Thundery wintry showers

Current temperatures reflect distance from the sea: Blackpool 5C Morecambe 3.5C Lancaster 2.1C Currently cloudy, with snow previously having tried hard to settle, resulting in partial temporary accumulation, all melted now though. I wasn't expecting the snow to get this close to settling at only 7pm.

Extremely heavy hail shower in Lancaster. As is usual in areas near the sea when a cold wind is blowing off the warm sea, the temperature fell dramatically as the shower passed through, but will probably warm back up again in the clear interval following. The temp started at 4.8C and fell to 1.4C. Having said that, it's snowing and 1.8C now. If temperatures can just fall overall by 1 deg C then Lancaster will see some settling snow. But coastal warming is a temperamental feature- I'll just have to wait and see, in excited anticipation.

Lancaster may be nearer the coast, but it's further north, higher up and to the east of a comparitively sheltered bay as opposed to the Irish Sea itself. Indeed the mean winter maximum temperature here is lower than at Manchester, although mean minima are about the same. Also bear in mind that the cold air is always going to reach here before it reaches Manchester. Very dark cloud, containing SNOW, moving in from the west. 4C.

Heavy snow shower in Lancaster driven on by gales, although none of it settled. We'll have to see if it settles overnight as the really cold air comes in!

Heavy, albeit brief, shower of hail and wet snow.

No, it's still too warm (5C.) There was also some graupel/sleet during the end of the shower. The cold air is creeping south, but hasn't reached the NW yet. Still plenty time though. The hail may be a sign of the cold air arriving, as the cold air seems also to be where all the showers are, and the temperature is dropping.

Hail shower in Lancaster.

Hailstones.

Sunny and 5C in Lancaster, with showers approaching. I wonder what they'll bring!?

Sunny and windy with patchy cloud in Lancaster, 6C. The cold air hasn't arrived here yet but the cold WINDS certainly have!

It's amazing just how much wetter mountainous areas are in western Britain as opposed to low-lying or hilly areas. Since I started receiving Weather Log, Durham's heaviest 24 hour fall was 54mm on 3 June 2000. However, that was a near record breaking event in Durham in itself, and no other months since I got the logs exceeded 30mm max per day. In Lancaster 24 hour falls of 20 to 50mm are more common than in Durham, but even here, the record appears to be 56mm. And even the very wet upland location of Eskdalemuir hasn't exceeded a 70mm daily fall, at least since September 1999 according to Weather Log. It really is amazing how much rain can be dumped on those mountains. Somewhere exceeded 500mm rain in the last few days alone- that's half Lancaster's annual average, and roughly 80% of Durham's!

Dull, 13C and chucking it down with rain. Floods on campus. "But at least it's mild". :x

Dull and dry, 14C, but with a shower of rain at 5pm.

14C dull and dry and windy. If we could have a bit of sun, the Hazelrigg record of 14.5C on 15 February 1998 could be under threat. Note that even that record was set under cloudy skies.

Dull, misty and drizzly in Lancaster. 11C. Dull weather lovers in Lancaster must cherish their Bartlett highs.

Very dark and drizzly. 10C.

Not the driest of days then! Drizzly and 7C

Lancaster. Dull and damp. 10C. Where's the sunshine of 2003 when you need it?

Dull with drizzly rain. The start to 2004 in Lancaster has reflected just how sunny 2003 was!

I'll start this one off then... Hail and sleet shower in Lancaster at 12 noon.

Gateshead is not on the coast. By "coast", I mean about half a mile from it! It is quite common for Gateshead to have up to three inches of snow, while where my parents live only gets sleet. Sorry if I was ambiguous there, but to me, Gateshead is inland!

Reports from Tyneside I can confirm: Newcastle and inland areas are still seeing some good snow, but apparently on the coast, according to my parents, they're now getting driving sleety rain and the snow there is melting!?

Lancaster: -1C but rising(?!) with clear skies and a light NNW wind. Reports from the Tyneside coast (South Shields area) indicate that the snow there is now melting as a strong onshore wind has picked up, bringing driving sleet to the area. Inland areas (eg Newcastle) should still be seeing snow though.

The sudden blizzard that Lancaster got has transferred southwards down the UK, not seeming to fizzle out too much. It should be over your area (whoever or wherever you are) before the main band clears.

Sounds like I wasn't too hard done by, it looks like many areas got the same as Lancaster. That's more or less what I got. A good day for "thundery wintry showers" across the country!