On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:45:17 +0000, Rob Brooks wrote:

Here in Leeds the mean temperature for the first 12 days of this winter
month is 2.0 C. This is the coldest start this Century to any December,
but I was wondering if we had anything on the CET. Most people on this
NG will know that December 1981 was ranked one of the coldest December's
on record, but how does December 2008 compare. Is it the coldest since
1981??

The Met Office have a press release:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporat...r20081212.html

The first para says that the first third of December had an "average
temperature" (I assume they mean CET, but it doesn't actually say so) of
1.7 °C, and that this is the lowest such since 1976 (0.8 °C).

--
Bewdley, Worcs. ~90m asl.