What that update suggests to me is that while the MetO anticipate milder and more unsettled weather returning during next week, they don't anticpate a return to the sort of set-up that produced the exceptionally mild and wet December.

Yep temps by day are fairly typical for the time of year its just after having those spring like conditions for so long its a 'shock' to the system the best chance of seeing some snow this week looks to be tomorrow night and into Thursday before the high moves in later in the week

granted it's nothing special for the region but it certainly doesn't look 'average' for the northeast.

It is indeed and most welcome

who are you talking about when you say 'we' as it's not been the mildest start to winter in all regions across the nation. Also by the start to winter I assume you are referring to December??

There was a good programme on BBC4 last night (Horizon) discussing the role of the jet stream in recent extreme winters and discussing factors causing the jet to behave that way - including SSW, QBO, Arctic amplification and the weather in Indonesia. 

A worthwhile and informative watch, especially to the more amateur among us.

Fergie forcast this eveningt still unsure whether the Atlantic will push in next week.

Thanks for posting that, I noticed the National forecast increasing snow chances for Wed/Thu too.

The CET record, you know, the way WE measure temperature as a standard in this country?  I'm talking about the period 1 Dec- 11 January.

Yellow and Amber warnings out for snow, tonight and tomorrow:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=map&map=Warnings&zoom=5&lon=-3.50&lat=55.50&fcTime=1452643200

Quite vague and reflect the uncertainty.  

I can't see us getting anything settling here. Met office raw data shows temps between 1c and 2c all night which is just slightly too mild. If these change as the day goes on I will get more excited. 

Outlook for the UK over the next 6-30 days

UK Outlook for Sunday 17 Jan 2016 to Tuesday 26 Jan 2016:

The weekend will continue cold and bright for most with widespread overnight frosts. There will be a few sleet or snow showers, mainly in the north and east. The start of next week should continue much the same, although more unsettled conditions are likely to spread slowly in from the west early to mid week onwards, with temperatures returning to near normal. There is the potential for a period of snow before the onset of the milder conditions. The rest of the period should be changeable with showers or longer spells of rain, interspersed with some drier and brighter conditions. The wettest conditions occurring in the north and west, where it could turn windy at times.

UK Outlook for Wednesday 27 Jan 2016 to Wednesday 10 Feb 2016:

The weather looks set to be rather changeable throughout the outlook period with rain and hill snow at times, interspersed with some dry and brighter interludes. The rain and showers are likely to be heaviest and most frequent in the northwest. Further south higher than normal pressure is likely therefore drier than normal conditions are expected overall. Overall, temperatures are expected to be around normal for the time of year although day to day variations are likely depending on the weather systems passing through.

Updated at: 0350 on Wed 13 Jan 2016

A vague update this morning by the Met Office and notice no mention of 'milder than average temperatures'! - Perhaps there could be a significant change! - I know that this is FI but this could be a sign:

Yep.  I think the Meto dailies may well change in the next 2 days as we do seem to be getting cross model support for a much slower breakdown and nothing too unsettled is progged until the latter part of next week now.

Of course all the models could be totally wrong 7 days out so the next few Meto updates will be interesting.

Also of note is Meto's dry and clear forecast for Sunday whereas GFS has developed a potentially snowy feature to watch

That is yesterday's, should be updated around lunchtime.