The Met Office forecast seems in many ways to have been quite good,
given it never said anything about snow.

In the far south (Southampton) it seems to have been (so far) the
winter with the longest spells of average or just-below-average weather
for years.

Periods of average or below-average temperatures prevailed from
November 12th to the end of the month, December 5th -18th, December
25th-29th, January 4th-9th, January 20th-February 5th, and February
9th-11th making booth December and January appear (though no figures)
somewhat colder than average.

Though I wouldn't say whether the actual mean average max for both
months was actually below average (a few very mild days in each month
may have spoilt it) it does seem to have been the coldest
December/January since 1995/96.

It all hinges on what the rest of February will be like I guess. If
it's mild it will be yet another mild winter overall (if only slightly)
I suspect. However if it turns colder (next weekend looks coldish if
not dramatically so) and remains colder, then it could indeed be the
first 'cold winter' since 1995/96.

Nick