cuckoo

The following article reports a paper which atributes the recent colder winters experienced in Europe to disappearing arctic sea ice. The larger area of exposed warmer (relatively speaking) ocean water facilitates northerly blocking patterns and hence the colder winters recently experienced in Europe. The phenomenon is only transient in nature however as further degredation of the ice cover will lead to a return to milder winters eventually. article

Sounds like it could be a Fieldfare. I saw one the other week when I was out walking. They migrate here from East and North East Europe to evade the harsher winters there. Given the current weather they are probably struggling to find food in the woodland / farmland pasture and are visiting gardens in their search for food.

Some very impressive minima

Many of the species migrate here to escape the harsher and longer winters experienced further North and East on the continent. So far they will have been finding a similar winter here and many may have continued to migrate a bit further South I imagine. It is true that these species have survived harsh winters through the past but I would imagine the natural resources present in the country during these times would have been much greater. We now have many excellent wildlife habitats that have been destroyed by expanding urbanisation. Coupled with intensive farming techniques which have removed hedrerows and other excellent habitats etc. I would imagine that much more of nature will need a bit of help from man to survive these days due to this habitat loss that has happened.

Not sure of the technical definition of level snow depth but will quote the numbers if it helps. A plastic table in the back yard is shown in the photo below. It is in a fairly sheltered position but as you may be able to see one side seems to be slightly higher than the other. Depending on where I place the wooden measuring pole I can get a reading between 45cm and 51cm. SW Chesterfield is the location.

I misinterpreted your post. I thought you were talking about the line that runs vertically down Russia which has recently appeared.

It looks to me like the snow pretty much follows the high ground of the Ural mountains which run straight down that part of the country.

Just received this in an e-mail OUCH! that is a lot of money. Well done to the winners

Well done to all the winners so far! I hope to be picking a winning square sometime in the near future. So far (in about a dozen attempts) I have not managed it.

Really enjoying reading this thread and looking forward to being able to see the "bigger picture" during the course of winter. It should help in keeping a sense of perspective on things when the mainstream media is over-reacting / hyping up any cold spells that we may be lucky enough to experience during the forthcoming winter.

You have August above the data Richard.

Yes but does this thread relate to UK cold spell only or a more global perspective? The cold is still very much continuing in continental Europe as La Bise's post demonstrates.

Some reasonably cold uppers accompanying this Northerly flow later in the week. The -10°C line just failing to make it to our shores once again though.

Many thanks. Quite a lot of data on this site! As i suspected it looks very indeed over there.

The really cold upper air dropping into Central Europe again. I have noticed this happen on numerous occasions this winter and i imagine places such as Germany and Poland have had quite a severe winter, even by their more exacting standards. Does anybody know of a good website for finding out meteorlogical data about these areas. I would be interested to see how the winter they have had this year compares historically to their previous severe winters and how it measures up against their "average" winters.

Looking like a great analysis here. I have really enjoyed the model watching this winter, thanks to all the regulars for their expert analysis and comment in interpreting the charts.

Looks to me (sadly) like a similar situation to mid-February where the high was just too close to us and the cold air slips away to our East into Central Europe. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the trait of Easterlies disappearing from the output only to reappear slightly before the event holds true but this is probably just me clutching at straws.

Great to find so many enthusiasts for the cold weather. Almost everyone i know has been moaning about the weather and complaining about the snow saying how 'awful' and 'terrible' it has been. Louise Lear on the BBC national forecast even went so far as to say 'this cold weather is all becoming a bit tiresome isn't it'. If these charts on the 06Z actually verified it would be an amazing end to a great winter from an IMBY perspective. Even if they don't verify it looks like plenty in Scotland have already had a grandstand finish. Fingers crossed!