December Severe Cold Spell Thread

[martinastro]

New thread started as the cold spell looks to continue for a week or so yet.

A band of rain will turn to snow as it passes acrss N. Ireland on Fri morning bringing widespread sleet and snow away from coastal areas with several inches possible on high ground. These will be followed by hail and snow showers during Fri night and into Sat morning which in conjunction with freezing temps will lead to ice and hence dangerous driving conditions. There is also a slight risk of freezing rain in parts. Some of the post frontal showers could be electrified over N and NW coasts so further thundersnow is possible. The Met Office already have an advisory issued for both days.

[martinastro]

Here's the snow charts for both UK and Ireland for Fri and Sat from Netweather GFS charts...

[markt]

I'm hopeful that as this band comes through the midlands it will bring some additional snowfall tomorrow afternoon / night, fancy a bit more than we've had so far.  Though today it has snowed all day - lightly - and as a result i can report that we have gone from a couple of cm cover to a couple of inches cover!!!    It finished just before tonights rush hbour started, and the temperature is already below freezing out there - the roads and pavements are treacherous.  I'm glad I can walk to and from work as it takes much less time in these conditions than walking.  Even the main roads round here are frozen slush - its gonna be gridlock!!!  

[JohnC]

We're due -10C (14F) tonight

[martinastro]

Met Office severe weather warning for NI on Monday for snow, freezing fog and ice. There could also be rare freezing rain...

Co Antrim
Co Derry
Co Fermanagh
Co Tyrone

Heavy Snow & Widespread Icy Roads 0600 Mon 6 1500 Mon 6 A band of rain and sleet will spread south early on Monday morning and turn increasingly to snow, persisting through into the afternoon. Initially the precipitation will fall onto frozen surfaces with widespread ice developing on untreated roads and pavements, and accumulations of 5 to 10cm of snow expected. The public are advised to take extra care and refer to TrafficWatchNI.com 

[markt]

Looks to be interesting times ahead - cold, if calmer weather predicted now through to around the weekend, with potentially milder conditions briefly thereafter (note milder = just not as cold) - then things could get interesting with all the chatter on the longer range forecast hinting at a return to much colder conditions again with easterly winds.  Deja Vu anyone?

[brianb]

FYI it is snowing hard here at Portballintrae (Mon 6th, 11 am)  - something it rarely does. Accumulation is approx. 1 inch so far. Temp -2C, little wind (southerly force 2), baro 1000 mb steady.

1200 update: snow is easing off but still falling. Accumulation approx. 3 inches. Temp up to 0C but no sign of thaw.

1315 update: snow ceased, band of bright / clear sky to N, temp +2C, thaw underway.

[markt]

Looks like there's more to come in the run up to Christmas of what we all had last week...


Here's Jo Bastardis take...


CORE OF COLD PUSHES SOUTHEAST NEXT 5-7 DAYS BUT RELOADING FARTHER BACK NORTHWEST THREATENS NEW SEVERE COLD FOR NORTHWEST DEC. 14-20.
Winter's core will push farther southeast this week and while it's cold to start in the northwest, it does get milder for the late week, even above normal a few days over Ireland and much of the northern part of the United Kingdom.

IN FACT, LOOKING AT THIS, IT'S A REAL LIVE THAW COMING FOR MUCH OF THE UK AND IRELAND... but only for few days.

However, this is not the end. The pattern is very similar Dec. 14-23 to Jan. 1-10 last year. If you remember, major cold engulfed much of China, the eastern U.S. and Europe to open the new year and another round of major cold appears to be lurking in the longer term in the areas in Europe that have suffered the last two weeks. I think what we are seeing here is the evolution southeast of the core of cold so for the heart of winter, it is where it will be later this week into part of next week, but enough blocking continues to pull this cold back so another round of UK covering snow and cold may be in the works the 15th, perhaps all the way to around Christmas. The lack of the true flip (the warming coming is an island of warmth in the sea of cold) means this is likely to be the coldest December for the northwest since, well, we have to go back a long, long time.

In the meantime, by the weekend the worst cold will be in the south of Europe (relative to normal) with the core swinging from southern France into the Balkans by early next week as the northwest warms. Again, I do not have the time to post on this the way I would like too, but I felt this big ticket shift back and forth of extreme cold is something I should warn you about.

[DaveC]

Logged -9 dg in the car at 7am. Report of -16 dg in south Yorkshire. 

[martinastro]

A very exciting forecast from Joe, I like it alot  , thanks for the update Mark.

Hours of snow here today, 6" on the car roof, roads around Maghera are unreal, cars and lorries sliding so very dangerous. On Glenshane all the lay bys were snowed in so I had to drive to Dungiven in order to get turned and head back home again. Got to hand it to the road service up there, they had non stop ploughs and salters going over the pass which was great, even famers snow ploughing, at times 2 or 3 in a row ahead of the salters. The view of the moutnain and forest up there covered in snow was stunning.

[JohnC]

 Another thanks  too, Mark. He said in the last forecast posted here that southern Europe will be hit hard. Our weather has certainly caught his attention. We've got  - 4C (24.8F) now and dropping. I see Stoke-on Trent (Midlands ) is due -10C (23F) tonight,be lower out in the rural areas as these are urban area temps. We've got fog too.

-16C  (3.2F)  in South Yorkshire ??  This is as bad as the start of the year.


Looking forward to the photos,Martin, sounds great with you. I saw the BBC weather with snow covering your area earlier.

[jjb]

Very cold out tonight the lane at home is treacherous after the snow today neither my car or my brothers could get up to the house.

[John9929]

Mine sitting in the driveway Nice image Jonathan with the stars above.

[markt]

Nice pickies guys!  The snow that was over you yesterday seems to have gained slightly in intensity (after loosing intensity for a while) - will be interesting to see if we see any more snow further south today...

[JohnC]

Good pics- I like the night-time one. No  extra snow here..just very cold.