Oh well, another Xmas that won't be white.

We had two on the run in 09 & 10, as well as a dusting in mid-Dec 11 (which descended into mild crap a day later) but apart from that, not even a teaser of a cold & snowy build-up to the big day itself to boost the X-mas atmos.

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My God, winter 2019/20 is only 10 days old and already it has delivered miserable westerly gales and heavy rain , a failed cold, snowy spell that vanished as it approached and now the prospect of a Christmas Barlett as predicted beautifully on this mornings ECM. Not a flake of snow so far despite over 2 months of near or below average temperatures and now just as the potential snow season really gets under way the synoptic become as vile as they can possibly be. Welcome to Brexit Britain where the weather is as bad as its politics. How apt that Very soon we will be out the EU with our weather like everything else permanently coming from the states and never from Europe! I am as mad as hell and won't take it anymore!.......

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My God, winter 2019/20 is only 10 days old and already it has delivered miserable westerly gales and heavy rain , a failed cold, snowy spell that vanished as it approached and now the prospect of a Christmas Barlett as predicted beautifully on this mornings ECM. Not a flake of snow so far despite over 2 months of near or below average temperatures and now just as the potential snow season really gets under way the synoptic become as vile as they can possibly be. Welcome to Brexit Britain where the weather is as bad as its politics. How apt that Very soon we will be out the EU with our weather like everything else permanently coming from the states and never from Europe! I am as mad as hell and won't take it anymore!.......

To me, this is the winter equivalent of us getting a lot of summer-like weather during the second half of the spring (around April/May) only to then find that this ends up being it for our summer with the actual summer itself being wet and possibly rather cool as well.

That is something which is actually quite common here in the UK and because of that, I still wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being a year when we had our "winter" in October/November at a time which was actually too early for that to deliver any snow to this part of the world.

That has resulted in me being slated on certain other threads within this forum for claiming that it wouldn't therefore surprise me if that was then, it for our winter. However, absolutely nothing is happening just now to show that this hasn't actually been the case and the longer that this is going on, the more that I appear to actually be getting proved right on that point.

 

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To me, this is the winter equivalent of us getting a lot of summer-like weather during the second half of the spring (around April/May) only to then find that this ends up being it for our summer with the actual summer itself being wet and possibly rather cool as well.

That is something which is actually quite common here in the UK and because of that, I still wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being a year when we had our "winter" in October/November at a time which was actually too early for that to deliver any snow to this part of the world.

That has resulted in me being slated on certain other threads within this forum for claiming that it wouldn't therefore surprise me if that was then, it for our winter. However, absolutely nothing is happening just now to show that this hasn't actually been the case and the longer that this is going on, the more that I appear to actually be getting proved right on that point.

 

Well if you are going to do the whole 'winter is over' thing in the first half of December then this is certainly the thread in which to do it 🙂 However in other threads, well it's not surprising you get moaned at as there is no way anyone can predict what the coming winter will be like with any confidence whatsoever. Therefore it's just your 'gut feeling' really, and best kept on here!

 

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To me, this is the winter equivalent of us getting a lot of summer-like weather during the second half of the spring (around April/May) only to then find that this ends up being it for our summer with the actual summer itself being wet and possibly rather cool as well.

That is something which is actually quite common here in the UK and because of that, I still wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being a year when we had our "winter" in October/November at a time which was actually too early for that to deliver any snow to this part of the world.

That has resulted in me being slated on certain other threads within this forum for claiming that it wouldn't therefore surprise me if that was then, it for our winter. However, absolutely nothing is happening just now to show that this hasn't actually been the case and the longer that this is going on, the more that I appear to actually be getting proved right on that point.

 

Jeez, it's only 10 days old. Though of course you are only following your normal form.....

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On a completely different and more short term note though, this morning is really wild here with warnings in place about the possibility of falling tree branches due to the high winds.

With that in mind, I am wondering why on Earth this particular weather system hasn't been officially named as Storm Brendan, which is the next name on the list under that system. The fact that this hasn't happens shows just how slow and inept our UK Met Office are in comparison with their Irish counterparts when it comes to naming these systems.

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On a completely different and more short term note though, this morning is really wild here with warnings in place about the possibility of falling tree branches due to the high winds.

With that in mind, I am wondering why on Earth this particular weather system hasn't been officially named as Storm Brendan, which is the next name on the list under that system. 

 

Because it isn't affecting the South?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Oh well, another Xmas that won't be white.

We had two on the run in 09 & 10, as well as a dusting in mid-Dec 11 (which descended into mild crap a day later) but apart from that, not even a teaser of a cold & snowy build-up to the big day itself to boost the X-mas atmos.

 

I am, of course, forgetting the Boxing Day snow of [IIRC] 2014. 

Even if it was very temporary, it was most welcome and unexpected.

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Because it isn't affecting the South?

 ...

 

In that case, maybe Scotland should have its own separate Met Office just as the Irish Republic does. That way, there might then have been a much better chance of today's storm actually being named.

I've just been looking at the local News and have noticed Edinburgh Castle and Edinburgh Zoo were both closed today due to the high winds as well as the Christmas Market in Princes Street Gardens. In addition to that, a tree was brought down by the wind in Holyrood and that has also been at least one report of an overturned HGV, not to mention the various flood warnings which are in place as a result of the recent rainfall which we have been getting.

Yet, all that the UK Met Office had to offer in the run up to all of that was a measly yellow warning for wind. At the end of the day, what I have described above surely has to have merited in the very least, an amber warning leading up to all of that rather than the yellow warning which was given and had that happened, that would have been enough in itself for this storm to actually be named by our incompetent so-called "UK" Met Office.

 

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In that case, maybe Scotland should have its own separate Met Office just as the Irish Republic does. That way, there might then have been a much better chance of today's storm actually being named.

I've just been looking at the local News and have noticed Edinburgh Castle and Edinburgh Zoo were both closed today due to the high winds as well as the Christmas Market in Princes Street Gardens. In addition to that, a tree was brought down by the wind in Holyrood and that has also been at least one report of an overturned HGV, not to mention the various flood warnings which are in place as a result of the recent rainfall which we have been getting.

Yet, all that the UK Met Office had to offer in the run up to all of that was a measly yellow warning for wind. At the end of the day, what I have described above surely has to have merited in the very least, an amber warning leading up to all of that rather than the yellow warning which was given and had that happened, that would have been enough in itself for this storm to actually be named by our incompetent so-called "UK" Met Office.

 

 

The Irish Republic has a separate met office as it is a separate country just like France or Germany. Once (if) you get your independence you can can have your own met office and whatever else you like....

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The Irish Republic has a separate met office as it is a separate country just like France or Germany. Once (if) you get your independence you can can have your own met office and whatever else you like....

I knew that already but then, many members may well recall that there was a period of time when I sported a signature on this forum which showed what my views were on both Scottish Independence and Brexit.

Since this isn't the UIA Forum, I won't go any further into that here although those of you who remember that previous signature which I had will no doubt, probably be able to understand why I mentioned a separate Scottish Met Office here given those views which I expressed in that previous signature.

 

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Brilliant sunrise from this day in 2013:

 

So even the worst winter in recorded history offered something. This horror show continues to offer nothing but day after day of thoroughly unpleasant and horrific garbage. There has been nothing photogenic at all over the past 10 days

Not had a minimum below 1C since the 1^st whereas at this stage of December 2015 there had been three, as well as snow lying on the 1^st. Not seen even a flake so far this year. Then there was a frost on the 13^th and a max of 1.6C which doesn’t look like being repeated any time soon.

Yet again that vile wind is blasting away outside and yet again as a result the temperature is not dropping, stuck on 3.8C. With easterlies and southerlies it's the cloud which gives zero diurnal range and with westerlies and northerlies it's the wind. Absolutely nothing results in normal temperature variation any more 

I’ve recorded 28 air frosts for the year which is a shockingly bad total. Just beats my worst ever total of 27 in 2007 but still need another two to equal the next worst total of 30 in 2011 and 2014. Hard to see that coming with this relentless abhorrent windy filth. More chance of it turning out milder than 2015 and challenging 1988. It’s just breathtakingly bad that something as simple and mundane as a frost – which used to be a regular occurrence in winter- has now become a challenge to achieve.

Another nightmare year from hell. The lack of daytime warmth since April combined with ridiculously mild nights has been horrific and unprecedented. With the relentless dull and wet Saturdays, adding to the misery, it has just been an experience of sheer torture that no-one should have to endure

 

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Brilliant sunrise from this day in 2013:

 

So even the worst winter in recorded history offered something. This horror show continues to offer nothing but day after day of thoroughly unpleasant and horrific garbage. There has been nothing photogenic at all over the past 10 days

Not had a minimum below 1C since the 1^st whereas at this stage of December 2015 there had been three, as well as snow lying on the 1^st. Not seen even a flake so far this year. Then there was a frost on the 13^th and a max of 1.6C which doesn’t look like being repeated any time soon.

Yet again that vile wind is blasting away outside and yet again as a result the temperature is not dropping, stuck on 3.8C. With easterlies and southerlies it's the cloud which gives zero diurnal range and with westerlies and northerlies it's the wind. Absolutely nothing results in normal temperature variation any more 

I’ve recorded 28 air frosts for the year which is a shockingly bad total. Just beats my worst ever total of 27 in 2007 but still need another two to equal the next worst total of 30 in 2011 and 2014. Hard to see that coming with this relentless abhorrent windy filth. More chance of it turning out milder than 2015 and challenging 1988. It’s just breathtakingly bad that something as simple and mundane as a frost – which used to be a regular occurrence in winter- has now become a challenge to achieve.

Another nightmare year from hell. The lack of daytime warmth since April combined with ridiculously mild nights has been horrific and unprecedented. With the relentless dull and wet Saturdays, adding to the misery, it has just been an experience of sheer torture that no-one should have to endure

 

I don't always agree with everything that Richard says on this forum, but I can confirm from his latest post that Edinburgh is in a very similar position as regards to how this month has panned out so far, to what he has reported for his own neck of the woods in Aberdeen. Here in Edinburgh, the temperature is similar to what it is in Aberdeen just now and as is the case up there, the temperatures are also refusing to drop here yet again as a result of there still being too much wind around (even though it's not quite as windy as it was last night) and at times, too much cloud.

Furthermore, we have had exactly the same number of official air frosts here in Edinburgh as what has occurred so far in Aberdeen. As we all know, both Aberdeen and Edinburgh are Scottish cities and given that Scotland is itself, the most northerly part of the UK, you would expect both of those cities to be amongst the UK's coldest cities on average as a result. Yet, there are parts of England which wouldn't normally be renowned for getting much in the way of cold weather, but which have had more air frosts during this month than we have had due to those areas getting frost after frost for a number of days with that period lasting further into this month than it did here.

That to me, makes our situation even worse in comparison with the rest of the UK than what it actually looks on paper. Unlike Richard, I don't think that this month will be even milder than December 2015 since that month itself, was our mildest December on record and it will take some doing to even match that, let alone actually beat that.

However, I can see this month still being a really mild one anyway and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we didn't get any more frosts during this month, year and decade as a result. I agree with others on this forum that we can never accurately predict what will actually happen, especially the further in the future that we go but at the moment, I just don't see there being much hope for any significant periods of cold weather during the rest of this so-called "winter", especially with the manner in which the current SSTs are set up in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

 

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Just one of those dreadful NW England days today. Constant showers/longer spells of rain driving in on a nasty, cold, blustery NW wind. It's being going since the small hours and showd no sign of easing off. It's just incessant. If Aberdeen Richard lived here he would rightfully describe it as 'vile'.

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We're now at the halfway point of December - one sixth of the way through the winter.

So far, not even enough to raise an eyebrow... and at the moment it seems the next two weeks will carry on the same way.

49 years since the last "picture postcard" White Christmas down here (i.e. snowing and snow on the ground) - looks like it'll be 50 soon enough!

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Would be nice to see snow warnings like the one for Wales. Nothing doing for Bath Area

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I find it incredible that a number of members are posting in today's CC thread that they are getting thunder and lightning in their neck of the woods.

That is something which we would normally expect to get during the summer and yet, this is supposed to be our "winter" just now.

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A pathetic start to winter really 

I went on my Sunday walk yesterday and it didn't feel that seasonal at all. Even if we cant have Snow, at the very least I would like it to be cold and crisp.

Christmas day well in the range of the models and yet again no prospect of a proper white Christmas - it really is frustrating how rare it is in this part of the world.

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A pathetic start to winter really 

I went on my Sunday walk yesterday and it didn't feel that seasonal at all. Even if we cant have Snow, at the very least I would like it to be cold and crisp.

Christmas day well in the range of the models and yet again no prospect of a proper white Christmas - it really is frustrating how rare it is in this part of the world.

 

We went on a walk in Delamere Forest up here, which has become a family tradition in the run-up to Xmas. The Forestry Commission sell Xmas Trees and there's a big marquee selling hot meat barms, chips, mulled wine, hot chocolate, etc. It was chilly and had a distinctly December feel about it, so nice to get warm by one of the braziers and smell the woodsmoke in the air. Fortunately, we left just as the rain was starting.

But this December's been a disappointment on the whole. Each of the few glimmers of hope in the models were washed/blown away by another low.

And another so-called strat warming fizzled out without bring us winter.

 

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The current "cold period" delivered 9.4C here yesterday. The rain in the evening was more akin to the tropics than December in the UK. yuk!

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