Hi all,

Another year comes to an end. The older you get the quicker time goes and every winter doesn’t seem like it was years ago. At least this winter started with a very notable cold spell with some lovely blue skies and Arctic air. We’ve returned to a more typical December now, with wind, rain and milder temperatures. This pattern can clearly be seen on December’s charts below. Data from Chadderton HQ via a Davis Vantage Pro 2.

Thursday: Windy and feeling cold with a strong wind. Bright spells here and there but equally some wintry showers, especially across the north. Max 7°C

Friday: Early rain clearing quickly to blustery showers, some could be thundery. Milder and windy. Max 10°C

New Year’s Eve: A showery day in prospect with some hail and perhaps thunder and lightning mixed in. Another windy day and mild for the time of year. Max 9°C

New Year’s Day: Improvements. Bright spells and scattered showers. Breezy. Cooler. Max 7°C

Bank Holiday Monday: Tricky forecast as a small area of low pressure might sit across us bringing showery rain which will ease during the day. The track and development of the low isn’t certain and if it doesn’t come off then a drier day is in order with sunny spells. Max 7°C

Outlook: Little change expected as the Jet Stream looks set to drive most of the weather into the second week of January. This means more spells of rain and wind at times; drier spells in between but nothing significantly cold and any snow confined to the highest peaks of the Pennines. Even frosts will be hard to come by.

Follow @ChadWeather on Twitter for the latest forecasts and warnings.

Finally, I hope you all had a good Christmas and all the very best for the year 2023.

Thanks,
Jon

Forecast Issued: Wednesday the 28th of December 2022 at 8:10pm.
Images: http://www.netweather.tv & http://www.tropicaltidbits.com

Hi all,

We can’t predict what the rest of this winter will bring, but it will take something to beat the recent, lengthy cold spell that we encountered, even if for the majority of us, we didn’t see any significant snowfall. I’m sure we’ll see some decent snowfall at some point over the next couple of months or so, but it’ll be hard to beat those minimum temperatures.

I’ve been looking at the computer models today and they are swinging one way then the other and forecasting what the weather will bring over the festive period is tricky. I’ll give you a mostly likely scanerio as usual, but this time it really is subject to change, so keep an eye on Twitter for updates. There’s a bit of a battle going on with cold air to the north and milder air to the south. Apart from a chilly blast on Boxing Day, we’ll stay in the milder air.

Will we see a White Christmas? No seems certain. The only hope was some evening wintry showers but these showers within colder air looks set to arrive on Boxing Day instead.

Thursday: Any early bright skies fading as cloud thickens from the west. Patchy rain here and there with low-cloud or mist for the hills. Feeling chilly but generally light winds. Max 7°C Min 4°C

Friday: It really looks a poor day. Cloudy with rain, heavy and persistent, will spread up from the southwest. This will hang around all day until turning drizzly into the evening. Cold and windy. Some sleet or wet-snow on the highest peaks of the Pennines. Max 7°C Min 4°C

Christmas Eve (Saturday): Bright spells and showers. Some of these will be blustery with hail. Mild for the time of year. Max 9°C Min 5°C

Christmas Day (Sunday): Mostly cloudy with showers. These will ease as the day progresses and it will turn a little cooler later in the day/overnight. Max 8°C Min 2°C

Boxing Day (Monday): Fresh with sunny spells and a few wintry showers perhaps giving a covering of snow on the hills. Max 5°C Min 0°C

Outlook: The rest of the week looks quite unsettled with further spells of showers or rain and with the colder air just staying to our north, snow looks unlikely.

Follow @ChadWeather on Twitter for the latest forecasts and warnings.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2023. Thanks for reading my weekly blog and for all your interactions on Twitter this year.

Thanks,
Jon

Forecast Issued on Wednesday the 21st of December 2022 at 5:30pm.
Images: http://www.wxcharts.com

Hi all,

WOW. What a cold week that was and although it’s not over yet, much milder weather is on the way, but will it last?

The Arctic weather has been stunning at times; crisp mornings with a severe frost, some snowfall, fog and beautiful blue skies by day, including inversions (I love them!). This has led to some gorgeous photos. Here’s a selection. Thanks to those who tweeted them in.

Temperatures touched as low as -20°C in Scotland, just outside Carrbridge and didn’t get above -12°C in some spots! Locally in NW England, we recorded a low of -10.5°C in Longridge, Preston, on one of the many unofficial but reliable weather stations on the network that we monitor.

Thursday: Another very cold start with temperatures, locally, down to -7°C once again. A stunning day, with blue skies. Make the most of it with change ahead. An ice-day in some spots. Sharp frost again overnight. Max 1°C Min -7°C

Friday: A frosty start with some clear skies but it is expected to become cloudier and even misty as the day goes on. Feeling very cold especially in the slight breeze later on. Chance of a sleet or snow shower. Not as cold overnight. Max 1°C Min -2°C

Weekend: The baltic spell ends. But not without some snow.

Saturday: Generally cloudy and feeling bitter with a strengthening southerly wind. A few wintry showers are possible especially to the west. Slightly less cold on the thermometer. Max 3°C Min 0°C

Sunday: An active weather system will swing in quickly from the south-west bringing much milder air and a spell of heavy rain. With this low pressure bumping into the cold air, we could see several hours of snow, especially on the hills before it turns to rain. As always it’s a marginal event. A few cms can’t be ruled out, but it will be a slushy mush by the evening as temperatures rise significantly. It will also be windy making it feel very chilly in the morning. Look out on Twitter for snow updates. Max 10°C Min 8°C

Outlook: Very mild on Monday with further rain or showers, locally 12°C, which will feel strange after the last two weeks. Low pressure will then move across the north of the UK and introduce a much-colder airflow once again (NW’ly) dropping maximums to 5-7°C leaving us with a week of wintry showers and bright spells. Remember we only need a wintry shower on Christmas Day for it to be officially a White Christmas. At this stage temperatures look favourable, 4°C. Watch this space. Overall December looks like it will be the only month in the year with below-average temperatures.

Thanks for reading as always. If you find this blog useful please tell others.

See you next week for the final blog before Christmas.

Jon

Forecast Issued: Wednesday the 14th of December 2022 at 7:50pm

Charts: http://www.netweather.tv & http://www.wxcharts.com

Blog Image: @kreacher37 on Twitter

Hi all,

Winters these days never seem as cold as they were when I was a kid and we’re getting used to mild Decembers too. Not this year though, as the month has certainly seen a trend to much colder weather and now we’re under an Arctic airflow with days of frosts, some severe, ahead. It will be cold enough to snow but we need precipitation for that and the general theme for the coming days is mostly dry with the chance of a few disturbances in the atmosphere as low pressure will be close by.

Thursday: After a bitter night the day will dawn with temperatures well-below freezing. Sunny spells during the day with some patchy cloud drifting down from the north later in the day which could produce a few light snow flurries/showers. Temperature struggling to get above freezing. Max 1°C Min -6°C

Friday: Another sharp frost to start and the day is likely to be an ice day for most. Some bright spells but more in the way of mist or fog is likely especially later with patches of freezing fog setting in overnight. Max 1°C (below freezing all day if you’re misty/foggy). Min -4°C

Weekend: Very cold, risk of freezing fog increases and perhaps a few light snow showers cropping up.

Saturday: A bitterly cold day with the odd bright spell but it is expected to be misty/foggy once again with a lot of cloud around. Can’t rule out the odd light snow shower. Not as cold overnight due to cloudier conditions and some of us with freezing fog. Max 0°C Min -3°C

Sunday: Frost and freezing fog to start which will be slow to clear in places. Areas staying in the fog all day will see sub-zero temperatures. Elsewhere some bright spells and again perhaps an isolated snow shower. Max 0°C Min -3°C

Outlook: The working week will start very cold and very similar to Sunday albeit windier and a biting wind too. Perhaps a bit more in the way of sunshine after early freezing mist/fog clears. Tuesday will see a cold easterly wind pick up as an area of low pressure tries to come up from the south-west.

What happens from here is still uncertain. The low pressure could push in bringing a spell of heavy snow before turning to rain and less cold air arrives. This was the favourable outcome from some computer models. Now some computer models are keeping the low pressure slightly further south, so flirting with the south-west of England and Wales, before pushing back towards the south-west as the cold air wins. This would keep the Jet Stream south of us and hence the colder-than-average spell will continue for the rest of the week with frosts and scattered wintry showers.

What the outcome is later next week, will be more certain as this weekend goes on, so look out for updates on Twitter. With current energy prices this is not the weather we needed but it does bring back nice memories of winters starting cold with Arctic air and frost lasting all day.

Follow @ChadWeather on Twitter for the latest forecasts and warnings.

Thanks,
Jon

Forecast Issued on Wednesday the 7th of December 2022 at 7:52pm.
Images: http://www.wxcharts.com