Winter.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Now I know long range forecasting can be inaccurate to say the least, but has anyone else picked up on the forecast for winter. They reckon on it being the coldest for 100 years.

[Greenleaves]

Read about today Potty, Met Office issued a statement saying it was media hype.....but lets watch this space

[Alison]

There will be another one in a few days saying it will be mild ��, they really don't know what it will be like this weekend let alone long range. Will be what it is anyway, it's not like we can change it.

[Guest]

I would settle for 28 years-ish when you got snow that came half way up the door Why is it forecasts nowadays always have to finish with "in so many years" (hottest/ wettest/ coldest/ windiest etc. day, week, month in so many years )

[lottie dolly]

There will be another one in a few days saying it will be mild ��, they really don't know what it will be like this weekend let alone long range. Will be what it is anyway, it's not like we can change it.

Your right,we cannot change it,but for warned is for armed,like making sure we got baisics in place,weather it be food,water pipes,warm clothes,ext,in fact anything that is helpful in getting though it as best as possible,having said that,where we are,we seem to miss the worst of snow stuff,still bad to go out,did not get enough of the stuff to build a small snowman for the annual comp,

[WilliamD]

Why is it forecasts nowadays always have to finish with "in so many years" (hottest/ wettest/ coldest/ windiest etc. day, week, month in so many years )

That's one of the truest sentences since records began ...

[Mikey]

I don't mind if its not the coldest, as long as its cold enough to kill off some of the slugs....

[Alison]

Your right,we cannot change it,but for warned is for armed,like making sure we got baisics in place,weather it be food,water pipes,warm clothes,ext,in fact anything that is helpful in getting though it as best as possible,having said that,where we are,we seem to miss the worst of snow stuff,still bad to go out,did not get enough of the stuff to build a small snowman for the annual comp,

If you'd seen my store cupboard you'd realise that we won't ever run out of food

[veggiechicken]

Ignore all these doom and gloom forecasts, the next cold winter will be either 2025/6 or 2026/7
Have you noticed how the bad winters happen approx 16 years apart?
1947/1963/1979/1995/2010............
I may have some of the later years a bit wrong but 1947 & 1963 are definites.
So, remember you heard it here first - we have several years to go before we need to worry.

[noviceveggrower]

I don't mind the cold. Its called putting a jumper on and a thick coat to go outside. Its the snow I don't like. Never have been a massive fan even as a kid.
Didn't they say last year it was going to be really bad and that the reservoirs were at their lowest ever before winter. Then next thing we know people are getting flooded out and the reservoirs are full to bursting.
If the temperatures do drop hopefully it will kill off all the bugs, germs, slugs and snails But we should remember the wildlife that could need our help if it is a bad winter.

[Two_Sheds]

Why is it forecasts nowadays always have to finish with ...hottest/ wettest/ coldest/ windiest etc.

because the climate is changing, and our weather keeps breaking records.
eg, this might be the warmest Hallowe'en ever (or since records began, anyway)

I don't mind the cold. Its called putting a jumper on

Ah, you don't suffer with Reynauds or arthritis then.

I can't go up the allotment (except to drop off compost) in the winter because my hands go from warm to painful in seconds. They don't have time to register "cold", they just become extremely painful. Gloves don't help, not even 2 pairs of cashmere lined thermal ones.

[Shadylane]

They say it every year - last year it was going to happen in October, then when it didn't they decided November was going to be the worst. Then it was December. Probability suggests that eventually they will be right.

Two Sheds - I recently started suffering from cold hands and feet - it's not that severe but I find a concoction of blackstrap mollasses, ginger, cinamon, turmeric, a pinch of black pepper and cayenne pepper in warm water really helps for poor circulation. It tastes rank but I definitely notice a difference.

[arpoet]

Try winter golf gloves, TS. they work a treat for me and keep my hands warm when in the garden in winter. Its not so much the cold with me its a damp, wet and dull days that crease me up and force me indoors.

[Kristen]

Complete and utter tripe - the sooner people stop buying their junk news and put them out of business the better.

I'd like to be a weather forecaster in the Sahara. I would predict rain, every day, and on the days I got it right I would be lauded as a hero ...

The Express from a couple of days ago:
"BRITAIN is edging closer to an ARCTIC FREEZE with blizzards, record low temperatures and polar gales set to cripple the country in weeks."
Winter weather 2014 UK set for ARCTIC FREEZE in days as mild autumn fuels temperature drop | Nature | News | Daily Express

The comments on that page make interesting reading

Remember what the Daily Express said in November last year? Same "journalist" ... I'll refresh your memory:

"WINTER 2013 TO BE LONGEST IN HISTORY: Heavy snow could fall until MAY warn forecasters"
Long range UK weather forecast warns snow, storms and Arctic winds could last SIX months | UK | News | Daily Express

What about 2012 I hear you ask? Yup, they predicted the same at the end of October 2012 too "A FREEZING winter is on the cards with experts forecasting a repeat of conditions that led to temperatures of -22C (-8F) in 2010."
Britain set to freeze in long Arctic winter | UK | News | Daily Express

October 2011 <Yawn> "BRITAIN is set to suffer a mini ice age that could last for decades and bring with it a series of bitterly cold winters ... within weeks, experts said last night, that the mercury may soon plunge below the record -20C endured last year."
Britain faces a mini 'ice age' | UK | News | Daily Express

Now 2010 was a cold winter. What did the Express predict? "Early snow flurries, ... the UK could see a milder winter owing to a particularly strong La Nina episode in the Pacific. "

More copies of papers sold ... Job Done.

[mothhawk]

Ignore all these doom and gloom forecasts, the next cold winter will be either 2025/6 or 2026/7
Have you noticed how the bad winters happen approx 16 years apart?
1947/1963/1979/1995/2010............
I may have some of the later years a bit wrong but 1947 & 1963 are definites.
So, remember you heard it here first - we have several years to go before we need to worry.

I think you're right VC.
"1978-79: Late December falls of 6-7 inches in Southern Scotland and the North East started it off. It was very cold in parts. Mid February saw drifts of 6-7 feet on the East coast of England. Mid March had severe blizzards and drifting, in North Eastern England drifts reached a staggering 15 feet! Very snowy."

"1994-95 saw many falls of up to 40cm throughout the UK. Leeds saw 40cm of snow in 3 hours in late January 1995! Late March also saw snow for the Northern half of England"

"December 2010 will go down as an infamous winter month in the UK (perhaps it should be added to our famous winters run down?). Temperatures were around 5c below average which made it the coldest December in over 100 years, and there was significant and widespread snowfall to go with the cold. A good deal of the country had snow on the ground right up to and beyond Christmas."

Quotes from The History of British Winters - Netweather.tv