Early Spring

[Bottesford]

I have a south facing window, and the sun shines in all day. And for some reason my room never cools down, even with windows open it just keeps heating up. 25c at the moment in the shade in my room and I am sitting in the sun! It's effectively a greenhouse. That's why I dislike summer!

My office faces south and yes, even in the depths of winter the sun does make it very warm indeed. But open the window and it cools fast. Surely it can't stay at 25c if you had all the windows open? Maybe consider investing in some shutters if things get that bad?

[Polar Continental]

Certainly very spring like here today, sunny and breezy with about 60% humidity and almost 10c. I have just dug the garden ready for onions and shallots, when I finished I mowed the lawns for the first time this year.

As much as I like the cold, I do love these first days of early spring, getting out in the garden and starting the garden for summer.

Paul

[Cheese Rice]

Sun is shining ! Thats the only thing spring like today, 6.9c here! Biting wind :lol: which has blown over all my garden plants!

Anthing but spring like here, i guess thats what y get for living so high up, when you walk up hill there is no wind at first get to about 190m and boom the wind out of nowhere comes in

[The PIT]

Warm and sunny in Sheffield today 10.2 C Max Snowdrops are out as are Crocuses. Cooler in the peak district with a brisk wind earlier on. Just done the fist gardening looks like lawn will need doing next weekend and will try to do it if it stays dry. Hopefully this summer I'll be able to dot he major work which I couldn't do due to rain last year.

[Ridley70]

15.3 here in Salisbury, felt even warmer, feel sorry for you northerners! B) Roll on summer

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Spring here now mostly sunny today 10.7C max, from 20th february is really spring i think, looking springlike for rest of feb but less sun,

[Thundery wintry showers]

When I think "springlike" I think in terms of blossoming flowers, bright sunshine (whether on its own or mixed with showers) light breezes and people getting out into the garden and mowing of lawns starting to occur.

Many talk of "springlike" as meaning "temperatures typical of April or May", and "wintry" as meaning "temperatures typical of January or February"- so an early spring means that warm temperatures arrive early. Personally, I don't think of it that way. I would go as far as to say that Exeter's weather on 3 February 2009 (early snow cover, followed by sunshine and wintry showers, and a thaw during the sunny intervals) was more springlike than many of the mild cloudy anticyclonic days we've had recently.

Many associate warmth with dryness and sunshine, and cold with rain/snow and excessive cloud cover, but that relationship doesn't hold statistically in the UK except during high summer. For example, Aprils 1993 and 2004 were very warm, while those of 1984 and 1990 had close to average temperature. Which two, out of those four, were the dry sunny ones?

That said, it certainly felt springlike in Exeter today when, for once, the sun came out and stayed out for a large proportion of the afternoon.

[Bottesford]

When I think "springlike" I think in terms of blossoming flowers, bright sunshine (whether on its own or mixed with showers) light breezes and people getting out into the garden and mowing of lawns starting to occur.

Many talk of "springlike" as meaning "temperatures typical of April or May", and "wintry" as meaning "temperatures typical of January or February"- so an early spring means that warm temperatures arrive early. Personally, I don't think of it that way. I would go as far as to say that Exeter's weather on 3 February 2009 (early snow cover, followed by sunshine and wintry showers, and a thaw during the sunny intervals) was more springlike than many of the mild cloudy anticyclonic days we've had recently.

Many associate warmth with dryness and sunshine, and cold with rain/snow and excessive cloud cover, but that relationship doesn't hold statistically in the UK except during high summer. For example, Aprils 1993 and 2004 were very warm, while those of 1984 and 1990 had close to average temperature. Which two, out of those four, were the dry sunny ones?

That said, it certainly felt springlike in Exeter today when, for once, the sun came out and stayed out for a large proportion of the afternoon.

I agree with you - but that's why it *has* felt springlike here - we've seen a good deal of sunshine most days this week. Even in cloudier episodes it's still been bright with odd fleeting sunshine.

The colder times here have been the cloudier ones this winter - like the easterly/anti-cyclonic weather after xmas. Several weeks with no sunshine at all yet very low temps in many parts of the UK. Not here of course - too cloudy, so just raw, cold & miserable.

Still, gimme mild cloudy over cold cloudy anyday! But sunny cold beats mild cloudy of course.

[Andy Bown]

15.3 here in Salisbury, felt even warmer, feel sorry for you northerners! Roll on summer

Are you sure your thermometer/sensor is correctly positioned?

Boscombe Down maxxed at 12.1c and I got 11.9c here in Westbury.

[J10]

I'd like to see further snow this winter/early spring, but sunny and mid weather is also pretty nice, if we cannot have that.

[MP-R]

I'd like to see further snow this winter/early spring, but sunny and mid weather is also pretty nice, if we cannot have that.

Absolutely. I liked the days when there is a surprise snowfall of 3cm of snow on the lawn when you wake up with clear skies and then the rest of the day is sunny and warm with a thaw of the snow. This happened here in 1998, 1999, 2000 but the snow event in 2008 was not so pleasant with a thaw of snow during the day despite consecutive heavy snow showers to follow.

[Bottesford]

I remember a recent April with snowfall in the gaps between warm sunshine - from a northerly no doubt. A good sunshine & anything-you-like-showers northerly is always good in April - hopefully we get one this year too.

[Costa Del Fal]

We got 14.8c yesterday. It was very pleasant outside and it was great in a t-shirt. No jacket was needed!

Today its already about 11c under cloudy skies!

[sunny scunny]

Very pleasant out and about today,with the temp already upto 11c.

As with previous days though the amount of cloud here is disappointing.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Aye, echoing the sentiments of a couple of posts above, I thought of the period 5-15 April 2008 as having classic spring weather, at least where I was in Norwich- the scenario of a northerly outbreak followed by a gradual warm-up and rise of pressure. The sun shone on every day of the spell, there were showers on most days (including some snowfalls on the 6th and 7th, before it got warmer) and a few of the days had hail and thunder. One particularly dramatic hail/thunderstorm covered the UEA campus in about an inch of hail.

The other two spring setups I particularly enjoy are those "sunny" anticyclones with warm sunny days and cool nights (which in some cases can bring a hot taster of summer- 27C at Norwich on 11 May 2008- while at the other side of the coin we can get weeks like the first week of May 2001, with sunshine and highs of 15-18C by day, and minima close to freezing by night), and those cyclonic/southerly types with bands of thundery showers spreading north and east across the country- I particularly remember the period 18-24 April 2000 for this.

[Andy Bown]

12.9c tops today, the highest since somewhen in November.

anything-you-like-showers northerly

Soft hail for entertainment value !

[Bottesford]

Certainly feeling like spring today. Just stood outside and listening to the birds (and the city council house 4 o clock bell chime!) and really enjoying being outside again. And being outside again without the prepartions! The gloves, the hat, coat..

My house feels ok without much heating too and even the designated 'cold zones' of the house (kitchen/downstairs toilet) are not too bad either.

Makes you feel much better!

Glad this mild spell is here to stay for a while - think we need it after the cold winter!

[Moisty]

Third day in a row feeling like Spring here, I would love to think that Winter is over and thoughts of the cold are past but I know its too early for that even in Sunny Hampshire but at least the sun is getting stronger and the days longer.

I always think March is a great month with allsorts of weather but at least its the right side of Winter

Edited February 22, 2009 by Moisty

[Matt Taylor]

Not so good today but Saturday was a glorious day down here on the coast, the seafront traders did a good early season trade and I couldn't help but get my knees damp and grab a quick shot of the first flowers of the year!

Early spring in Southsea.

Matt

[danm]

once march arrives i usually want the warmth to start. up till the end of feb/very early march i want snow, but after that its time to look forward to summer

[Geordiesnow]

Noticed a few daffodil stems shooting up from the ground now but they are still quite a fair way before flowering. Apart from that no real signs of spring, just feels mild because its been so cold for the past few months.

[summer blizzard]

Spring to me is maxima in the teens, combined with sunshine during the day and light winds, with that in mind, Spring started yesterday for me, when i was on break (i work at a bar), it was luvely.

[The PIT]

Spring like weather continues daffodils coming up snowdrops etc are out albeit much later than last year. Despite plenty of cloud at times another very nice day.

More like mid march than the end of feb at the moment. One of the problems and the reason why people are saying it isn't like spring is that they've got used to the very recent mild winters.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I've been saying it isn't like spring because of the cloud cover, nowt to do with temperature- though this has changed in the last three days in Exeter, with a fair number of sunny intervals, with Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in particular having plenty of sun.

[La Bise]

No spring feeling up in the Peak District, there is still snow up there and that westerly wind on sunday was one frigid mofo...