I
"Bonos Ego" wrote in message
...
The Met Office have given themselves a pat on the back forecasting the
recent cold spell.

Personally I think they did ok, but could do better.

They seem to leave issuing some of the warnings to the last minute, or
even overnight when people are asleep for the following morning (Devon
& Cornwall freezing rain 23 December), which is not good enough. The
warnings should have been issued in time to be included in any local
news bulletins the evening before.

What do others think?

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporat...t20091223.html

Widespread heavy snow and icy conditions, 17–23 December 2009

23 December 2009
Background

From around mid-December, cold air from eastern Europe dominated the
UK weather. This was to be the start of a cold spell which would
continue up to the start of the Christmas period.

Widespread frost, ice and snow affected some areas.

* The first significant snowfall occurred on the night of Thursday
17 December and into Friday 18 December.
* Parts of south-east England, Yorkshire and north-east England
were badly affected, with particularly deep snow in parts of East
Anglia.

By the weekend of 19/20 December the cold air had spread across much
of the North Atlantic, effectively surrounding the UK.

* On Sunday 20 December heavy snow from the north-west affected
western areas of Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.
* On Monday 21 December heavy snow affected southern areas of
England during the late afternoon and evening, as milder air from the
south mixed with the cold air already across the UK. Snow was
particularly heavy during the evening rush hour in parts of Hampshire.
* On Tuesday 22 December eastern areas of Scotland had frequent
snow showers.

By Tuesday night less-cold conditions began to move into parts of
south-west England. However, the wintry problems were far from over as
rain fell onto frozen road surfaces leading to ice on many routes in
Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.


Did they actually make a definive forecast? The one I saw seemed to cover
all bases. 20% of this 20% of that and 60% of the other.