androcles

WE are surrounded by forests here in the Surrey Hills - both Conifers and Deciduous - but haven't seen them. Maybe they go off to have a jolly with their tits and things. It's quite possible they are put off by the army firing ranges, loads of them, and especially the tanks and/or 188's going off which are very loud. I know that some species of birds like to stick together in winter - like blue tits and long-tailed tits seem to be together in the garden quite often. We had a bird seed feeder which the long-tailed tits went for when we first put up but are no longer interested in. This was a hanging one. They don't touch that now and seem to prefer the seed I put out on the lawn. Strange...? Andy

Hey Andy, Thing is they all disappeared over the winter months and only came back about three weeks ago. The bird book I have says they are the most populous birds in Britan, yet where do they go in winter? Any ideas? Andy

Nothing too unusual here except one thing. I don't know if any of you have seen this before but we have one male Chaffinch feeding in the garden and anytime up to four females together. Is this unusual? Andy

Cloudy, westerly wind at about 9kts. Temp 11.1°c DP 7° 1021Mb Slight drizzle forecast this morning...we shall see.

As a gardener I am out in this stuff all year round. Today I, and the paving guys at the house opposite, were in t-shirts after about 11-30. It was so warm, almost 15°C I believe at some point today with clear skies and contrails everywhere. Now I really do not know if it's an age thing but having spoken to a lot of my older customers, we have all discussed the strength of the sun in these fair isles. It appears that we all agree that the strength of the sun, that is when it is clear enough to see and feel, is stronger than say the 60's/70's. In other words, the Sun Strength is more powerful now, and earlier in the year than it used to be 'back then.' I do suspect an age thing here but some info from any experts would be good. I find, anyway, that the older I get the more I am not very interested in being in it too long. Also my older customers seem to think that the sun has more Glare than they remember...? Aged eyes perhaps? Dunno. I am open to any facts, figures, etc. I am dark and do not burn in this country. I go a gradual shade of brown over April and remain that way until about November... I did lose a nose once in Sierra Leone though, which hurt like hell...! Best Wishes Andy Moore

Well, duh! Go out and have a look...

Rain...rain..rain. All day, light rain, drizzle, heavy rain. Temp +3.7° now and no snow expected. Give us more rain and plus temps and please get rid of this weeks wet, slushy, sloshy, slippy, slidey, soakingly, sodding sad, snow. I need to go to woooooork! Andy PS I really love the snow...reminds me of the little boy I was. But it plays hell with my income...!

Drizzly rain at 3.2°C here - grotty weather but hopefully melt all this slush and ice that's been here all last week. Still have three inches deep in the garden... Andy

Don't you just love this from the Independant on Sunday: Best Overall Comment on the Weather: At the peak of Monday's online moanfest about the difficulties of getting to work, David Taylor of Southend wrote this on the BBC message board: "As I started working from home a year ago, I did find it nearly impossible to get out of bed and trudge across the landing to my office. The BBC wasn't very helpful... there were no reports of holdups near the airing cupboard and the bathroom interchange was almost impassable. Gritting was nearly useless – but with the cold floors, it was to be expected. Cancellations were widespread. No bacon and eggs. I had to make do with a replacement toast service. I hope I get home tonight."

We're all going on a...Summer Holiday... ..oh...wrong season...

Stopped snowing here and moved off...

Suggest you stick to 'singing...'

It's beginning to look a lot like Chris.....Monday around here. It's in all the trees and our little road is covered again. I don't think we've had much more than about 3-4cms but came down on top of the 10-12cms still left from Monday. Temp risen to 1.0°C from 0.6°C an hour ago. DP 1° Wind 350/08kts Viz 3000mtrs Snow Overcast - 600ft Q991Mb Andy

It's all falling on us over Farnham/Aldershot way...

It's been snowing here for well over two hours and the roads are becoming pretty bad again...just in time for rush hour on a Friday. Ia this stuff coming up from the south KW? If so it looks likely to stay with us for awhile. Andy

I am tired of the snow now after lying around all week. There is still four inches sitting in the back garden and, being a gardener, I have lost hundreds of pounds in revenue this week. So please think of us outdoor workers when you wish for prolonged snow and ice... Andy

UK regions: 60% East of England 60% South West England 60% London & South East England 60% East Midlands Heavy Snow 0200 Fri 6 1500 Fri 6 There is a high risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of southern and eastern England on Friday. Periods of snow will be heavy at times and will give accumulations of 5 to 10 cm over large areas and locally 15 to 20 cm over high ground. This is likely to cause disruption to travel. Issued at: 1141 Thu 5 Feb

hey Mark, Just down the road from you. isn't it lovely although it's slowing down here with only little flakes now. Had about half an hour of it. I was in the middle of clearing the drive from yesterdays dump when it started. Not quite back to square one but... Andy

Intermittent showers here. Very icy. I heard it got down to -10°C last night in Odiham, only about ten miles away. Temperature now +1.3°C which is encouraging. It would be nice to get the car out of the drive today. It's iced in... Andy

I can hear the 'fat lady' singing...?

So go clear some snow away and chuck out some seed. We did that this morning and they came in droves, or should I say flocks. ...and we had 10-12" last night. Andy

Heathrow both runways closed...

Hey Guys, Just thought I'd pop-in from the South East for a tad. There is at least one foot of snow on the patio and table and still coming down in shedloads. It started last night about 8pm and hasn't stopped all night. Some bloke in Epsom says he's got 14"...! Gonna get even more this afternoon coming up from France. Oh no...not another day off work! Enjoy it all. Best Andy

It seems Surrey and NE Hampshire have got the worst at about 30cm in places. Still coming down quicker now...

BBC Southern Counties 104.6 fm do all schools in SE.