From my area of the UK, which is of course East Anglia. This is how I would
categorise a cold spell. This occurring in either December, January or
February, which of course are the 3 winter months.

1 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive, of north westerly winds and night frosts
of -2 to -3. Daytime maximums of between 4 and 5C. The occasional light snow
shower.

2 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive of north winds and night frosts of -3
to -4C. Daytime maximums of 3 to 4C. The occasional light snow shower,
perhaps a moderate one or two snow showers.

3 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north winds and night frosts of -4C. Daytime
maximums of 1C to 2C. Snow showers, the occasional one settling lightly.

4 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north easterly winds and night frosts of -4C.
More frequent snow showers and a daytime max of 1C perhaps one or two days
in that with maxs of 0C. Daytime frosts from this level onwards.

5 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of easterlies and night frosts of -4C with one or
two at -5C to -6C. Snow showers and snow settling to a depth of 2 inches.
Maximum temperatures on 2 days of 0C to -1C. Snow on the ground for 3 days

6 out 10: 4 to 6 days of north east or easterlies with night frosts -5C
to -6C. Snow showers and daytime maximums of 0C to -1C on 2 to 3 days. Snow
lying for 4 days.

7 out of 10: 6 to 7 days with east to north east winds, night frost -6C
to -8C. Snow showers and a longer period of snow giving a level depth of 3
inches and laying on the ground for 5 days. Daytime maximums 0C to -2C on 4
days out of that.

8 out of 10: 8 days to 10 days with east winds and north east winds. Night
frosts -8C to -10C. At least 1 -10C in that bunch. Snow on the ground to a
depth of 5 to 8 inches having fallen from a southerly track depression in
the English Channel. Further snow later on from snow showers. At least 6
days with a max below -1C and 2 days with a max of -4C to -5C. Snow on the
ground in that for 10 days to 12 days.

9 out of 10: 12 days to 14 days with a cold spell from either north to north
east or easterly. Any combination will do. Snow on the ground at least 6
inches deep. Night frosts -7C to -12C with at least 4 nights with a -10C. At
least 6 days with a max below 0C and out of those 3 with a max below -4C.
Snow on the ground for 14 days or more. December 1981 did this and a bit
more besides.

10 out of 10: More than 14 days with a cold spell from any very cold
combination. Snow on the ground for the whole of that time and preferably
longer. Snow depths of greater than 6 inches caused by southerly track
depressions and fronts. Night frosts down to below -15C on at least 3
nights. They do not have to be consecutive. At least 7 days in a row with a
max below 0C with 3 days with a max below -5C. January 1982 nearly hit
this, but it wasn't for 14 days though. January 1963 managed to do so. As
did January 1940.


Obviously there are variations in this. This is a guide for those living in
the South Midlands, East Anglia and Home counties as to what I would regard
as cold spell categorisation.




Just for the records. Snow lay on the ground in Cambridge for 70 consecutive
days.




--
Gavin Staples.



Horseheath. Cambridge, UK. 93m ASL.

www.gavinstaples.com
site regularly updated
All outgoing emails are checked for viruses by Norton Internet Security
2006.

Gavin Staples ha scritto:
From my area of the UK, which is of course East Anglia. This is how I would
categorise a cold spell. This occurring in either December, January or
February, which of course are the 3 winter months.

1 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive, of north westerly winds [snip]
2 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive of north winds [snip]
3 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north winds [snip]
4 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north easterly winds [snip]
5 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of easterlies [snip]
6 out 10: 4 to 6 days of north east or easterlies [snip]
7 out of 10: 6 to 7 days with east to north east winds [snip]
8 out of 10: 8 days to 10 days with east winds and north east winds [snip]
9 out of 10: 12 days to 14 days with a cold spell from either north to north
east or easterly [snip]
10 out of 10: [snip]

So, living where I do, and with the current cold spell coming as it does
from the south-east, I wonder how it should be scored.
Hopefully, I will benefit from a nice warm northerly soon.

To be fair to the southerlies / south-easterlies, my coldest overnight
of the season so far arrived from the west.

No snow up here by the way - the (uk) tv weather last evening suggested
we had lots of it ... but they do seem to have a vivid imagination.

--
Gianna Stefani

www.buchan-meteo.org.uk
www.buchan-nature.org.uk

On that basis - this one gets 0.5 ot of ten here in Bornemouuth.

Jim


"Gavin Staples" wrote in message
...
From my area of the UK, which is of course East Anglia. This is how I
would categorise a cold spell. This occurring in either December, January
or February, which of course are the 3 winter months.

1 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive, of north westerly winds and night
frosts of -2 to -3. Daytime maximums of between 4 and 5C. The occasional
light snow shower.

2 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive of north winds and night frosts of -3
to -4C. Daytime maximums of 3 to 4C. The occasional light snow shower,
perhaps a moderate one or two snow showers.

3 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north winds and night frosts of -4C. Daytime
maximums of 1C to 2C. Snow showers, the occasional one settling lightly.

4 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north easterly winds and night frosts of -4C.
More frequent snow showers and a daytime max of 1C perhaps one or two days
in that with maxs of 0C. Daytime frosts from this level onwards.

5 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of easterlies and night frosts of -4C with one or
two at -5C to -6C. Snow showers and snow settling to a depth of 2 inches.
Maximum temperatures on 2 days of 0C to -1C. Snow on the ground for 3 days

6 out 10: 4 to 6 days of north east or easterlies with night frosts -5C
to -6C. Snow showers and daytime maximums of 0C to -1C on 2 to 3 days.
Snow lying for 4 days.

7 out of 10: 6 to 7 days with east to north east winds, night frost -6C
to -8C. Snow showers and a longer period of snow giving a level depth of 3
inches and laying on the ground for 5 days. Daytime maximums 0C to -2C on
4 days out of that.

8 out of 10: 8 days to 10 days with east winds and north east winds.
Night frosts -8C to -10C. At least 1 -10C in that bunch. Snow on the
ground to a depth of 5 to 8 inches having fallen from a southerly track
depression in the English Channel. Further snow later on from snow
showers. At least 6 days with a max below -1C and 2 days with a max of -4C
to -5C. Snow on the ground in that for 10 days to 12 days.

9 out of 10: 12 days to 14 days with a cold spell from either north to
north east or easterly. Any combination will do. Snow on the ground at
least 6 inches deep. Night frosts -7C to -12C with at least 4 nights with
a -10C. At least 6 days with a max below 0C and out of those 3 with a max
below -4C. Snow on the ground for 14 days or more. December 1981 did this
and a bit more besides.

10 out of 10: More than 14 days with a cold spell from any very cold
combination. Snow on the ground for the whole of that time and preferably
longer. Snow depths of greater than 6 inches caused by southerly track
depressions and fronts. Night frosts down to below -15C on at least 3
nights. They do not have to be consecutive. At least 7 days in a row with
a max below 0C with 3 days with a max below -5C. January 1982 nearly hit
this, but it wasn't for 14 days though. January 1963 managed to do so. As
did January 1940.


Obviously there are variations in this. This is a guide for those living
in the South Midlands, East Anglia and Home counties as to what I would
regard as cold spell categorisation.




Just for the records. Snow lay on the ground in Cambridge for 70
consecutive days.




--
Gavin Staples.



Horseheath. Cambridge, UK. 93m ASL.

www.gavinstaples.com
site regularly updated
All outgoing emails are checked for viruses by Norton Internet Security
2006.

In article ,
Gavin Staples writes:
From my area of the UK, which is of course East Anglia. This is how I would
categorise a cold spell. This occurring in either December, January or
February, which of course are the 3 winter months.

1 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive, of north westerly winds and night frosts
of -2 to -3. Daytime maximums of between 4 and 5C. The occasional light snow
shower.
snip

Surely you would give the same mark if this weather and these
temperatures occurred with a different wind direction? So should the
wind direction be included in the definition? It might be unusual to get
such conditions with, say, a south-westerly, but it's not completely
unknown ("returning" polar maritime airmass).
--
John Hall

"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

"Jim Smith" wrote in message
...
On that basis - this one gets 0.5 ot of ten here in Bornemouuth.

Jim


Oh dear Jim.

"John Hall" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gavin Staples writes:
From my area of the UK, which is of course East Anglia. This is how I
would
categorise a cold spell. This occurring in either December, January or
February, which of course are the 3 winter months.

1 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive, of north westerly winds and night
frosts
of -2 to -3. Daytime maximums of between 4 and 5C. The occasional light
snow
shower.
snip

Surely you would give the same mark if this weather and these
temperatures occurred with a different wind direction? So should the
wind direction be included in the definition? It might be unusual to get
such conditions with, say, a south-westerly, but it's not completely
unknown ("returning" polar maritime airmass).
--
John Hall

"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Good point John. I wondered if someone would pick me up on that. My best
example is that classic snowy zonal month January 1984 I was living in the
NW at that time. It was amazing. That would get a 7. It gave lying deep
snow for 10 days or more. I distinctly remember the forecast one weekend.

Gale force westerlies and a maz of 0C to -1C. Snow showers. Needless to say
they all settled. A trough built in this and we had a 10 inch fall with snow
flakes the size of saucers. I have never seen such huge snow flakes in my
life, before or since.

Based on your ratings the Wembley area gets a 2 out of 10 for the snow.
Only one significant snow shower that left half a cm that melted in a few
hours. Maybe a 3 out of 10 for temps so perhaps 2.5 overall.

-Mike

"Gavin Staples" wrote in message
...
From my area of the UK, which is of course East Anglia. This is how I
would categorise a cold spell. This occurring in either December, January
or February, which of course are the 3 winter months.

1 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive, of north westerly winds and night
frosts of -2 to -3. Daytime maximums of between 4 and 5C. The occasional
light snow shower.

2 out 10: 3 or 4 days consecutive of north winds and night frosts of -3
to -4C. Daytime maximums of 3 to 4C. The occasional light snow shower,
perhaps a moderate one or two snow showers.

3 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north winds and night frosts of -4C. Daytime
maximums of 1C to 2C. Snow showers, the occasional one settling lightly.

4 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of north easterly winds and night frosts of -4C.
More frequent snow showers and a daytime max of 1C perhaps one or two days
in that with maxs of 0C. Daytime frosts from this level onwards.

5 out of 10: 3 or 4 days of easterlies and night frosts of -4C with one or
two at -5C to -6C. Snow showers and snow settling to a depth of 2 inches.
Maximum temperatures on 2 days of 0C to -1C. Snow on the ground for 3 days

6 out 10: 4 to 6 days of north east or easterlies with night frosts -5C
to -6C. Snow showers and daytime maximums of 0C to -1C on 2 to 3 days.
Snow lying for 4 days.

7 out of 10: 6 to 7 days with east to north east winds, night frost -6C
to -8C. Snow showers and a longer period of snow giving a level depth of 3
inches and laying on the ground for 5 days. Daytime maximums 0C to -2C on
4 days out of that.

8 out of 10: 8 days to 10 days with east winds and north east winds.
Night frosts -8C to -10C. At least 1 -10C in that bunch. Snow on the
ground to a depth of 5 to 8 inches having fallen from a southerly track
depression in the English Channel. Further snow later on from snow
showers. At least 6 days with a max below -1C and 2 days with a max of -4C
to -5C. Snow on the ground in that for 10 days to 12 days.

9 out of 10: 12 days to 14 days with a cold spell from either north to
north east or easterly. Any combination will do. Snow on the ground at
least 6 inches deep. Night frosts -7C to -12C with at least 4 nights with
a -10C. At least 6 days with a max below 0C and out of those 3 with a max
below -4C. Snow on the ground for 14 days or more. December 1981 did this
and a bit more besides.

10 out of 10: More than 14 days with a cold spell from any very cold
combination. Snow on the ground for the whole of that time and preferably
longer. Snow depths of greater than 6 inches caused by southerly track
depressions and fronts. Night frosts down to below -15C on at least 3
nights. They do not have to be consecutive. At least 7 days in a row with
a max below 0C with 3 days with a max below -5C. January 1982 nearly hit
this, but it wasn't for 14 days though. January 1963 managed to do so. As
did January 1940.


Obviously there are variations in this. This is a guide for those living
in the South Midlands, East Anglia and Home counties as to what I would
regard as cold spell categorisation.




Just for the records. Snow lay on the ground in Cambridge for 70
consecutive days.




--
Gavin Staples.



Horseheath. Cambridge, UK. 93m ASL.

www.gavinstaples.com
site regularly updated
All outgoing emails are checked for viruses by Norton Internet Security
2006.