Must be around 6 or 7 degrees below normal, equivalent to freezing in
January or single figures in October? What's strange is that such an
ordinary looking west or northwesterly airmass should produce such low
temperatures - normally to produce temperatures significantly below
normal, a strong blast from the north or northeast or (in winter only)
east or southeast is required. Or fog...

NIck

The difference is that in summer the ocean to the west is a source of
relatively cold air while in winter it is a source of relatively warm air.
The ocean surface temperature to the west of the British Isles varies by
only a few degrees between summer and winter.

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--

Not really quite right. The sea temperature off Cornwall at the moment is 16
degrees. The average annual range in recent years being 10 degres (8 - 18).

The warmest places yesterday were in Devon & Cornwall (south coast areas
18-20 degrees, 18.7 here in Penzance). So only 1-2 degrees below normal
here. If anything the nearby sea had a slight warming affect on the cold air
mass, the largest negative anomalies generally being inland.

Graham