Had rain here in Exeter every day for 7 days in a row now and 3 days it has been raining heavily and moderately. If it hasn't been raining it has been drizzly but then this has been followed by more rain. Sick to death of it and past few days temperatures have been exceptionally mild at 13-14c. YUCK 😞

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If there was ever an occasion which showed that we just don't get cold and frosty mornings any more during the so-called "winter" months here in the north of Edinburgh where I live, then this is surely it.

This morning should have been the perfect setting for that as it was forecast to get down to around -3°C here during the night with a mostly sunny day to follow.

We do have mostly clear skies with only small amounts of cloud but once again, I don't see even a single bit of frost as per usual as once again, the Met Office have once again failed to heed that script which shows that we just don't get frosty mornings here anymore in this part of the world at this time of the year.

As has often been the case during this month so far, last night got off to a fairly good start with an official air frost even being recorded at all three of my local stations.

As most of you know, I am not normally here in Edinburgh at this time on Christmas Eve and had it not been for COVID-19, I would have been down in the Scottish Borders just now, spending Christmas with my family.

I normally go down there a couple of days before Christmas at the latest and then stay down there for a week but the last two years failed to deliver a single air frost throughout the duration of my trip.

The fact that an air frost was recorded here in Edinburgh therefore means that we are already doing better than those last two years on that front, and it is just like the thing that I'm not in the Scottish Borders just now, and therefore not able to see any frost down there which might be around.

For the record, the overnight minimum temperature got down to -2°C at Edinburgh Airport, -1.3°C at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh and -0.2°C at Edinburgh Gogarbank.

However, those temperatures were all recorded quite early in the night once again, and the lowest hourly reading at Edinburgh Gogarbank didn't even get below 0.0°C all night.

After that, we then started to see more in the way of cloud for a while with the wind also picking up a bit. This then resulted in the temperatures going back up a bit yet again which means that we are now waking up to yet another frost-free morning here in the north of Edinburgh, along with temperatures of around 2°C as at 8am this morning, which isn't even all that cold for this time of the year.

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After our sunny start to today, it has now clouded over but with nothing which is even remotely interesting in terms of our weather actually happening. Indeed, that is exactly what I predicted just recently in this post on another thread.

I am not one of these people who claim to always be right 100% of the time, but I have had a recent 100% record for these types of predictions just recently and this is just yet another example of that.

Since there are far better experts than me on this forum in the field of meteorology and in weather forecasting, this shows just how easy it is to predict the weather in this part of the world these days.

The reason why that is the case is because because regardless of the actual synoptics at the time, our weather tends to be so repetitive and boring that during most of the time, we are always going to know what the weather is like here well in advance of the time frame in question. The simple fact of the matter is that during the vast majority of the time, there is usually always going to be a lot of cloud here with perhaps, a little bit of sunshine if we are lucky. At the same time, it is unlikely to be raining here and if if does, this will tend to be such a small amount that it isn't even worth reporting if it is even enough to register at all as actual recorded rainfall.

I was heavily pulled apart on that other thread for the comments which I made there and because of that, I have made sure that I have switched to this thread so that I don't get pulled apart again for not posting those comments here instead (that was part of the overall criticism after all). However, I surely deserve some credit for at least being correct in terms of my actual predictions for how today would turn out even though that is never going to be difficult, going by just how mundane and boring our weather generally is these days on average, compared to the rest of the UK.

 

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Bah humbug to this lame and utterly pathetic excuse for a cold spell. Scrooges idea of a winter wonderland 

Yet again we can only muster a pitiful dusting before the precipitation inexplicably dries up and we are left with bland non-descript nothingness.

A 5cm fall used to be something you would expect multiple times even in very mild winters. Now that depth hasn't been seen for almost 3 years 

Worse still it has failed to go below freezing point at any time during this spell which is LUDICROUS. In fact it's now been 21 days since it last went below freezing which smashes anything last years lamentable winter managed and is currently the longest frost-free spell in winter since 2016/17, closing in on the record 26 days in 2015/16 

While just about the whole country has a frost at the moment it's +2C here with ugly thawing snow  

Three weeks without something you used to expect on average every three days is worse than abysmal especially when it's become the norm winter after winter to go weeks on end without even a solitary frost.

Worst of all I've seen an alert out for more vile weather tomorrow:

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/flood-alert-raised-for-boxing-day-with-heavy-rain-expected

This sick and disgusting winter is just unreal in it's awfulness 

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I wouldn’t worry too much as you will not be allowed to travel to the areas in the warning and it looks like being generally dry here with only a little rain.

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Bah humbug to this lame and utterly pathetic excuse for a cold spell. Scrooges idea of a winter wonderland 

Yet again we can only muster a pitiful dusting before the precipitation inexplicably dries up and we are left with bland non-descript nothingness.

A 5cm fall used to be something you would expect multiple times even in very mild winters. Now that depth hasn't been seen for almost 3 years 

Worse still it has failed to go below freezing point at any time during this spell which is LUDICROUS. In fact it's now been 21 days since it last went below freezing which smashes anything last years lamentable winter managed and is currently the longest frost-free spell in winter since 2016/17, closing in on the record 26 days in 2015/16 

While just about the whole country has a frost at the moment it's +2C here with ugly thawing snow  

Three weeks without something you used to expect on average every three days is worse than abysmal especially when it's become the norm winter after winter to go weeks on end without even a solitary frost.

Worst of all I've seen an alert out for more vile weather tomorrow:

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/flood-alert-raised-for-boxing-day-with-heavy-rain-expected

This sick and disgusting winter is just unreal in it's awfulness 

Merry Christmas Richard - Really happy you now have some measurable snow and on Xmas Day not moaning! here's to more snow in the coming weeks and to a year of good health, positive thoughts and prosperity. 

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Merry Christmas Richard - Really happy you now have some measurable snow and on Xmas Day not moaning! here's to more snow in the coming weeks and to a year of good health, positive thoughts and prosperity. 

We all know though that regardless of what the weather is actually like where Richard is, he will usually always find something about that which he isn't happy with, and which he will therefore moan about.

That's just Richard for you but then, I don't think that any day would be the same without a typical Richard from Aberdeen rant.

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What an utterly disappointing damp squib this is turning out to be. 

I know the models weren't showing deep cold in anything like the reliable timeframe, but every time it's downgraded as the time approaches. We had nothing on Xmas Eve, drizzle on Xmas Day. Now we have rain showers moving in, a bit of sleet if we're especially lucky. 

To top it all, my 'dead cert' White Xmas bets both look to have failed to get out of the traps.

 

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I have absolutely no idea as to why the Met Office have an official yellow warning in this area  for during tonight and tomorrow morning.

I have watched Gavin P.'s snow watch live stream and every single model there shows all of tonight's snowfalls being much further to my west with nothing for here whatsoever apart from the odd light shower if we're lucky.

Furthermore, there appears to be virtually no chance of us seeing any ice here because despite the fact that we are under clear skies just now, the temperatures are still refusing to drop here in Edinburgh, and are not much lower just now than what they were at midday.

This all surely renders this weather warning a complete waste of time and it is as though someone had forgotten to inform the Met Office that interesting weather just doesn't normally happen here in the north of Edinburgh where I live.

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I have absolutely no idea as to why the Met Office have an official yellow warning in this area  for during tonight and tomorrow morning.

I have watched Gavin P.'s snow watch live stream and every single model there shows all of tonight's snowfalls being much further to my west with nothing for here whatsoever apart from the odd light shower if we're lucky.

Furthermore, there appears to be virtually no chance of us seeing any ice here because despite the fact that we are under clear skies just now, the temperatures are still refusing to drop here in Edinburgh, and are not much lower just now than what they were at midday.

This all surely renders this weather warning a complete waste of time and it is as though someone had forgotten to inform the Met Office that interesting weather just doesn't normally happen here in the north of Edinburgh where I live.

Yes I saw the BBC weather graphics and met office - looks like all the action is in the west of Scotland and most of if not all of the snowy wintry showers is to the south of Edinburgh! How frustrating.

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there is nothing happening to the west either except some rain.
If its glass half empty it more like the @rse has dropped out the glass

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Yes I saw the BBC weather graphics and met office - looks like all the action is in the west of Scotland and most of if not all of the snowy wintry showers is to the south of Edinburgh! How frustrating.

According to the reports from elsewhere on this forum, the precipitation to our west appears to just be rain. Since the west of Scotland is a place which is normally renowned for getting a lot of rain anyway, this means that the weather through there has actually ended up being no different from what you would normally expect in that part of the world.

The fact that a lot of that had been forecast to fall as snow however, already raises some serious question marks about this so-called upcoming "cold" spell which the models are pointing towards as this would suggest that is unlikely to end up being as cold and wintry in the end, as what the models appear to be pointing towards.

In terms of snowfall during this month so far, we are doing better than last year at this time, but only because December 2019 was a completely snowless month here. We had a little bit of snow at the very beginning of the month but that didn't last for more than an hour or so here in the north of Edinburgh which was also the only place to have missed out on the snow which fell during that recent thundersnow event, even though the rest of Edinburgh had quite a bit of snow at that time.

When you add all of that together, we have virtually not had any snow at all here in the north of Edinburgh during this winter and so those people who feel like posting that I have seen more snow than most based on what the rest of Edinburgh has been like, would do very well to remember that.

We have had more air frosts so far than at this time last year, but the number of air frosts which we have had have still been well below the 1981-2010 averages for that (we have probably only had about half of the number of air frosts which we should have had by now) and I still haven't yet managed to wake up a single cold, bright and frosty morning during this winter so far here in the north of Edinburgh.

Finally, the overall temperature anomalies for this winter so far continue to be every bit as mild overall as what they were during the same period last year, despite the fact that this hasn't actually been a typical zonal winter.

What all of this is showing is that regardless of what the synoptic setup is like, we just keep on getting the same old outcome every single winter and it wouldn't surprise me if the rest of this winter carried on in this fashion.

 

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Today:

After a frosty start, southernmost parts may see some wintry showers early on, these quickly clearing south leaving largely dry conditions. Further patchy showers are possible for eastern areas through the afternoon. Feeling cold. Maximum temperature 4 °C.

That is the Met Office regional forecast for NW England issued at 4am

Who in the Met Office writes these? The text forecast was already in trouble an hour before it was issued!!

 

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The outlook seems to be cool, damp and showery with snow restricted to the hills. No deep cold, possibly no lasting frost near any coasts and an easterly (muck) aspect to much of the outlook. It really does looking cool and uninspiring. Better than storms, mild and rainy I suppose, just.

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Three moans.

One - ninja downgrades already! -5C at 850 has become -2 or -3 in reality, meaning today's 3 or 4C max is now 6C. Not a good start
Two - beautiful synoptics, utterly wasted. For the first time in ages it looks like we're getting a midwinter easterly, yet with 850s as they are it'll just be a rainfest here. What *would* have been a snowfest in years past is reduced to this. Meh.
Three - thanks to the above, it'll be a case of "grit your teeth" as everyone else in the country (except Aberdeen) gets snow.

Enjoy your snow, those lucky enough to get it!

Here's the gripping forecast via xcweather for the easterly. Once upon a time, when temperatures were just a bit lower, that would have led to a real dumping of snow. Note the "odd" dewpoint forecasts too...

 

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The MetO app has just upgraded from sleet to heavy snow for Evesham right now! It's raining ..... 

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Three moans.

One - ninja downgrades already! -5C at 850 has become -2 or -3 in reality, meaning today's 3 or 4C max is now 6C. Not a good start
Two - beautiful synoptics, utterly wasted. For the first time in ages it looks like we're getting a midwinter easterly, yet with 850s as they are it'll just be a rainfest here. What *would* have been a snowfest in years past is reduced to this. Meh.
Three - thanks to the above, it'll be a case of "grit your teeth" as everyone else in the country (except Aberdeen) gets snow.

Enjoy your snow, those lucky enough to get it!

Here's the gripping forecast via xcweather for the easterly. Once upon a time, when temperatures were just a bit lower, that would have led to a real dumping of snow. Note the "odd" dewpoint forecasts too...

 

You forgot to add Edinburgh (especially the north of Edinburgh) to that exception list as well.

 

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The snow band pivoted approximately 3 miles from my location leaving me dry. That had got to be one of the closest misses ever in my location!

Showers yesterday drifted North of here due to the dreaded WSW wind direction. Pretty sure it was supposed to be a NW’ly wind a few days back.

Typically it looks like snow showers will move in from the East just as I leave town for a few days for work!

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Frosty, icy outside. Snow cover really "brightens" up a night

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I don’t always post in this thread mainly due to the acceptance that were I now live is known to be one of the mildest places in the UK.

The set up of the weather in the next 10 days is a case of point. We have had strong winds, and heavy rain/hail showers but nothing more wintery with a temperature that has hovered around 5-6c. I don’t expect to much will change in the near future with 850s around -3 to -6.

I was bought up just outside the Peak District in a town called Matlock. My Mum still lives there but with covid I would not visit. 
I see that a band of snow is now moving slowly SW this morning across that area giving about 1-3 inches in places. It’s times like this I really wish I was still up there, I might be getting older but when it comes to snow I’m a big kid.

When I see the photos later from the Facebook group up there showing the snow my heart sinks. 
It might seem mad but I will probably move back to that area one day and buy a house in Buxton so I can get my snow fix.

 

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