Gaz1985

21st till 30th May 2012 was fantastic too, It was very warm but comfortable nights. I'll remember that for a long while.

They might just value his valuable input?

This Winter reminding me very much of January 2006 and bizarrely almost exactly to the day - all that cold to our east and we just missed out on it. It never got further west than Germany.

Thanks for the updates today fergie, it's made my day much better Manchester ens looks very wet at times though urggghhh!

-4c? you sure? no where in England got that low last night on the official Met stations. Your high up too which in actual fact means slightly higher temps at night, lower areas are colder on clear nights. But you get more snow purely because of "orographic lifting" and higher ground has lower dew points. A lower dew point help snow to fall rather than rain. I would also imagine Glossop town centre is colder than where you live as it sits in the valley bottom and likely a frost hollow due to the hills that surround it. http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wxfacts/Frost-hollow.htm

Up to 50% chance of snow for near this area. Overall a chilly set of ensembles.

The Manchester ens paint a mixed picture - 850's looks uncertain past Friday so it could go either way, but there does seem do be a lot of rain spikes yet again, we do need a period of drying out now, it's soggy and muddy on grassy areas and not to forget those who have been flooded out - that in itself will take a while to clear even the sewerage smell out of homes.

I have enjoyed most of this Winter apart from the rain - I also enjoyed the warmth of the early mid 2000's, must of been so difficult for you

You might be in for a very long wait - a bit like the 90's

What makes me laugh is the quote from the BBC "Cold, snowy Winters could become the norm in Europe"............well duh they ARE the norm for more than half of Europe, it's only west and south of Hanover where it's milder. (excluding the Alps)

Yes you are about right, coldest uppers was probably around Kent. -18 or -19

Is a mini ice age on the way? Scientists warn the Sun has 'gone to sleep' and say it could cause temperatures to plunge 2013 was due to be year of the 'solar maximum'Researchers say solar activity is at a fraction of what they expectConditions 'very similar' a time in 1645 when a mini ice age hit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2541599/Is-mini-ice-age-way-Scientists-warn-Sun-gone-sleep-say-cause-temperatures-plunge.html#addComment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25743806

Looking cool and zonal on the Manchester ens, but to be honest no deep cold showing or anything very unusual. I won't come off the fence on anything other than zonal until the Met Office come on board with an update like we've seen in previous years >>>"There are signs of the weather turning colder and drier later in the period with temperatures below average if not well below average and the increasing chance of snow across northern and eastern areas but not exclusively so"

Yeah that was a good spell with 3 days of 20c, I remember walking outside with a tshirt/shorts on, no leaves on the trees and the birds chirping like mad as if it was late Spring, insects hatching. It was a bizarre but welcome early warm spell. A complete contrast to the year later! just shows how different March can be.

April 16th 2003 I believe Manchester hit 25c! .....highest April temp here ever? less than 12 weeks from now.... if only it happened again. I'm more a fan of April and May than March, considering March can still be very cold even right to the end (last year proved that). Also even in a very mild March the sun doesn't have that effect of getting a tan like it can in April and especially May, so it's rather pointless when sitting outside in it. The UV is still not strong enough. You have to be about Madrid southwards to get a tan in March. Also if you have a mild calm sunny day in March then it's still likely to be cold/frosty at night - a reminder that Winter has only just departed. This risk minimises as we go further into the year.

I'm sitting on the fence like last time, gonna give it another 5 days or so. Probably sensible given the last saga!

Certainly been very dry across the "Golden state" http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_24904396/california-drought-whats-causing-it Even right up to Seattle -a city notorious for wet Winters like the UK has been notably dry too.

As long as I can remember I have never known a snowless Winter here, we've always had at least a dusting and even if it only lasted a day........... I guess there's a first for everything including a snowless one! But still I think there will be snow in Feb even if it's at the end.

Don't forget scantily clad girls!

Actually one of my favourite times of year is now - obviously not because of cold weather but because it's now getting lighter each day - I know we are creeping further and further towards Spring and Summer

Yes I don't think mother nature knows what day it is or what weather has been thrown at it previously! the weather will do what it wants regardless.

Dew points off the continent are lower so uppers are not as much an issue if you want snow from the east. It can snow with -4 uppers off a continental feed.

And I'm only 4 and 1/2 miles (as the crow flies) from the city centre as well - I think they get that urban heat effect thing over there, many a time I've been down there and it's just been a damp floor with nothing - as though it had probably snowed but it didn't stick, then got back home here to snowy slushy streets. We can on occasions do well for snow here in the Tameside area of Manchester, not sure why. Apologies mods. No more posts from me on this topic.

We had a few minor coverings (few cm) on about 5-6 days, but we had a bigger fall on between the 23rd and 24th - that gave us about 15cm, back then that was probably the most snow since at least the late December 2000 snowfall/freeze. It was quite a surprising day that in February 2005 because I remember looking at the Manchester airport conditions and it changed to rain there but stayed as snow here and gave all that snow, not much height difference either.

Who nicked the cold - he dunnit and his country!