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Interesting to see a 1051 reading in Glos - presume this corrected to sea level - anyone higher than this? My barometer read 1048 last night (corrected to sea level) which i think pretty excpetional .

Greenland still is populated. it never had huge cities or supported a larger population than now. It's steadily increased over the centuries and is about 56, 000 now.

Its true that London did have that "16 days of snowfall" in 2005. But none of it ever stuck. I think this was possibly the most frustrating snowfall of all time. It was close.....but no cigar - it may as well have rained . many years ago, i heard a conspiracy theory that Prince Philip and the World Wildlife Fund (!) were planning to "manage down" the human population by 80%. They clearly haven't been particuarly effective so far whatever it is they were going to do!

really? i thought we came off worse than anyone here in London. why is it so snowless in Abingdon i wonder.

People say last winter was "bad" but it wasnn't - it was cool(ish) and dry / cloudy and calm, with a fair smattering of frosty days and nights. We didn't have any lying snow at all last winter in London, and in the 10 years i have been here that's the first time its happened. we had a few minutes of flakey rubbish on ONE day that didn't really settle. In the last 10 years we've had an average of 2 mornings a year of "lying" snow and this has never been more than a puny 3 or 4cm deep. Over 50% of these falls give a temporary cover only lasting a few hours. Maybe once during a heavy afternoon snowshower about 4 years ago, amounts stacked up to an enormous 5 cm ( people panicing and the standard saying freak blizzards sweep capital) but it was gone in the morning as it melted overnight. This is the unexciting reality of snowfalls in most of lowland Britain which people should bear in mind when looking for snow in the charts, otherwise disapointment usually follows. It just aint that common anymore.

it works the other way round with snow. a "mini" amount tends to be called a "blizzard" by the the public and media , even when its just a heavy flurry lasting 30 mins with no wind behind it. i can't wait for the day there's a real blizzard in London (if we ever get one again). It'll scare the pants off people!

personally i'm going for a mild, cloudy winter with a lot of rain in the North and West, and less in the South and East. I think the days of powerful Northerly incursions are behind us, there is far less arctic ice around and it is much warmer up there than it was 20 years ago so can't get cold air down to use. Easterly's are half hearted today too. I think those hoping for a snowy winter will be disappointed. just a stab in the dark but that's my view, based on previous winters. i think everyone (myself included) wants a snowy winter to prove they can still happen in the UK, as if to reassure ourselves that global warming isn't happening. I think we're going to be clutching at straws again all winter long. Why not just declare winter to be over already (do i get a prize for being first to say this?)

all we need now is a few more winters with more or less absence of frost and we'll be well on our way to producing great wine and having the south covered in mediterranean flora. has anyone else noticed that olive trees now seem to be hardy in the Southern England climate and are now even beginning to be planted as street trees in parts of central london (no, this is not a joke - i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw this the other week). Sorry this is a bit off topic but i find it all very exciting.

It has been the most bizarre year. God knows what's happened to the horse chestnut trees round about me (south london). we had the awesome heat in July which resulted in massive leaf fall in the cool august, and i walked past a couple of the mature trees yesterday and after septembers heat, they have started sprouting new green leaves and flowering candles again in parts. i have never seen this before. lets hope oct is warm and we can have spring all over again!