Arctic Hare

A better day today. Still not exactly warm (max 7.9 °C) but after a rather grey morning, the sun came out for quite a bit of the afternoon and by now its heat makes a real difference. Chilly air and warm sunshine is good walking weather, so I enjoyed my afternoon walk. Daffodils really coming through everywhere now.

I'll split the difference for you. 5 °C and dull here!

Another good day today, around 10 °C and plenty of sunshine, though sadly the family next door are replacing their shed so quiet pottering in the garden isn't possible. Got in a nice walk on the edge of the forest earlier, though. One more day of this tomorrow before the cloud rolls in, by the looks of it. Then March on Monday, and from then on my preference flips to warm unless we get a full-on 2013/2018 cold spell.

Not terribly inspiring on the medium-term outlook, especially the forecast of the winds turning to the east later on. Even if it gets a bit colder it's not something I really welcome. Aside from murky drizzle, I can't think of much I want less from March than a pointless dry easterly that's constantly cloudy, probably not cold enough for snow and unlikely to deliver anything this far west anyway. A March 2013 would be worth it, sure but days on end of 5 °C, gloom and a nagging cold wind? No way. Today's sunny 10 °C is astronomically preferable for me personally.

Absolutely glorious this morning here in NW Worcs. Not especially warm (8 °C) but with light winds and few clouds it's wonderful to be out. I walked down the back way to the river earlier and was out for maybe 50 minutes all told. So good not to feel wet, freezing or wind-blasted by the end!

One point of interest today: a max of 15.1 °C, so today has seen the first 15 of the year. Always a sign that spring is on the way. Noticed on my walk this afternoon that the number of daffodils around has increased considerably since I was last up that way on Saturday. (Been only doing short walks for a few days due to mild vaccination after-effects.) Not much of a day today, I'll admit. Gloomy and murky and windy. From tomorrow onwards, though, that's a different matter. 10-11 degrees, light winds and a reasonable amount of sunshine? Now that is weather I'll accept very gladly indeed. Would I take it over bright sunshine after a foot of snow? No. Would I take it over three snowflakes, 2 °C and a dull dry easterly? Yes. Every. Single. Time.

Made it up to 12.6 °C on Tuesday, the highest of the year so far, but as Anyweather mentioned it didn't feel that way because of the strong wind. Still blustery now, and I'm glad it'll calm down a bit from later tomorrow and let me enjoy what look like very decent days for the rest of the week. Obviously no interest for those who see benign as boring, but right now I'm OK with a few days of benign.

Today is the kind of mild I don't enjoy: 10 °C, a strong wind, occasional rain and constant gloom. Tomorrow looks even worse, so staying at home all day with a cup of coffee or three won't be any hardship!

I'll continue to be contrary! In these parts it was actually bright/sunny for a reasonable amount of time today, and in the mild weather (12.1 °C max) it was extremely pleasant to go for a walk. Quite honestly I *do* prefer this to cold now. If we were going to get a significant amount of snow then sure I'd take that instead. But today was *nice* for me. Actively nice. Unfortunately the forecast isn't. Lots of rain and lots of wind for days to come. Now *that* kind of mild I'll join in the complaints for!

15 °C would do me, especially if there was some sunshine and not too much wind. For me, the worst possible weather at this time of year is what we had here (Worcs) yesterday: 5 °C and gloomy, drizzly rain. In terms of our usual conditions here, that's about as seasonal as it gets -- so I don't necessarily share the objection to "unseasonal" weather that some have. Yes, some proper cold and snow is enjoyable, and I've enjoyed the decent snowfalls we've had in this part of the word this time. But if we can't have that, I'd rather have a springlike feel in 15 °C in February than a murky, chilly 5°C any day.

Given GFS's tendency to slightly undercook temps, I wonder what the odds are on somewhere in the UK touching 20 °C this month. We know it's possible with the right setup. With some sun that would feel very springlike indeed. Back to the here and now, though: in Bewdley this morning it is currently 10.9 °C with lighter winds and some hazy sunshine. Even that's a world away from what we've experienced recently.

For what it's worth, tonight's GFZ 18z has temps in the mid-teens across our region in 9-10 days. Obviously not exactly reliable at that range! But you never know, before Feb is out it might be the first 15 °C of the year we're talking about rather than notably cold/snowy weather.

It's a pretty dire day today, no question. 3.8 °C, gloomy, overcast, light rain at times, still a nagging wind. Ugh. But the prospect of 10 °C and a bit of sunshine? Yes. Bring it on, and the sooner the better. Sorry to all those who don't care for such weather and of course I respect your preferences, but for myself I am simply not going to budge my view on this! The thought of going for a stroll and enjoying the crocuses and soon daffodils starting to come out, the feel of the increasingly warm sun, the general hints that spring is no longer all *that* far away... yes. I would prefer that to all but truly snowy cold by this point in the winter. Especially as it's been such a weird winter compared to any before it. Of course, if it ends up being gloomy miserable murk all week, I reserve the right to turn on a sixpence and whinge about it again!

Basically stopped now, just the odd flake in the breeze. A really, really thin dusting, but as it's below freezing it's not going anywhere.

Slightly surprised to look outside just now and see the air full of snowflakes! Tiny, tiny flakes, but definitely no longer just one or two. Temp -0.6 °C and slowly falling.

A few flakes blowing around here. Nothing much, but it is snowing.

One of the minor irritations of what's otherwise been a decent winter here is that we haven't managed a single ice day. Several with the max under 1 °C, but couldn't quite keep it below freezing.

That's a bit strong, Polar. People can have completely different preferences to you without there being something "wrong" with them. I mean, we have posters on here who actively prefer cool, damp, cloudy weather in summer. I find that strange personally, but it's a perfectly valid preference. High pressure and pleasantly mild is also a perfectly valid preference. It may be different from yours (or indeed mine) but that's *part* of variety being the spice of life.

Just dipped below freezing again, after a maximum of +0.5 °C when there was a bit less cloud an hour or two ago. Didn't feel quite as cold out as yesterday around here, odd considering the wind is still a feature.

Currently -2.3 °C here. A shame we have no remaining snow cover, otherwise it could have been seriously cold tonight. As it is, I'm expecting -4 or -5 at the lowest. Then tomorrow one more really cold day before the "mildening" sets in. I know not everyone wants this, but as long as there's some sun I'll be delighted to see double figure temps. No, I'm not keen on grey murk and 10 °C, but sunshine and showers with that temperature will feel like an early taste of spring. And yes, right now I would prefer that to more cold, at least unless the cold was accompanied by more than a couple of flakes of snow!

I wasn't able to get outside for my walk today until after lunch, so annoyingly it had clouded over by then. 0.9 °C and little bits of snow still in situ in the shade. The wind made it feel probably the coldest it has in the entire spell, I had a woolly hat, gloves and thick coat, and was walking quite fast, and it still felt bitter. As for the next few weeks... having thought about it, I've slightly modified my "ready for spring" view. I still am, but that doesn't *have* to mean very mild. I actually take Matt's point a minute ago, spring is maybe our most interesting season. In April over the years I've experienced heavy snow, 25 °C sunshine, severe thunderstorms, severe gales, you name it, all here in lowland Worcestershire. Last year we had the sunniest spring on record, this year who knows? If there's any season that should keep everyone interested whatever their weather preferences it's spring. That said, I don't entirely agree that mild weather in winter has no appeal. Before this cold spell started there was a day or two when it was about 10 °C with the sun out and little wind, and I did venture very briefly into the back garden to do some minor tidying. I remember thinking it felt really pleasant. And that was definitely still winter. It doesn't always need to be 15 °C plus to feel nice if you're dressed for the conditions.

I suppose we've been a bit spoiled by the easterly that *did* deliver even for us, in 2018. It'll take a few less impressive easterlies for that to fade I suspect. In the same way, people were referring to "feels a bit like 2010" for several years after that December.

But as AderynCoch noted, you're at 750 feet asl. That's a big, big advantage in marginal situations. I mean, I'm not complaining about what I've had here this winter, but still.

Depends. For people in Bewdley, I would say that mild and dry is what people are hoping for. But mild and wet would be considered *worse* than this, since flooding has been a major problem two winters running now and causes far more long-term issues for everyday life than a few cm of snow and some not very severe frosts.

In a normal winter I'd probably agree with that and be hoping for one more wintry blast, since we've done reasonably well out of March in the last decade or so. I haven't suddenly stopped enjoying snow by any means! But this is not exactly a normal winter. Since I currently WFH, the only time I leave the house at the moment is for my daily exercise walk, and I'd like to feel some spring warmth, enjoy the daffodils (just starting to bud here) and so on. If we got a real taste of late winter, say 5 cm of snow or more, I might change my mind. But the current spell isn't really doing it for me now.