jethro

That's a classic Just mix some washing up liquid with water, shampoo works too. Use anything you like to dip and blow through, just needs to be smooth surface.

Was it cold enough to make them freeze?

Have you got any bubble mixture? With a frost like we had this morning, if you blow bubbles, they'll freeze in the air and look amazing. May have to get down close to the ground for full impact.

Thankfully he's fine, didn't even seem too phased by it, maybe it's a hobby of his? He lives at the other end of the village so at least getting home isn't a problem, the truck is beyond being driven but he refused all offers of a lift and was determined to walk.

Evening all, turned cold, frosty and VERY icy here. Just been sitting outside for a fag, admiring the ice ferns on the cars when a pick-up truck went past at quite a pace, he lost it on the sheet ice, wiped out the neighbours wall across the road, spun and wiped the one opposite too. Thankfully he's unscathed, can't say the same for his truck! The roads are lethal out there so if you're driving anywhere ungritted tonight, be careful.

Snowing here, has been on and off for the last couple of hours. Not heavy enough to amount to anything.

When all around is brown and mucky And the weather offers wet and yucky Keep a hope that it will change To white and crisp, it's within the range Of dreams that may well soon come true That snow and blizzards are coming to you

When all around is brown and mucky And the weather offers wet and yucky Keep a hope that it will change To white and crisp, it's within the range Of dreams that may well soon come true That snow and blizzards are coming to you

Morning all, I can excitedly report it's situation normal here. Cold enough to not want to wander around in a t shirt, no wind so comfortable in a warm woolly, coat required if/when it rains again. Frosty when I went to bed, not frosty when I got up. Landscape consistent with the average Mendip winter...lots of brown, the odd bit of grey, occasional green dot of a holly bush or fir tree, all set against a slate grey background and very squishy underfoot. The only vaguely white thing to report are clouds. Underwhelmed? Moi? On a brighter note, we've got loads of long tailed tits in the garden, they only ever make an appearance when cold is incoming.

Evening all, well it didn't get any better here today, the very slight dusting hung around until lunchtime before melting. We've had a few showers that showed promise, especially mid morning with some huge flakes thrown in but they quickly passed. Here's hoping the rest of the week is better than this cold, grey day.

If there's even a whiff of snow about, you'll always get some in Chippy. Enjoy!

A friend just sent this from Worcester, I've told him 'you can go off people you know'.

Morning all, nothing exciting to report here, there's a very, very slight dusting on the grass and cars. Imagine laying snowflakes out in a layer, one snowflake thick, that's the level I'm talking, not even an icing sugar dusting. Frozen solid though.

Afternoon all, just popping by to say 'it's sleeting here'. Moderate with heavier bursts every now and then, hoping this bodes well for whatever falls after dark when the temps have dropped a bit.

Merry Christmas everyone. I've asked Santa for a repeat of this, any time over the 12 days of Christmas will do

Thank you. I'm a professional gardener....always add in secret paths tucked behind shrubs, makes pruning so much easier with the added bonus of pristine snowscapes

Every Christmas I ask Santa for snow, all I really want is to open my curtains and find my garden looking like this again. I think, looking at the blobby, squigley line pictures, this year has come closer to making dreams come true than many a year, but alas not close enough. If you're like me, dreaming of that elusive white Christmas, don't give up....switch to the Julian calendar, celebrate Christmas on the old and orthodox date of January 6th

Morning all, I rarely post in here because frankly my contribution of 'ooo, look at the pretty blobs and squiggly lines' adds little to the conversation. But even my baffled brain can see the potential on offer this time and I'm looking forward to seeing snowmen and sledging on the news, a bit of light relief that's much needed.

I can't comment on the numerous years above, really can't remember details like that but the one that will always stick in my memory is 1981/82. It was amazing! I was still living at home in the Cotswolds then, the run up to Christmas had produced deep snow, huge drifts and bone numbingly low temperatures, I think the lowest England temp was recorded that year and think it stood until 2010? It was somewhere in Shropshire, if memory serves correctly? The drifts were huge, towering well above me (at 5ft 7), we were cut off for a few days before the efforts from local farmers cleared the roads. And then the temperatures dropped, everything froze solid for what felt like weeks on end. Frozen pipes are not unusual in cold weather but that's the one and only time I've known bathwater to freeze in the pipes as it drained away. The only way of getting a diesel vehicle started was to put a camping stove underneath it, the cold making the diesel too viscous to fire into action. In common with most folk then, we lived in a house with no double glazing, no central heating, just a coal fire in the sitting room. Our loft had the barest sprinkling of vermiculite as insulation and no lagging on the pipes, my Mother bless her was more concerned about the pipes freezing than us, so the loft hatch was opened to let the heat up there. Coats indoors, as well as outside were de rigour that winter. As for festive, well it wasn't technically a white Christmas because no snow fell on the day, but it was most definitely deep and crisp and even. I was a young farmer back then, as a club we were always booked for rounds of Carol singing at various big houses, it was a charity fund raising thing and the only way we could do it that Christmas Eve was on cross country skis. The night always ended with a very tipsy Midnight Mass in the local church, I'll forever remember the sight of endless pairs of skis stood up all around the walls outside with deep, deep snow on the ground. Great Tew looking like it had been transported to the Alps. Heaven:-)

Morning GW, long time no speak..... Not a clue where this solar cycle is heading, just have to wait and see for a while. Whether it's high or low and the impact upon temperatures here, there's a bit of a problem with your post above. You've always argued that a Maunder like minimum would have no impact upon temps, that the connect between solar output and Earth temps is tenuous, so small it's considered to be negligible and that it could be discounted. So if a quiet Sun doesn't cool us down, an active Sun won't warm us up. Don't think you need to worry about it

Hello and thank you. I have been periodically checking in but there's been nothing exciting to report from around here. I think recording wind would be good, it's quite an exposed area, not a garden fence to be seen for miles, it's all hedges and stone walls for good reason. Not bothered about rain, dry, a bit damp and piddling down covers it for me. So I suppose temps, dew point and wind speed/gusts are what I'm after.

Morning all, hope you're all keeping well, hopefully still have jobs and are not being driven too demented with the prospect of another lockdown. I'm moving in the next few weeks, still local to here but up on the Mendip plateau and 260m asl. That elevation and the increased chance of snow had absolutely nothing to do with the decision, zilch, nada, pinky promise.... The weather can be a bit more extreme up there (all weather) so with that in mind, I thought it could be interesting to keep more of an eye on it than looking out the window. So, can any of you clever folk recommend a weather station? Not vast amounts of money, definitely not too technical, just your average idiot proof weather station. Any suggestions?

Haven't been on here for months but see you've moved to Chipping Norton. It's near where I grew up and where I went to secondary school, can promise you if there's even a whiff of snow about, you'll get it. Chippy has always been a bit of a snow magnet, many a year saw truck drivers unable to get up the hills and marooned in temporary shelter in the town hall. Enjoy! I on the other hand have just bought a house in the highest village in Somerset, sitting on top of the mendip plateau at 260m asl. My love of snow has absolutely nothing to do with it, zilch, nada, pinky promise

Evening all, after a lovely day of t shirt weather spent in the garden, it occurred to me that 20 years ago today I moved into this house after battling through a foot of snow here in the mendips. What a contrast! Hope you're all keeping safe and well.

I'm beginning to wonder about this theory of warmer weather slowing the spread of the virus. I know seasonal flu dwindles as the weather gets warmer, but it's warmer and drier in both Italy and Spain, it's not making any difference there. Back to the weather, wouldn't be surprised to see snow before it finally warms up a bit, countless times down south we've had a good 6 inches late in the season, sometimes very late and into April. It can be cold enough but it doesn't tend to last more than a day or so.