Azazel

The period just gone wasn’t crisp and sunny though - it was grey with a brisk/strong wind from the east which made it feel horrendous. Give me mild and wet over that any day. At least I can turn the heating back down.

I suspect growth will advance rapidly over the next week or so with the much milder temperatures on offer. Hopefully it won’t be too gloomy/cloudy.

The easterly just did nothing for my location and basically the entire south west. After narnia looking charts that promised country-wide snow events, you can understand how disheartening it was to see these get pushed back and then disappear entirely for our region. It was laughable if not entirely unexpected to watch the cold go out with a whimper (the same thing seems to happen with heat nowadays too - no fireworks, just swept away with some drizzle). We did get a snowfall a couple of weeks ago that gave us a few cm for a few hours, making it better than the 2019 winter at least but the recent ‘beasterly’ provided nothing but snow grains blowing around in a bitingly cold wind, with slate grey skies and not even a frost to speak of because it was too windy and dry. It was gross. Cant wait for these warmer days/evenings even if it’s a bit damper - will be nice to see and smell the advance of plantlife which is looking a little haggard.

True enough. Its been frigid here, but utterly snowless, grey and boring. I can’t be dealing with the horrendous wind chill anymore with no snow whatsoever to show for it. My hands will appreciate the milder weather.

Absolutely cannot wait for the warmer weather and I’m so glad this dreadful cold spell is over.

I’m buzzing tbf.

So the cold leaves with a whimper in much the same way heat seems to leave nowadays without a stormy breakdown. boring.

Just a few more days left to endure this pointless, boring cold:)

I’m guessing the Dover Strait didn’t freeze over in the end and there haven’t been any reported ice bergs in the Thames? These were serious predictions/comments in the model thread btw.

on and off dandruff all morning from the thames streamer. Never heavy enough to give anything more than a slight dusting though.

It's been crap here. You can't change my mind.

So with meteorological spring less than 3 weeks away and this cold snap failing to impress for the majority of the south west, I thought I would open this thread for anyone pining for the warmth and new growth of spring. We have daffodils just about starting to flower here - a little later than what I’ve been accustomed to over recent years as it has been a bit cooler this winter. Also some buds fattening on the local tree which seems to blossom way ahead of its peers. Fingers crossed there’s some early warmth around the corner.

I agree with the spring chase thread. This cold spell has been thoroughly disappointing for my region and I’m just impatiently waiting for spring and warmth. Roll on this weekend when the milder air moves in.

So I know it doesn’t mean much, but all snow icons have disappeared from my iPhone weather app for the week ahead. One of the most pointless, disappointing weather events I have ever experienced for this region. Roll on spring and summer where there will be no storms either.

Lol

This looks like turning out to be a grim spell for this location. Freezing cold, grey and windy. I absolutely cannot wait for Spring.

Going by my phone as I don’t have an accurate temperature reading - it’s 4 degrees.

Raining here.

Looks a bit cold and miserable this far south west. Grim. Hopefully that warm air bottled up in Southern Europe starts marching north soon.

Also, I have a great memory of going to beacon hill when I was a teen to meet some friends in the snow. After a slightly dodgy drive up the A34, we began our ascent of Beacon Hill wearing no waterproof clothing of any kind and just your standard footwear. It took us over an hour to get to the top and about half way up, the path had completely gone and the snow was up to our knees. When we reached the top, we realised all of our friends already up there had sledges to get back down again, whereas me and my friend had absolutely nothing. We watched them zoom away from us down the hill, laughing and giggling as they shrunk into the distance and became tiny black specs against the white landscape. Not to be defeated, we decided to just sledge down the hill ourselves...on our faces. Mustering all our strength, we took a lunge and jump and penguin-dived face first into the snow over the brow of the hill. Slowly but surely, we began to gather pace - rocketing down the slope at a rate of knots - 2 streamline human missiles sped down the incline. At some point, I hit a badger set and flew into an unstoppable summersault. I began rolling down the hill violently, tumbling head over heels, unsure of which way was the right way up. It was then I saw my friend flash past me upside down screaming as he careened through the air like a spinning bullet in a violent pirouette. I remember thinking to myself "this was a bad idea" as I smashed off another rabbit hole with a hollow thump and I could hear the tormented cries of my friend nearby as he barrelled down the hill next to me, but mercifully, I began to come to a halt as I reached the bottom and more gentle, flatter land. Eventually I came to a complete stop and managed to catch a glimpse of my friend as he slowly and pathetically slid up against the wire-fence at the bottom of the hill, face-down and completely motionless. Amazingly, neither of us were hurt(seriously) and we managed to beat the guys on the sledges to the bottom!

I always make bacon sandwiches for whoever is around - a tradition I continued the sunday morning before last when it was snowing. When I lived in Whitchurch, I would trudge to my friend's house where we would have bacon sandwiches and then we would make suits out of bin-bags and trek the mile or so to a place called "the hangings" which has a large hill. Often large numbers from the town would congregate there - cue enormous snowball fights and sledging etc. After that, we would make the journey back home, stopping to buy ingredients for a roast dinner - soaked and exhausted, we would cook a roast then veg out on the sofa until it became time to go home.

So i dont follow the model thread closely but I saw the beast from the east was arriving saturday earlier in the week - now its wednesday next week? Is that right? I'm guessing by the weekend it will have been pushed back to the following weekend?

It’s really noticeable now even on a cloudy horrible wet day like today. Really looking forward to that first still evening above like 12 degrees when you can smell all the plants starting to come to life.

Probably got a few cm here in the end. Melting now though.

Biggest flakes I’ve ever seen currently - probably the size of TWO 50ps stuck together.