1st frost this morning!

[gardendancer]

I woke up to the first frost of this winter this morning - and it was severe enough to have left a thick layer of ice on a bucket of water! Unusual where we are in London.

So the weekend will be busy with mulching all the delicate plants that need protoection, clearing borders and potting up and storing the tender perennials

Anyone else have frost yet?

[Aberdeenplotter]

We had a skin of frost on the car windows last week but nothing since. Mind you it was bitterly cold out earlier and the rain which was forecast has arrived. I don't think anyone mentioned it would be coming horizontally mind

[Nicos]

Very heavy frost here too this morning...looked like it had snowed when I looked out last night- it was glowing in the full moon light!

Lovely

[Aberdeenplotter]

On subject of. For the first time in my life, yesterday evening, I saw a huge circle of light around the moon. Biggest circle I have ever seen in fact. No idea why it was there. Maybe just the cloud formation allowing the light through or perhaps a haze in the atmosphere because of fireworks. Whatever it was amazing if not a little spooky. Maybe it was the hole in the ozone layer?

[Thelma Sanders]

Frost here as well - and one of those huge moons

I don't know why sometimes it looks so huge, when at other times - even when they say it's a supermoon - it looks quite small *puzzled*

[Guest]

white and crispy this morning. A layer of ice on the birds water bowls 1-2mm thick and my yacon has gradually got blacker as the day has gone on ( I am a bit scared to dig the tubers up)

, I saw a huge circle of light around the moon.

Around 2-3am the last two mornings it has been orange, when I first saw it I wondered why there was a street light in the distance/field v

[Philthy]

Yep.. first proper frost on the North Downs. Took me by surprise. Crunchy grass and white roofs. And all my tender plants that I was aiming to keep overwinter still in the greenhouse.. unheated.. with roof vents open. Hmmm.. not sure I want to venture in there now

Agree about last night's full moon too. It was so light at midnight under the clear sky I think I could have sat out and read a book!

[Jay22]

No frost here just rain, rain and more rain...and wind!! You are right AP...horizontal here too. My little bichons have gone to the groomers this afternoon...how long do you reckon they will stay white?!

[Potstubsdustbins]

Yep frost here to, minus 2'C last night

[Bren In Pots]

We had ice this morning with the GH low of 0.6c and the oldest yet this season for us.

[Penellype]

White frost on the grass here this morning.

All sorts of rings, haloes etc can appear round the moon or the sun or even nowhere near either - the ring round the moon is the most commonly seen. For those of you who (like me) like to know what these things are, long explanation here: Halo (optical phenomenon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Short explanation: ice crystals. The way it works is much the same as the way a rainbow forms, except using ice rather than water.

The moon always looks big when its low in the sky - this is an optical illusion but has not been properly explained. Moon illusion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The orange or red colour is caused by scattering of light by particles in the atmosphere. It is usually most noticable when the moon is low in the sky, because the light is travelling through a longer distance of atmosphere (same reason as the sun often appears red or orange when setting). Sometimes the moon can appear orange or red when it is much higher in the sky - this is usually due to high levels of atmospheric pollution or dust causing scattering of the light.

[Snow]

I went out to get something of left in my car at 2am (I go to bed late) and there was thick frost all over the car. Was quite surprised.

[BUFFS]

No frost here just rain, rain and more rain...and wind!! You are right AP...horizontal here too. My little bichons have gone to the groomers this afternoon...how long do you reckon they will stay white?!

well Jay22 you know you can get something for the wind and that rain we are getting just means normal service has been resumed........

[Alicante]

First frost here as well. Courgette plants on the plot inside the gate at allotments a black soggy mess.

[solanaceae]

Was anticipating some frost this morning with dread as I've still got some potato and tomato plants doing well in the garden. And it was fairly frostly all over.

Have checked on the plants since and all of them seem to be doing fine. The temps should be quite reasonable from tomorrow onwards, so hoping to eke out that last bit of growth if I can.