The met office has updated its level 3 cold weather alert this morning, it will end at noon on Sunday when "a rapid transition to milder conditions is expected" before colder air comes back next week

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/cold-weather-alert/?tab=coldWeatherAlert&season=normal#?tab=coldWeatherAlert 

A new yellow warning for more snow here on Friday. With more snow then forecast for Sunday, this harsh winter spell has a way to go!

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Ian Fergusson saying January will be mixed but overall near average based on the latest detailed seasonal guidance with a risk of blocked, colder and drier weather towards late January and into February

A potentially historic cold with frigid air mass is set to plunge millions in America and Canada into a big freeze just days before Christmas

https://www.severe-weather.eu/global-weather/coldest-arctic-airmass-winter-season-major-storm-christmas-snow-forecast-united-states-canada-mk/ 

So I don’t clog up the Model thread and risk Brian throwing me off the Forum, could I suggest that if anyone still believes today's models are so useless, that you sit down with a nice mug of cocoa and watch this. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q9d86 

It’s on BBC I player but for those who can’t/wont, there's a fuzzier link on YouTube perhaps an illegal copy who knows?
I know it’s been mentioned on TWO before and thank you to whoever mentioned it.

On ‘1963 The Big Freeze’ you can watch models and models and even synoptic charts (legal ones). Not surprisingly back then with less data to work with they still sometimes managed to get the forecasts for thaws and refreezes way out. So I’m really lost as why some people cannot see how the recent forecasts failed to predict the outcome to the recent cold spell. And that the past technologies were always more accurate than today's.
Model 1


Model2

 

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The met office has declared an official white Christmas after rain turned to sleet in Loch Glascarnoch, Scotland and Lough Fea in Northern Ireland

Looking likely this will be the 5th consecutive day with frost persisting on shaded north facing things - especially grass & pavements. 

West London has had its coldest night in 10 years, with Heathrow dropping to -8.4c and Northolt dropping to -8.2c

Indeed it's been a whilst not notable cold spell, interesting enough in that there is still snow on the ground in this part of Dorset from last weeks small fall.  

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Well we soon be in straw clutching territory for severe cold if the next two weeks goes according to the current charts. A winter that promised so much and delivered to some before Christmas looks like fizzling out to a "slightly better than average" kind of winter but nothing notable.

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It’s been a largely good winter here so far. Mainly mild and much drier of late too. We’ve had a couple of colder weeks, but that’s to be expected in virtually every winter. Only a month of the worst season on planet earth to go and we can start using the word Spring 

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New York City has broken the record for the latest ever measurable snowfall.

The previous record for the latest ever snow fall was January 29th 1973.

An official snowfall must have at least 0.1 of an inch on the ground.

New York City has broken the record for the latest ever measurable snowfall.

The previous record for the latest ever snow fall was January 29th 1973.

An official snowfall must have at least 0.1 of an inch on the ground.

A little ambiguous; it means that New York City has always had a snowfall before Jan 29th
https://news.yahoo.com/drought-yorkers-asking-wheres-snow-014405749.html 
 

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New York City has recorded its first measurable snowfall of the season at 05:30 local time in Central Park, making it the latest seasonal snowfall since 1869

The Met Office and Met Éireann have still not named a storm since the new names were released on September 1st. 

The Met Office and Met Éireann have still not named a storm since the new names were released on September 1st. 

You can also add the Dutch weather service to that as well as they are also involved as the other part of that same system.
 

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New York City has recorded its first measurable snowfall of the season at 05:30 local time in Central Park, making it the latest seasonal snowfall since 1869

Is this in fact lazy journalism, shorthand for 'since records began'?

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Washington D.C. is forecast to hit 26c on Thursday, just short of the all-time record of 28.9c set in 1930

France has gone 31 days without recording any rain, matching the record set in spring 2020

My weather app tells me that it's 5 years to the day since the 2018 Beast from the East.

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