Tony47

That channel low could continue to move north/northeast and would bring in milder air unless the high resists and keeps the low at bay.

Allseasons-Si Oh gawd All seasons - you've done it now. You've said the dreaded words - nailed on. Please retract before the weather gods punish us.

DJ Fart Totally agree. And when anyone says 'nailed on' I cringe. Too many meteorological disappointments in my long life.

Dead right about Feb 86. I lived near York then and recall the bitter cold (CET well below zero), but so little snow. The dry cold was so severe that many hedges and shrubs were 'burned' by the cold. I call it the forgotten winter because of the lack of snow for most in Britain - except for the east coast fringes.

Yeah, and me. Was living in Gloucester then and experienced the lowest temperature I've ever experienced. - -15.5C (or 4' Fahrenheit.) The snow squeaked underfoot. A fantastic time.

I'm reminded of the Feb 1986 winter which was the second coldest of the century and had a minus CET. (Only Dec 2010 has achieved that since). But I call it the forgotten winter because, apart from some east coast fringe areas, it was virtually dry, with very little snow. (I was living near York at the time) It's always the snowy winters we remember. I should have said, second coldest February of the century. Sorry.

Agreed swfc. Bearing in mind we're still in official Autumn, and after last winter's washout, I'd take what I'm seeing with everything going.

I'm 75 and so I had and enjoyed many snowy winters including 62-63 (living in Birmingham then) when the ground was covered in snow from Boxing Day till March 1st. Believe me, I never tired of it and was still sad when the thaw came.

Actually the freeze began on the 23rd, at least in Birmingham where I then lived, with 3 frost days before the snow arrived on the 26th. Consequently the ground was well frozen. My greatest winter unsurprisingly with the Met Office approved Edgbaston observatory showing the max temp between 23rd Dec and Mar 1st being 4 degrees C.

Sorry, that should say '1739'.

Manley, in "Climate and the British Scene", wrote that in the 1939 winter, the coldest ever recorded, the maximum temperature in London on one day was below 15'F ( - 10'C) in a gale force easterly wind. I would have thought that might just fit the bill for -20'C uppers?

My daughter and family moved out of Mytholmroyd to Halifax just 3 months before the huge flooding a few years ago. The house they left was flooded to a metre up the ground floor walls. Thankfully they are now on the side of a gentle hill and there's at least no chance of flooding for them there. But they left behind friends in the Calder valley and it was a devastating time for them. It's an horrendous thing, just as it has been for the people near Doncaster who are still trying to dry out their houses.

I have to pick upon the comment re the 1962/63 winter. I lived in Birmingham aged 15 then and kept the Met Office recordings from their official Egbaston observatory. The highest temperature between Dec 22nd and March 1st was 4 degrees Celcius. The snow that fell on Boxing day was still there at the beginning of March. It truly was a classic.

Are you sure. Looks further north to me.