If the broadscale circulation is
stuck in a groove that brings persistent relatively warm SW'lies to our
corner of Europe then it is virtually certain the somewhere about half a
wavelength downstream will be getting weather persistently colder than
average.

Some clear-headed logic! We know our winters have been warmer in the
last 15 yrs or so, but are figures available for other mid-latitude places, eg
America, Russia which might show how their winters have changed, if at all, in
a similar period? This comparison could tell us a lot. I'd do it myself but
am not quite sure where to look.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey