"....winters....... now much milder than they were...."

[Weather-history]

......from the 7th January 1854........

The Manchester Courier

A perception that winters are milder especially December, January.

This was just at the start of where there was a  number of mild/very mild Februarys over the next 30 years 

[Optimus Prime]

If only they were around to experience what we get these days. 

[Sunny76]

There is quite a lot of evidence the current period of warming began in late 1987.

[AmatuerMet1963]

This is of course quite true for some decades now, the last cold snap. I remember last was in Blackpool in 2010. However, you remember Jack Hall in the Day after Tommorow talking about the AMOC and fresh water in the Arctic. But senior scientists were concerned only in July that the AMOC gulf stream that interacts with Artic waters where the overturning mechanics send altered streams that join up with other streams that act like a conveyor belt. They say although the AMOC is probably in no danger yet of collapsing, they have measured a much slower AMOC just recently. That if weakens any further we may lose some of gulf stream that still keeps our winters into the temperate zone, although we don't get beasts from the East anymore, because Siberia has lost most  of its forests burnt back and melted the ice letting perma ice melt into bubbling lakes of merhane. The AMOC is paramount of what winters we get, so in closing, "global warning can also kick off global cooling in selected parts of the world. 

[AmatuerMet1963]

On 11/08/2022 at 17:08, Sunny76 said:

There is quite a lot of evidence the current period of warming began in late 1987.

Quite right. I saw it first hand after heading to Vienna by car from Dover via Frankfurt, Nuremberg on the 19th December 1989.i had paid out a small fortune in cold weather gear from the uk beforehand, snow chains, rugs shovel, deicers and a bottle of anti freeze. Plus skiing lessons before I headed to Dover Hoverport was expensive. Imagine my shock when I eventually drove into Salzburg the snow Capitol of the area, devoid of any snow or ice, in fact I just needed a T shirt. 55%f.the Alps were not the exciting to wonder at. They were just rock dark and empty. Ski lifts closed, resorts around the area all closed. I headed East the next day in thick fog. To Vienna for my two week stay, but although a bisk east dry wind prevailed, it was not enough to pull away the fog and had a miserable Christmas day vising the Schonenberg Palace shrouded by fog and the lakes just solid ice. But snowfall, not one flake. To me that was the first anomaly that made take up studying climate changes since that day. 1989 was the real start of change, but far too tenious a one off to a tribute to any climate shift

[Sunny76]

17 minutes ago, AmatuerMet1963 said:

Quite right. I saw it first hand after heading to Vienna by car from Dover via Frankfurt, Nuremberg on the 19th December 1989.i had paid out a small fortune in cold weather gear from the uk beforehand, snow chains, rugs shovel, deicers and a bottle of anti freeze. Plus skiing lessons before I headed to Dover Hoverport was expensive. Imagine my shock when I eventually drove into Salzburg the snow Capitol of the area, devoid of any snow or ice, in fact I just needed a T shirt. 55%f.the Alps were not the exciting to wonder at. They were just rock dark and empty. Ski lifts closed, resorts around the area all closed. I headed East the next day in thick fog. To Vienna for my two week stay, but although a bisk east dry wind prevailed, it was not enough to pull away the fog and had a miserable Christmas day vising the Schonenberg Palace shrouded by fog and the lakes just solid ice. But snowfall, not one flake. To me that was the first anomaly that made take up studying climate changes since that day. 1989 was the real start of change, but far too tenious a one off to a tribute to any climate shift

Warming started in the U.K. probably in 1974/75, which was followed by the hottest summer for many years at that stage, and moved away from the cooler summers of the 1960s.

1987 was when it became a lot more noticeable. 
 

That being said, we still get winter spells like Feb 1991, Feb 94, December 1995, late December 2000, winter of 2005/06(cold and dry), February 2009 snow, winter 2009/10, December 2010, March 2013, Feb 2018, and winter 2020/21(not very snowy, but still cold in places).

Not as severe as they used to be, but colder weather will and still does occur. 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

seemed to change around 98/99 here, that seemed to be the end of frequent snowy spells

[damianslaw]

On 13/08/2022 at 20:18, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

seemed to change around 98/99 here, that seemed to be the end of frequent snowy spells

Step change periods 1971.. marked the start of very mild winter's until late 76.. also cold wet summers and then very warm ones in 75 sand 76.. 

A regression happened 76-77 winter and we had a period more akin to 40s- 60s, this then changed late 87..

87- 97 alternating very mild winter's, warm summers but also some cold spells and cool summers

97- 08 generally very wet period, very mild winter's mostly, some hot summers and more average ones

08-13 regression back to the 77-87 period, colder winter's, cool summers

13 onwards, very mild winter, warm or hot summers..