremarkable but very dry) Dry weather but overcast and foggy in the mornings. Mean Temperature: 16.5 (2018 Mean Temp: 16.0) October 2019 (Dry and mild but turns colder and stormier from the 19th) Sunny and Bright in the first week with day temperatures not falling below 17C. The first cold snap begins around the 19th and temperatures plummet to 6-7C, snow flurries are reported across the hills. The weather becomes wetter and much windier with storms beginning to turn dangerous. Weather warnings are issued across the nation. Mean Temperature: 11.6 (2018 Mean Temp: 13.2) November 2019 (Wet in the south, snow in the North) Atlantic lows dominate again bringing wet mild conditions to the south (10-11C) but these clash with colder north easterly air from the north creating freezing rain and heavy snow across northern England and Scotland. Media frenzy. The south remains dismally mild and wet throughout with patchy foggy conditions. Mean Temperature: 9.5 (2018 Mean Temp: 9.4) December 2019 (Severe Frosts - Temperatures struggle to get above freezing) December is dominated by severe frosts across the country, with reports of several main rivers freezing over. Conditions however are typically dry with bright, crisp conditions throughout. Ice warnings are issued out incessantly by the Met Office. Night temperatures plummet to -9C in the south and -20C across the highlands of Scotland. Heavy snow is reported for early January 2020. Mean Temperature: 0.7 (2018 Mean Temp: 7.9) My predictions for this year - I hope I'm wrong in places as I do love surprises.

Much milder so far today at 7.7C, similar feel to New Years Day - Becoming much cooler again by the end of the week though.

Much colder day in Broadstairs - took my gloves off for 5 minutes to set up my camera, before frantically putting them back on again. December 15th was the last time with similar conditions and that was only for one day.

2018 was certainly a year to remember for many I'd assume, probably the best year for weather since 2010 for me. From my position in East Kent my perspective was as follows Jan 2018 - Opened up with a very wet week with incessant rain. Days slowly became calmer and brighter but remained fairly chilly throughout. Feb 2018 - Sudden warming of the Arctic dropped temps in Europe and allowed for the 'Beast from the East' to plow into our coastline on Feb 28th. I was up in Svalbard during the alleged Arctic Warming and didn't notice a thing temps were between -8 and -20C is that warm? A cold month overall. March 2018 - Very cold first 3 days as the blowing snow continued to fall and settle. Some amazing wintry scenes caught and spring was delayed again. Spring looked like it may be arriving a week later with temps reaching 10C but snow soon returned mid-month. The snow died out within a few days and during the final week we had constant rain. Overall snowy and very wet certainly not spring like. April 2018 - Fairly calm month overall with Spring like temps for about a week (12-16C). However a cold snap returned during the last week with heavy rains. May 2018 - The month which began the long dry summer. No rains between 1st and 22nd May and it was fairly warm. A freak Thundershower on the 29th May brought much needed rain. June 2018 - Dry, Sunny and Warm throughout. June 7th and June 26th were the only two days it rained. July 2018 - Excessive Heat throughout, no rain until July 27th and it was again much needed. Plenty of ''Tropical Night'' temperatures (18C-19C) and the highest temp recorded was 33C. August 2018 - Fairly warm and sunny but much wetter. Temperatures receded a little and weren't so oppressive as July, day or night. September 2018 - A dry month with little rain again but temperatures were mild. Unremarkable really. October, November, December 2018 - Probably the most boring months of the year. Mainly Dull and Wet throughout - Very mild. November was very dark and it incessantly rained. There were a few cold snaps interspersed with a few flurries of snow over the hills but nothing special. So overall an exciting first half of the year and a Summer which was equatable to that of 1976, although most of my family members recall 1976 as being much drier and hotter. A typical solar minimum year then - A long cold Winter with virtually no spring before a sultry dry long Summer.

As a climate freak and a history geek, I enjoy nothing more than browsing researching climate history. As we begin 2019 I've compiled a small report of the conditions in early 1919. January 1919 was slightly cooler and against the norm of typically warm and mild January's throughout the 1910's. Interestingly January 1919 followed on from an abnormally mild December 1918...deja vu?. The maximum temperatures were around 12C with lows below freezing point. So on this day on January 2nd 1919 what were the temps like? (See picture file below). Fairly mild in the southwest and western provinces (10-11C) with the eastern provinces being slightly cooler (6-7C). Does anybody have any Data on 1819? - I have a few reports which state that London was around -4C in December 1818 and that the winter 1818/19 was cold with temperatures dropping to -10C in Belgium and Holland (Francois Arago). The summer in England saw heavy floods and it was very warm in Western Europe (37C recorded in France) (Jean Nicolas Fuster). The winter of 1819/20 was severely cold in Europe with London dropping to -7C, Paris -14C and Berlin -24C!! (Francois Arago)