AderynCoch

Not here it wasn't! The end of February was warm but March has been pretty chilly up until now.

I'd say February 2008 was quite similar too.

Had snow showers on and off today. Surprisingly given the temperature (high of 6C) it's been the fluffy type of snow rather than the wet stuff. Got a thin covering now. The next couple of days will struggle to get much above freezing.

A pretty slow start to spring here. Temperatures are stuck in single figures by day and almost every night has seen an air frost. It was sleeting yesterday and there's a chance of snow in the early hours tonight.

I think you're right. 1890/91 is actually the coldest winter on record at Slovakia's longest-running station (Hurbanovo, dating back to 1872). No single month was record-breaking but all three were very cold.

Better than last year's abomination but still poor, with all three months coming in comfortably above-average. The first half of winter was god-awful, with the festive period and run-up being particularly repellent - damp, sunless and with temperatures hovering between 1C and 5C, day and night, all thanks to a slack but persistent southerly flow. The absolute nightmare Covid Christmas. The second half saw two weeks of decent cold (one in January, one in February) more than cancelled out by exceptional mildness. Another one for the bin in my book.

Turns out that it was the highest temperature ever recorded in Slovakia in any of the three winter months. The previous record of 20.6C was from only two years ago. Amazing how easy it is to get these sort of ridiculous temperatures in February, even when just recently the outlook was nothing but cold (nowhere near record-breaking of course). Warm again today (17.9C) though there was a slight air frost in the morning. Feels very much like spring with the temperatures falling away as soon as the sun sets.

Even warmer than yesterday. 18.3C here, 20.7C in the town of Hurbanovo. That has to be some sort of record.

Not even close to a three-week cold spell here (a week at best). The main thrust of the cold went to the north. Meanwhile it reached 16.5C here today. Overall another lame winter but for personal reasons I'm looking forward to spring this year. It's been a trying winter to say the least.

Braved the viewing tower on top of the nearby hill today. The wind was horrific up there. My fingers almost fell off taking photos.

Biddulph is pretty elevated though. Isn't that where the source of the River Trent is? Still, 25 days of snow cover is more than I've had so far! It's gone cold here now though, with a high of - 5C expected tomorrow. Had 5cm of snow today.

Reached 13C here today. It's almost like we're being punished for daring to have a few days of proper winter weather. Next week is looking better for snow but still too marginal for my liking. And FI had better not come off because it's looking horrendous at the moment (mild again only this time with copious amounts of rain).

Here is why "get the cold in first" is such a pointless cliché. I've finally had something resembling winter these past few days - three ice days on the bounce with - 8C this morning (bone dry, of course). Guess what happened when the precipitation arrived this afternoon? About five minutes of snow followed by drip, drip, drip. It's barely above freezing even now but that's seemingly enough to turn a potentially good snow event into a damp squib. The next few days are looking better for snow but given my atrocious luck at the moment I can’t possibly rule out things going wrong again. It's almost like snow isn't allowed here anymore.

Well, well, well... after a truly lame first half of winter here, the ECM wants to send me into the freezer next week (high of - 9C on Day 7). Still plenty of time of course for it all to go the shape of the pear...

Just the one ice day here so far, at the beginning of December. That might change in a few days' time. Before then there's a marginal snow event in the works for Wednesday, but I just know nothing's going to come of it. Some people in Slovakia are saying this winter is currently worse than the last one, which is quite remarkable really. I don't think I've seen a proper wintry spell (not necessarily unusual or exceptional) since January 2019. Diabolical stuff. Spending Christmas here alone has been tough but I thought I would at least get to experience proper winter weather. Fat chance. To rub salt in the wounds I've had friends in Wigan showing me snow on New Year's Eve (which is where I would have been too if not for COVID). Then again, I went to Ukraine just before Christmas 2019 and it was 16C so perhaps I shouldn't be so shocked anymore. I could visit the South Pole and it would probably rain.

Exactly. From a purely selfish point of view this stagnant low pressure over Western Europe has been a winter-killer because I'm on the wrong side, stuck under slack southerlies. Needless to say I'd take a pattern reset right now!

If it makes you feel any better we can't even get that in Slovakia at the moment never mind where you are. In fact, it's possible you've had more snow than me this December. I've seen one morning with barely a centimetre of snow, gone by evening, and a bit of wet falling snow in the early hours of Boxing Day. Spending Christmas alone is pants but I at least had the consolation of staying in a more snowy location - or so I thought! That festering low pressure over Western Europe is killing chances for cold here - if everything was just a bit further east we would have been in business. I'd wish everyone a happy 2021 but it's probably going to be crap anyway. ?

Summers on the Wirral aren't that bad by UK standards. It's the "winters" that are truly terrible.

Some forecasts are actually showing snow here for tomorrow but I don't see how that's possible looking at the predicted temperatures. There's one actual cold day on the 27th then it's back to mild to put the cap on a truly lame December and an absolute omnishambles of a 2020. Merry Christmas one and all.

Read the thread title...

What a frustrating run up to Christmas this has been. Overall it's been pretty chilly here for the past two weeks but nothing more than that. There's light at the end of the tunnel but it's the light of an oncoming train - unacceptably mild temperatures from the 22nd to the Big Day itself, perhaps over 10C. Truly grim. I haven't registered a frost since the 3rd and probably won't again until Boxing Day at the earliest - for my location that is simply dreadful for the time of year. This is turning into such a feeble December.

That's cool. I didn't think it was possible to see them so easily in twilight.

Are they Jupiter's moons you can see when you zoom in or just an optical effect?

Shawbury reached - 25.2C on 13th December 1981. That was a new English record but it stood for less than a month until nearby Newport recorded - 26.1C on 10th January 1982 (still the English record).

Nice photos. I tried to take some of my own earlier but Saturn wouldn't show up. I don't remember seeing two planets this close before. Mars is still bright as well though noticeably less so than a couple of months back during opposition.