Ian Docwra
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I think over the SE as a whole they are getting hotter in general, obviously with some blips. It's now not noteworthy to have temperatures above 30c, whereas it previously was. The absolute maximum reached is less important by far than averages, and on that measure our summers have become warmer steadily, along with Europe. We can still have cold, yes, but it's not unusual to see a whole winter go by without lying snow now. SSTs are rising slowly but surely and don't really respond to occasional cold spells. I don't take my climate information from the mainstream media. I imagine occasional very cold spells will still occur - they will just become rarer.
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We had a number of occasions earlier this winter where the NE wind brought rain at 2/3C, so with a normal SST we could have seen very different results. With our summers getting hotter (and winters milder, come to that), the SSTs can only rise slowly but surely. This makes marginal situations veer towards rain and the arrival of freezing air less common.
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More likely a burst pipe or broken drain - the amount of ice there couldn't have come simply from melted snow with a large puddle still remaining. We have a similar thing close to me on a road that leads up to the downs - the drains can't cope with winter groundwater and the road is a river to varying degrees most of the time.