Lake District Blizzard

33.5 hours of sun in the last 4 days here takes September sunshine up to 121.8 hours

Amblesides average is 2005.1mm http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gctvss7w7 I think Windermere is around 1800mm though no offical station. Keswick is 1521mm Ambleside should easily be one of the wettest towns in the UK

reached 21c here both today and yesterday, rather pleasant as its been very calm and sunny too

Just a normal May here - mean max of 15c so far May 2008 managed 11 days in a row above 20c and the mean max was over 19c

Yes quite a large thunderstorm has just crossed the Lakes. constant thunder and lightening in all directions, torrential rain with a rate of 68mm / hr which put down 10mm in 10 minutes and a total of 15.5mm

Wettest Summer - 2012 Wettest Autumn - 2012 Wettest Winter - 2013/2014 This is in records back to 1978, but will no doubt still stand going back at least 100 years Wettest Spring was 1992 / 1979

2013/14 true shocker, 2 Air Frosts all winter - a horrific stat - had 3 days of lying snow and about 15 of sleet / snow falling, which is probably more than some parts of the country. The frosts win it for 13/14

For my location based on the formula winter 2012/13 scored 137 winter 2013/14 scores 13 so far

June, July, May, August, April, October, September, March, February, January, November, December Mine is mainly based on day length / plant growth and how fresh everything looks

Sion, Switzerland - Warm summers average max 27.0c in July, 2100 hours sun a year Cold frosty winters January average low -3.8c rainfall is steady throughout the year totaling 600mm and i imagine it is one of the calmest places possible

England - the considerably warmer and sunnier summer outweighs the slightly colder winter that Scotland gets, and Scotland's annual sunshine figure is abysmal. In England if you want to bring those winter temperatures down then head to the North or higher elevation.

who has fared best and worst for snow so far this winter?

Any chance of a spring forecast now Ian? I must say you have been pretty spot on - looks like a very short lived cold snap coming up as forecast

how are you measuring rainfall to 0.01mm ??? Heathrow airport rainfall last few months January 2014 so far 117.8mm December 2013 99.0mm November 2013 49.6mm October 2013 figure missing but 100mm+ January 2013 46.0mm Janaury 2012 35.2mm certainly not rain free??? Are you measuring rainfall inside?

Northern end of Bassenthwaite Lake, snow was very heavy and lasted around 15 mins, hence a good covering, suprising as you have 100m on me, must be down purely to intensity

good covering now first lying snow of the winter!

2 heavy snow showers here, temp 1.9c only 2nd day of falling snow here this winter, better than none at all i guess

Ian your forecast has been spot on so far, do you expect any changes as we move through Jan into Feb, chance of some drier frostier weather perhaps? I recorded 190mm here, 370mm is extreme Much of Cumbria didnt get below 0c which is a first in recent times anyway, even 1988 managed 3-4 ait frosts

Two patchy dustings and a snow shower is more than you had in January this year? March? (if you include it as winter) February 2012? 16th Dec 2011?

Snow here, and sleet, but no air frost! I had 10 air frosts here in November, 0 in December, extraordinary. I always thought Feb 2011 was about as bad as it could get with just 1 air frost - i could be wrong

Thunder and sleet this morning with regular lightening. This evening - Lots of Thunder and lightening, hail, torrential rain and winds gusting to 40mph calm now! Interesting day to say the least

Are you referring to the fall on the 16th? about 2 inches here and it lasted for 4 days on the ground, so not a bad period in what turned out to be a horror last third of December

People writing off the whole winter already... How silly! As pointed out this is winter 2013/14 and not a rerun of any winter in the past, and will do exactly what it wants when it wants. The general trend in peoples forecasts was for any blocking / colder weather to be around February time, which in forecasting and model terms is distant future. Patterns can suddenly flip and it is unwise to base the rest of the winter based on what it is like in December - look at December 2010, could February 2011 have been any more contrasting? no. Did it follow patterns of previous cold winters? no. write off December? possibly. The whole winter? far too many variables that will come into play to be able to write it off with any certainty at all!

The biggest positive to take from the models today is that it is much better to have these synoptics in the first half of december, than have them popping up after the new year in January or February. If it was a choice between mild high pressure or Atlantic depression after depression with lashings of wind, rain and flooding, that is typical of early december i think id take the high pressure every time. Id like to see something like the GFS 12z FI develop around the 20th with a nice cold frosty high pressure sat over the uk, giving way to a north easterly blast just in time for Christmas

A very calm Autumn here, barely more than one or two "windy" days and certainly no gales or storms. highest wind gust has been 35mph Leaves stayed on the trees right up till end of november now they are finally falling autumn colours have been ok after a very slow start