IcySpicy

Yeah, it seems like Europe has lots of extreme East-West spilts in recent times. Not only in winter, I remember spring 2020 was like that, very sunny and nice in Western Europe, but super chilly here in the NE. Or summer 2021, quite gloomy for most of the UK, but very hot and dry here in Estonia. Seems quite rare to get seasons where all of Europe is having hotter or colder than average conditions.

I haven't posted in a while (as I don't really like winter anyways and here where I live it is cold and dark no matter what), but came to say that we've been having an unexpectedly cold and snowy winter so far. Last night reached around -25C in my city. Even in early December we already had days where it was around -10 to -15C. Also had lots of snow. Quite unusual in recent years, where most of the time temperatures are around -3 to +3C and cold snaps don't last very long. This super cold weather is kinda cool for the novelty, but it's also a nuisance at this point, you really can't do much outside in -20C besides walk from car to door. Too cold for winter sports or longer walks/hikes.

This high-latitude blocking is so, so unnecessary right now, bringing near freezing temperatures to my part of Europe. Would be nice setup in January, but not now.

It was awfully cold today. Might as well just call it winter, as it's only 1-3C. I'm not too fussed about warmth at this point in the year, but I don't like the current set-up at all. Doesn't feel like autumn anymore, feels like a mild winter day. Year after year the shoulder seasons keep getting worse. This year we went from summer-like temperatures in September right into pre-winter within a few weeks. We had maybe 1 week of temperatures around 10-15C, which would be appropriate in mid-Autumn. And now we have aroun 5-6 more months of this < 5C dross to go.

Very common in Estonia as well. Those who can afford it might even take 2-3 holidays in the October-March period. Of course not everyone has the means, but many many people do take at least one winter holiday to Egypt, Turkey or the Canaries. Growing up, my family only went on summer holidays, but these days I am also thinking about going on winter holiday every year. The cold and dark season is just too long here.

Although it's been quite cold, I've quite enjoyed the past week's weather. Had some rain and wind but also some sunshine. Foliage is beautiful too. But starting tomorrow, we will be under a cold airmass and might get the first snow showers of the season. I don't care that much to be honest, from mid October onwards I go into winter mode until late March. No point in being upset about cold and dark weather here at this latitude. Although it's a bit of a waste having this cold setup in mid October, knowing how recent winters have been, it will flip to mild again and we'll be stuck with 4-5C temperatures from now until mid December or so.

Me right now . Model runs tonight were horrible, building a full on Scandi high BFTE setup...in mid October. After a slightly milder spell in the second half of this week, temperatures will be back to 5C, possibly even below. This feels like a sick joke, it's like we are going to have two Novembers this year . The warmth in September feels like a distant memory already and I'm not happy with these temperatures going forward...

*Southern and Central Europe. Scandinavia and the Baltics also had a rather cool July - early August. Extreme heat is less common here of course, but this year also felt a bit unusual/bad luck that the cooler weather took up all of July.

It is sudden. Our climate is more continental but it shouldn't be so abrubt, we should still be somewhat moderated by the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic. This feels like something more typical for interior North America. Our winters are colder, but in recent years we've also had plenty of days in the 3-4C range in January and February, so sometimes winter also feels like a long autumn-winter hybrid that is broken up by a few cold spells.

As much as I would enjoy 20+ C instead of our current 5C, I see your point and agree. Estonia is more seasonal than the UK, but in recent years I feel like spring and autumn here are either too cold or too warm and the temperature changes are too abrubt. Like this year we went from 23C in late September to literally only 4C within a week. 4C is more of a pre-winter (aka November) temperature than peak autumn. Same thing has happened in recent springs (2023 luckily was a bit better, but 2020 and 2021 were a big offenders), where we had 7-10C temperatures into mid May and then 2 weeks later in June it's 25-30C. It is like temperatures between 12 and 18C are completely missing when it's seasonal ( mid September-October and April-early May), instead its either 5C or 25C. And then of course the 15-17C days happen in mid July.

I guess in some years like Feb/March 2018 there are cold blasts that affect all of Northern Europe, including the UK. But the point still stands that temperatures in the UK / Western Europe will recover much faster. Eastern Europe can be stuck with the cold until mid-April. Interestingly, the early spring cold of 2013 and 2018 were followed by good summers, so it's not all bad. I think the current cold snap is getting to me, the idea of being stuck with temperatures below 5C temps for the next 6 months is dreadful.

Started raining again. Very unusual how much moisture there in this cold airmass. We have -5 uppers currently. Usually in autumn and winter, we get rain with warm fronts/mild air, and colder air masses bring crisp and sunny weather. I can only imagine that the warm SST's are to blame.

Yeah, today models seem to have picked up hints for something cooler in late October. This will probably bring the first snowfall of the season here in Estonia if it comes off. But in my opinion it isn't really helpful for winter. Most likely there will be another pattern change to something milder for November/December. This is just a gut feeling, but I am getting a little worried about this winter being a sandwich season, aka cold in October/November, then mild in the core winter months, only to end with a late SSW and turn cold again in March/April. This might not be so much of an issue in the UK, since it's sheltered from the worst of the cold, but here in Estonia this would be awful. I like cold snowy weather in January and February, but I don't want to be stuck with unseasonably cold 5C in October and April and then unseasonably mild 0C-2C in Dec-Feb.

Another very cold day here, around 4-5C. At least no drizzle today. And funnily enough, it also feels like a spring day, obviously not a late April/ May day, but like a March day. The sky is hazy/milky with just a bit of sun coming through. The sun is not strong enough to make you feel warm, but enough to get the temperature above freezing and make the snow melt. Only its October...and there is no snow...and most trees still have lots of green leaves and it feels kind of surreal.

Absolutely terrible weather here. 5C with wind and drizzle. Feels like November (or even January in recent years). Everyone is different with their temperature tolerance, but to me anything below 8-10C is unpleasant. I can accept the cold in the winter months and sometimes even enjoy a walk in crisp -10 C weather with the right clothing but in general it is a nuisance. Due to the cold wind our house has also cooled down, despite it being warm all September and having the heating on.