Nevertheless, I'm pleased that this thread is here as this will at least mean that I won't now have to start this thread myself in a couple of weeks' time and I'm always more than happy to seeing these threads being started by other members of this forum apart from myself.

Until we get to the start to the actual start of the winter though, the autumn thread is still available and that is where I will also be posting my final stats for the autumn at the beginning of December once the autumn is finally done and dusted.

I agree. Although it feels like winter now, we've always stuck to the meteorological seasonal definitions for these threads.  

My enjoyment of winter and cold in general just seems to go down with each year. I think in the coming years, I'll be looking at taking a winter sun holiday to get a warmth fix.

The problem with winter holidays is that you have to eventually come back to the cold and damp. Hits you like a brick and and can be a flu trigger as well. 

Even with that though, the autumn thread is still available for posting any final statistics for the autumn as a whole (I have also just started another thread for any final stats which only cover the month of November).

I know what you mean, having had the winters of 79 through to 84 then 87 then 91 from late primary through to leaving secondary you can see what my expectations are each year.

So far, this winter has been completely snowless here with just the one air frost here in Edinburgh so far. Ice days have always been very rare even in past winters that I can remember but back in the day, we would usually always get a number of periods in any winter in which the temperature during the day would struggle to get above freezing (a typical maximum temperature would be around 2°C here in Edinburgh).

Back then, football clubs hadn't yet invested in undersoil heating (here in Scotland, the first football club to do that was Hibs back in around 1981) and I'm sure that many of you will remember those occasions during those cold winter periods when the pools panel would sit to decide the most likely results in matches due to there being so many matches postponed because of the icy conditions at the time.

That is something which used to be more or less an annual occasion back in the day. These days, even most smaller clubs will usually have some form of cold weather protection on their pitches so even if we do actually get some really cold weather, it's a lot rarer nowadays to see football matches being postponed because of frosty pitches.

As far far as this winter is concerned, we haven't even come close to get a period such as what I've just described and up until now, our daytime maximum temperature has never been less than 7°C which is absolutely pathetic for this time of year. In addition to that, it's expected to get even worse before it gets better as today's maximum temperature is expected to reach a balmy 14°C here in Edinburgh.

Sadly, the effects of ongoing climate change have become so strong that they now appear to be overpowering all of the other global factors such as the ENSO state, the QBO or the SSTs. With that in mind, I have never been able to see even a glimmer of hope for this winter and up until now, I am clearly being proven to be correct in that regard.

All I can therefore say is, roll on next spring because that couldn't at least come quick enough and the only decent thing which is happening just now comes from the fact that our rivers are reservoirs are at least in the process of being replenished after the droughts and the water scarcity crisis which had dominated this year up until the autumn.

We are only 9 days in to this Winter and yes it looks v mild for the foreseeable but who knows what the rest of the season will be like

Sounds like Melbourne has had a pretty rubbish summer so far, in fact not much warmer than our current winter!

Its funny, when I was a kid, if the temp reached 12c  it was a newsworthy event.  Even in that horrible mildfest winter of 88/9 I dont think we saw temperatures getting so high consistently. 

Here's December 88 at Heathrow:

https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/12-1988/ws-37720.html 

and the previous year was pretty mild too:

https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/12-1987/ws-37720.html 

Winter 87/88, followed by the utterly crud 88/89, were what made me realise that no, it didn't snow every year... and my gran, who I thought was nuts for saying some winters were snowless, was in fact right!

They were a taste of what was to come, unfortunately.

This weather forecast is brilliant re this snowstorm/nor easter in N.E states especially how they forecast the type of snow that falls and has a map of it such as where wettest snow is, where the snow will be dry, very wet snow and powdery and then very powdery - something you will never see in Europe let alone UK, even talking about which part of NYC city will see more snow accumulating such as central park - it is almost like watching the ski forecast when they discuss snow conditions so detailed and descriptive etc: Pause this video at 02:57 and you will see what I mean! haha! :)

Video can be found on below link:

https://youtu.be/_gTI86OBpRg  

Really enjoyable forecast to watch 🙂

What it hard to accept a loss of proper subzero temperature we used to get in the 80s snowy spells and often powdery snow.  Feb 1991 was the best and very last time to see -5 as a max temps. Rest was -2 to 0 in other cold spells during the 90s then -1 to 1 in 2009-2013 to now less cold 2 to 4 which any snow are slush puppy type and gone so quickly even before you go out. Putting on a jacket then go out to see snow all gone as fast as lightning speed.

Indeed, I really hate the darkness, never used to bother me, but now it does.  But we wont really notice much change until mid Jan. 

Same here, Brian. I am OK with it now but it does need doing. Moss rules!

This year really has been a kick in the balls. Yes, there's some nice frost around (and it's great to be able to walk on the grass without it being all squidgy - despite the lack of rain it's remained muddy up 'til now), but it's snow I'm really after and it's snow which makes a winter IMO.

Christmas Day was cruel. For the first time in decades we had a genuine easterly on the way - a Scandinavian High, an upper cold pool, the works. A few days out my area was right in the firing line and I dared to hope... I've never seen a proper white Christmas, just one year with a few patches of snow on the ground and another year with a flake or two of sleet in the heavy rain. The last one was in 1970, I was born in 1979, and I feel I will die without seeing one... pah. Lucky old France and Jersey, and yes, I was very envious of them!

So with that out of the way the Scandinavian High transferred westwards (much faster than in the old days, but beggars can't be choosers). A northerly! Well, that'd be cold and the models showed it being quite prolonged... but as the time drew closer we lost the prolonged bit, the blocking was weaker and the Azores High, bless it, couldn't help but shove itself into proceedings. That meant a loss of the potential for instability, then the loss of a snowy breakdown. 

At least there might be snow as the cold spell set in! Nope - just icy cold rain, although some lucky folks elsewhere in Kent *did* see some snow. The thing with snow at the start of a spell like this is that it hangs around, so it was genuinely galling to see rain falling rather than snow (especially as the MetO had been trailing snow in their text forecasts, not even a hint of it being rain).

In the end it looks like nothing worth writing home about down here. A few cold days - the ground frozen - then lots of wind and cold rain, followed by more wind and less cold rain, with the ground quickly turning back into a quagmire (no doubt remaining that way until the sun starts drying it out in around 6 weeks' time). 

Another year over, a new one just begun, but the same old, same old. 

I really do wish I'd appreciated the 80s and 90s more, but as a kid I assumed it was normal to have 6 inches or more of snow most winters. 

Not a flake all winter here in Edinburgh and all I see coming this week is wet stuff, looks very marginal before the Atlantic steams back in

What a waste of a potential cold spell!

Rant over, you never know, I might get a surprise mid week?