Go out and do it then! There's no law against gardening in winter.

I spent a good couple of hours tidying up at the weekend, plenty more of that to come. (The garden waste bin is now full of offcuts of shrubs and bushes, just as well collection day is today!)

I’ve been out in the garden tidying up about 3-4 times per week; leaves, fallen twigs and small branches.  It’s a a sign of the mildness of the autumn and winter that I’m still having to do weeding in the flower beds.  If it wasn’t so wet I’d have had the lawn mower back out as well, since the grass hasn’t really stopped growing.

Our pre-Xmas green bin collection was cancelled due to staff shortages (almost certainly Covid related), so we had to book a session at the local recycling centre.

 

I’ve been out in the garden tidying up about 3-4 times per week; leaves, fallen twigs and small branches.  It’s a a sign of the mildness of the autumn and winter that I’m still having to do weeding in the flower beds.  If it wasn’t so wet I’d have had the lawn mower back out as well, since the grass hasn’t really stopped growing.

Our pre-Xmas green bin collection was cancelled due to staff shortages (almost certainly Covid related), so we had to book a session at the local recycling centre.

 

Might do my lawn if only to pick up the leaves . The lawn hasn't had much to stop the growth this year.

Been an awful Winter 

Quite a sunny afternoon today, which was decent. At least the sunsets are getting noticeably later now too - the dark evenings in winter have always been one of my biggest hates about this time of year, though strangely the dark mornings don't affect me.

I love the dark evenings (and mornings)

I wouldn't like the 24 hour darkness they get in the Arctic Circle, but I'd like the daylight/night split that, say, Orkney has (with the late sunsets in summer as well)

At least it will be....the same!

I mean talk about a boring week weatherwise Although would welcome drier weather but this is a bit boring for the SW wouldn't you agree!?

At least it will be....the same!

I mean talk about a boring week weatherwise Although would welcome drier weather but this is a bit boring for the SW wouldn't you agree!?

 

 

Light winds, some sunshine, average temperatures, dry? Bank!

What has also bugged me is how we saw a warming of the stratosphere in October and early November and temperatures at 10hpa and 30hpa warming up early and a weak PV and zonal flow when the zonal winds should have strengthened and it should have been cooling rapidly, yet now, we are approaching mid winter and entering the 2nd half of winter but we are seeing the stratosphere cooling and the PV strengthening!

What has also bugged me big time is the fact that on the day of the start of Meteorological winter the AO and NAO went positive after a long period of negativity and we saw the exact same thing happen during the winter of 2019/20 with record breaking zonal flow.

I.E here you can see the first day of winter (1st December) just after that colder snap end of November we go very positive both AO and NAO:

AO

NAO:

It's going off the scale:

Light winds, some sunshine, average temperatures, dry? Bank!

Hi guys, newbie here.

Agree with DM, whilst i can't help but get romantic and bleary eyed about a decent arctic or continental cold spell i'm also pleased that on a day-to-day practical level the forecasts look superb. Cold frosty mornings, less muddy dog walks, usable weather for outdoor chores, hopefully a decent bit of night sky stargazing here and there...

Fog could hamper play but really whats not to like?

M

Half of winter gone. I've had about 5 frosts and 5 mins of light snow. Anybody predicting a cold winter in the S.E  in future winters is looking at about a 10/1 shot and about 50/1 for a severe cold one.

Half of winter gone. I've had about 5 frosts and 5 mins of light snow. Anybody predicting a cold winter in the S.E  in future winters is looking at about a 10/1 shot and about 50/1 for a severe cold one.

Agree with that! Here we have had the same amount of air frost this week than the whole of the winter so far preceeding.

It is incredibly difficult to get prolonged cold in the uk,the synoptics across europe and the north atlantic have to be perfectly positioned.

I was spot on when I predicted this winter would be another horror show that wouldn't match last April, in terms of wintriness, but even I could never have imagined what a catastrophic embarrassment it would turn out to be 

Half way through and the first half has to be a contender for the worst ever. Pretty much every winter these days is a contender, but this one is shocking even by the rock bottom standards of the past decade.

Just about the normal frequency of mild days but no proper cold whatsoever. Stuck in the mind-numbingly awful 2-6C range, day and night, the majority of the time. Shedloads of cold rain and cold winds, like last winter, but with added misery of several days of North Sea murk like nothing I have ever seen in winter before. 

It speaks volumes that most of the best days have been the ones that reached double digits. We had some good sunsets and interesting skies mid-week but now back to the soul destroying murky grey grot yet again today just in time for the weekend 

No measurable snow cover since 3^rd December and a total of 10 nights below freezing - four less than April managed. I would not use the term 'frost' because only one of them actually produced a frosty morning 

December was absolutely terrible but January looks like proving even worse with just 16.7 hours below freezing so far. A total of 61.8 hours for the first half of winter compared to 77.7 hours in April. A joke just like everything we get nowadays 

The lowest temperature so far is -2.4C, joint second worse with 2015/16 after 2013/14 at the mid point.  It makes me apoplectic with rage when even Europe's biggest heat island hellhole - Heathrow with it's joke readings has got down to -3.5C. Even Aviemore and Altnaharra haven't got as low as that this month 

The run of winters from 2013 to 2018 was so bad it was beyond credulity but what we have now is a new level of awful even compared to that. I can see this now turning out to be the third winter out of four that doesn't even manage 5cm of snow and it's just ever more unpleasant with cold rain, murk and gloom 

It just month after month of complete and utter garbage in the worst era ever for a weather enthusiast 

Half of winter gone. I've had about 5 frosts and 5 mins of light snow. Anybody predicting a cold winter in the S.E  in future winters is looking at about a 10/1 shot and about 50/1 for a severe cold one.

And on current odds, IMBY, I'd say a midwinter easterly* with 6 inches or more of powder, 80s style, would be a 50/1 chance, with a white Christmas, 1970 style, at 250/1. A colder than average (61-90) winter, maybe 20/1, with all three months below average at 100/1. All of these have become seriously rare events now.

Still, at least you've seen snow. It's been another entirely snowless first half of winter here...

* - I define "midwinter" as being mid Dec-mid Feb, others will have different ideas!

 

And on current odds, IMBY, I'd say a midwinter easterly* with 6 inches or more of powder, 80s style, would be a 50/1 chance, with a white Christmas, 1970 style, at 250/1. A colder than average (61-90) winter, maybe 20/1, with all three months below average at 100/1. All of these have become seriously rare events now.

Still, at least you've seen snow. It's been another entirely snowless first half of winter here...

* - I define "midwinter" as being mid Dec-mid Feb, others will have different ideas!

 

 

Yes, I think that fits: a couple of weeks either side of January, which should be the coldest month; or maybe we now have to say ‘least mild month’.

Whats the odds that March has a lower cet than January,or at least close to January Cet. Evens!

January has been crud for snow in the SE siince 1987,seen better snowfalls in March since January 87

January feels like a spring month most year.
February been rubbish too for decades.

Whats the odds that March has a lower cet than January,or at least close to January Cet. Evens!

January has been crud for snow in the SE siince 1987,seen better snowfalls in March since January 87

January feels like a spring month most year.
February been rubbish too for decades.

 

[/quote   generally yes altho Jan 10 started well with heavy falls . Feb 09 too ]

Whats the odds that March has a lower cet than January,or at least close to January Cet. Evens!

January has been crud for snow in the SE siince 1987,seen better snowfalls in March since January 87

January feels like a spring month most year.
February been rubbish too for decades.

 

You have a good point there as imby March has produced more snow than any other month except when the uk has been under severe cold during the meterlogical winter,recent examples are 2018 and 2013. With the odd exception March imo is more a winter month than spring.

So for all the coldies there is still around 10 weeks or so to get severe cold and/or snow