TillyS

I love this! Only those resident in the UK will be able to smile about it, not in a bad way. It’s just that it illustrates how benign but also incredibly frustrating the UK is for cold lovers. We search and search and search these days for flakes of snow or frozen lakes. Entire threads are taken up with the often thankless chase for snowfall. And yet there you are in April with what would be a record low in recorded history for the UK, and snow continues to fall regularly on and off in the northern parts of Scandinavia for six months of the year. After my trip last month to Norway I have fallen in love with it and am returning there next week for (I hope) two months. I’m not expecting to see the northern lights because of ‘white nights’ but perhaps even in mid to late April I will see some snow amidst the alternating warmth that you describe so beautifully. I would live up there if I were permitted. malby Such gorgeous snow pictures. Thank you for posting them xx

I just wondered if anyone else has encountered the same problem that I’m having. As some of you may know, I returned from Norway on Tuesday after an incredible fortnight. Everything there was so real: 2 metre lying snow, blizzards, crystal clear skies, northern lights, low temps etc. Now I find that every day I’m staring at the UK model outputs run after run and I just can’t get excited by it any more. I mean, it’s all so inconsequential. So ‘meh.’ There’s just nothing really about UK weather that’s interesting bar the very occasional moment like a deep storm or a heatwave. Winters are as bland as blaaaah-bland can be. I’m not knocking this country, at least I don’t think I am, but when you come back from somewhere where the weather is so real it just makes all this seem like nonsense. I really really hope this won’t get deleted because it is about the model outputs. Maybe it might help us all to stop having squabbles about this or that model run when, really, nothing happens here of any great consequence (any more). xx

In Absence of True Seasons Totally just that. I felt as if I spent 12 days inside a fairytale, only one that was real.

Forgive me for a couple of final pictures from Norway. This is what happens when you have a Scandi High The Geirangerfjord: The Lofoten Islands at dawn:

I returned yesterday evening from beautiful Norway. I was in the arctic circle for four nights and saw the aurora on all four nights. Incredibly fortunate with the weather. Norway is expensive but you can mitigate that if you’re prepared to self-cater. I would recommend the Lofoten Islands as a great location for the northern lights. It’s FAR cheaper than Tromso. Svolvaer is quite a bustling port town but soooooooooo beautiful. I took the fast (3.5 hour) ferry back to Bodo for the experience and it was lovely on a calm day. The light up there is something else. I cannot recommend it enough if you get a chance to go.

I have been so fortunate. My flight into the arctic circle coincided with a solar eruption and I have never seen anything like it. Even the Norwegian pilot said it was a particularly beautiful display. We were above a blanket of cloud and the aurora seemed to be dancing around the aircraft: like a private show. The photos don’t do justice and it was one of those rare occasions where these aren’t really photo enhanced because I couldn’t take a long exposure. Seeing the magenta with the naked eye as well as swirling greens and yellows was stunning. The way the lights were moving was astonishing. It was the most other-worldly beautiful experience of my life: I saw them again last night from the ground on the Lofoten Islands. No tripod so short exposure: p.s. Also incredibly fortunate with the weather. My magic wand scenario: snow crossing the mountains from Oslo to Bergen, then a Scandinavian high pressure to see the northern lights.

I totally agree with everything you’ve put @Jo Farrow The ‘ticking off’ approach often means we’re missing the enchantment (love that description) all around us. I should reach the arctic circle Thursday for 4 nights. If I see the northern lights it’s a bonus. There is so much else to savour. This is an amazing country and the people and their ethos fascinate me.

My concern with this is that there’s so little certainty surrounding it. Even the ECM is wobbly at the moment which is even more of a concern as it has been pretty unreliable these past couple of months. I do wish we would stop asserting claims on here which are based largely on speculation and hope. There’s nothing wrong with wishing: I love snow which is why I’ve come to Norway to find it, but we could all do without making claims that aren’t really based on reliable, consistent, model data inside credible timeframes. It just becomes a letdown. This Scandinavian high is wobbly right now and you’d be unwise to bet against the GFS given its current form.

There’s a big contrast between 0z GFS and 0z ECM on this morning’s outputs. At least, there is if you look at where I currently am in Norway. The GFS has the Scandi high as a pretty weak affair and dissipating quite quickly this week, which would be critical for me in the arctic circle. The ECM by contrast has the high holding on all week, especially up in the north. GFS: weakening high: ECM 1030mb big HP holding in the north: If you’re interested in seeing some pretty snow pics taken on Saturday’s journey across the mountains, I’ve put them here:

This is so true: "Some just seem to be chasing an Instagram selfie” @Jo Farrow I personally hate the term bucket list now. It seems to encourage people charging off to get their instagram / snap / tiktok I wish everyone would pause and savour. Go off the beaten track. Be surprised. Don’t post yourself in every photo. I mean, the landscape’s generally a lot more interesting than your own face. It’s a sad indictment of our generation.

I’m in Norway at the moment. There has just been a huge aurora burst which should be visible across the UK right now. I probably won’t see it in Bergen but I’m heading up to the Lofoten Islands in a few days which are supposed to be beautiful and also a great place for the northern lights. Meantime I had a spectacular train journey yesterday from Oslo to Bergen with blizzards across the high mountains before and after Finse (1200 metres).

Am in Oslo then heading across the mountains tomorrow and up into the arctic circle next week. According to the GFS it’s likely to turn a tad cold over northern Norway: Last night’s ECM was really brrrr :

Well this is a surprise (to me): the CET has stayed at 7.8C up to the 28th incl. Just about a chance of a 0.1C rise today?

On a selfish level this is looking extremely good for me. I’d like to have seen falling snow but I’d definitely trade that for the northern lights, especially as there will be loads of snow in the mountains: It’s still not an especially cold set up for the UK. A nippy south-easterly but empirically not (at the moment) showing very low temps. Right, time to head off to Norway. It was partly the scarce snow up in Scotland that decided me on this.

The signal for the Scandinavian High next week is strong in the models now. Nothing majorly cold but it would bring settled conditions there and, by extension, to the UK for a while although not particularly cold. On a personal level I’m happy as I’m off to Norway today for a fortnight. Loads of magical snow on the ground in the mountains, nice conditions for adventuring, and a slightly increased chance of seeing the northern lights when I get into the arctic circle Pot luck though. GFS and UKMO for middle of the week: