The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

I have just seen it advertised by Channel 4 that they are showing a
programme called Britain's Big Freeze tonight at 8pm. Channel 4 did
exactly the same thing last year despite last winter been only
slightly below average temperatures.
I think they are exaggering this winter a bit, even though it has been
cold, where I live has escaped most of the snow although many other
parts of the country haven't.
It should be worth watching and recording. However. if it is a similar
programme to last year it may not be worth recording as I think
Channel 4 exaggerated last year's winter.

Nicholas

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

On Jan 25, 4:31*pm, Nicholas wrote:
I have just seen it advertised by Channel 4 that they are showing a
programme called Britain's Big Freeze tonight at 8pm. Channel 4 did
exactly the same thing last year despite last winter been only
slightly below average temperatures.
I think they are exaggering this winter a bit, even though it has been
cold, where I live has escaped most of the snow although many other
parts of the country haven't.
It should be worth watching and recording. However. if it is a similar
programme to last year it may not be worth recording as I think
Channel 4 exaggerated last year's winter.

Nicholas

Quite a good programme with some nice pics from previous severe
winters.

Alex Hill was raising the excuse for dodgy seasonal forecasts on
probabilities. Nice cop out. Of little interest to the public of
course. Perhaps they should only issue a forecast in that case, if the
probabilty is going to be greater than 80% for warm/cold , or wet/dry.

I have another gripe:
Sarah Davies (Met Office) churned out the old chestnut:
'Britian is kept warm most winters because we have the Gulf
Stream....so for our latitude we are quite mild compared with the rest
of the world'.
Mostly untrue.

Britain is kept warm because we are downwind of the relatively warm N.
Atlantic. Labrador at the same lat. on other side of the ocean is
downwind of the cold N. American continent.
It is the prevailing westerly winds that keep us warm. The Gulf Stream
plays only a small part in comparison.

Len Wood
Wembury, SW Devon

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

In article
,
Len Wood writes:
snip
I have another gripe:
Sarah Davies (Met Office) churned out the old chestnut:
'Britian is kept warm most winters because we have the Gulf
Stream....so for our latitude we are quite mild compared with the rest
of the world'.
Mostly untrue.

Britain is kept warm because we are downwind of the relatively warm N.
Atlantic. Labrador at the same lat. on other side of the ocean is
downwind of the cold N. American continent.
It is the prevailing westerly winds that keep us warm. The Gulf Stream
plays only a small part in comparison.

Yes, that annoyed me too. Meteorologists these days seem mostly to have
degrees in physics rather than geography, which may help to explain it.
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

On 26 Jan, 20:14, Len Wood wrote:
On Jan 25, 4:31*pm, Nicholas wrote:

I have just seen it advertised by Channel 4 that they are showing a
programme called Britain's Big Freeze tonight at 8pm. Channel 4 did
exactly the same thing last year despite last winter been only
slightly below average temperatures.
I think they are exaggering this winter a bit, even though it has been
cold, where I live has escaped most of the snow although many other
parts of the country haven't.
It should be worth watching and recording. However. if it is a similar
programme to last year it may not be worth recording as I think
Channel 4 exaggerated last year's winter.

Nicholas

Quite a good programme with some nice pics from previous severe
winters.

Alex Hill was raising the excuse for dodgy seasonal forecasts on
probabilities. Nice cop out. Of little interest to the public of
course. Perhaps they should only issue a forecast in that case, if the
probabilty is going to be greater than 80% for warm/cold , or wet/dry.

I have another gripe:
Sarah Davies (Met Office) churned out the old chestnut:
'Britian is kept warm most winters because we have the Gulf
Stream....so for our latitude we are quite mild compared with the rest
of the world'.
Mostly untrue.

Britain is kept warm because we are downwind of the relatively warm N.
Atlantic. Labrador at the same lat. on other side of the ocean is
downwind of the cold N. American continent.
It is the prevailing westerly winds that keep us warm. The Gulf Stream
plays only a small part in comparison.

Len Wood
Wembury, SW Devon

mmm. . .
Isn't most of the N. Atlantic warm because of the Gulf Stream / N.
Atlantic Drift?

Of course the N. Atlantic Drift & prevailing westerly winds are so
interlinked it is really the combination which keeps us mild. (Not
today though)

Didn't see the programme, so can't comment further!

Graham
Penzance - soon be Summer!

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

Len Wood wrote:
On Jan 25, 4:31 pm, Nicholas wrote:
I have just seen it advertised by Channel 4 that they are showing a
programme called Britain's Big Freeze tonight at 8pm. Channel 4 did
exactly the same thing last year despite last winter been only
slightly below average temperatures.
I think they are exaggering this winter a bit, even though it has
been cold, where I live has escaped most of the snow although many
other parts of the country haven't.
It should be worth watching and recording. However. if it is a
similar programme to last year it may not be worth recording as I
think Channel 4 exaggerated last year's winter.

Nicholas

Quite a good programme with some nice pics from previous severe
winters.

Alex Hill was raising the excuse for dodgy seasonal forecasts on
probabilities. Nice cop out. Of little interest to the public of
course. Perhaps they should only issue a forecast in that case, if the
probabilty is going to be greater than 80% for warm/cold , or wet/dry.

I have another gripe:
Sarah Davies (Met Office) churned out the old chestnut:
'Britian is kept warm most winters because we have the Gulf
Stream....so for our latitude we are quite mild compared with the rest
of the world'.
Mostly untrue.

Britain is kept warm because we are downwind of the relatively warm N.
Atlantic. Labrador at the same lat. on other side of the ocean is
downwind of the cold N. American continent.
It is the prevailing westerly winds that keep us warm. The Gulf Stream
plays only a small part in comparison.

But surely we are considerably warmer due to the Gulf Stream/
North Atlantic Drift (call it what you will) due to those westerly
winds blowing over it than if those winds didn't have such a warm
current to pass over?
I'm wondering about coastal British Columbia, the latitude
equivalent of the UK on the western side of North America.
Oceanic westerly winds yes, but no eqivalent warm current
to the North Altantic Drift. I'm sure this area isignificantly cooler
than the UK.
--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

In article
,
Graham Easterling writes:
On 26 Jan, 20:14, Len Wood wrote:
On Jan 25, 4:31*pm, Nicholas wrote:

I have just seen it advertised by Channel 4 that they are showing a
programme called Britain's Big Freeze tonight at 8pm. Channel 4 did
exactly the same thing last year despite last winter been only
slightly below average temperatures.
I think they are exaggering this winter a bit, even though it has been
cold, where I live has escaped most of the snow although many other
parts of the country haven't.
It should be worth watching and recording. However. if it is a similar
programme to last year it may not be worth recording as I think
Channel 4 exaggerated last year's winter.

Nicholas

Quite a good programme with some nice pics from previous severe
winters.

Alex Hill was raising the excuse for dodgy seasonal forecasts on
probabilities. Nice cop out. Of little interest to the public of
course. Perhaps they should only issue a forecast in that case, if the
probabilty is going to be greater than 80% for warm/cold , or wet/dry.

I have another gripe:
Sarah Davies (Met Office) churned out the old chestnut:
'Britian is kept warm most winters because we have the Gulf
Stream....so for our latitude we are quite mild compared with the rest
of the world'.
Mostly untrue.

Britain is kept warm because we are downwind of the relatively warm N.
Atlantic. Labrador at the same lat. on other side of the ocean is
downwind of the cold N. American continent.
It is the prevailing westerly winds that keep us warm. The Gulf Stream
plays only a small part in comparison.

Len Wood
Wembury, SW Devon

mmm. . .
Isn't most of the N. Atlantic warm because of the Gulf Stream / N.
Atlantic Drift?

Of course the N. Atlantic Drift & prevailing westerly winds are so
interlinked it is really the combination which keeps us mild. (Not
today though)

Didn't see the programme, so can't comment further!

The difference in temperature at our latitude between the continental
interiors and the oceans is surely much larger than the difference
between ocean with a warm current (roughly 10C) and ocean with a cold
current (roughly 0C). The trouble is that the interlinking of prevailing
winds and ocean currents is such that I don't think there's anywhere at
our latitude where the prevailing wind is onshore from an ocean with a
cold current, so that there aren't any direct comparisons that can be
made to help establish the relatuve importance of the two factors.
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

In article ,
Col writes:
I'm wondering about coastal British Columbia, the latitude
equivalent of the UK on the western side of North America.
Oceanic westerly winds yes, but no eqivalent warm current
to the North Altantic Drift. I'm sure this area isignificantly cooler
than the UK.

I thought that they *did* have a warm current there, so perhaps less
powerful than the NAD. Judging by the temperatures I see in the
newspaper each day for Vancouver, the winters in coastal BC don't seem
any colder than ours. In fact I have the impression that if anything
they tend to have less really cold weather than we do, perhaps because
of the blocking effect of the Rockies.
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

John Hall wrote:

In article
,
Len Wood writes:
snip
I have another gripe:
Sarah Davies (Met Office) churned out the old chestnut:
'Britian is kept warm most winters because we have the Gulf
Stream....so for our latitude we are quite mild compared with the rest
of the world'.
Mostly untrue.

Britain is kept warm because we are downwind of the relatively warm N.
Atlantic. Labrador at the same lat. on other side of the ocean is
downwind of the cold N. American continent.
It is the prevailing westerly winds that keep us warm. The Gulf Stream
plays only a small part in comparison.

Yes, that annoyed me too. Meteorologists these days seem mostly to have
degrees in physics rather than geography, which may help to explain it.

The science of meteorology is primarily a branch of physics with a lot of
mathematics thrown in for good measure. It's not a branch of geography. Some
aspects of climatology, though, are very closely linked to geography. It's not
easy to draw sharp dividing lines.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

On Jan 26, 8:55*pm, John Hall wrote:
In article ,

*Col writes:
I'm wondering about coastal British Columbia, the latitude
equivalent of the UK on the western side of North America.
Oceanic westerly winds yes, but no eqivalent warm current
to the North Altantic Drift. I'm sure this area isignificantly cooler
than the UK.

I thought that they *did* have a warm current there, so perhaps less
powerful than the NAD. Judging by the temperatures I see in the
newspaper each day for Vancouver, the winters in coastal BC don't seem
any colder than ours. In fact I have the impression that if anything
they tend to have less really cold weather than we do, perhaps because
of the blocking effect of the Rockies.
--
John Hall
* * * * * *"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
* * * * * * from coughing."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)

Don't know if this helps? http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/home/k...irculation.jpg

The Channel 4 programme Britain's Big Freeze
 

In article ,
John Hall writes:
In article ,
Col writes:
I'm wondering about coastal British Columbia, the latitude
equivalent of the UK on the western side of North America.
Oceanic westerly winds yes, but no eqivalent warm current
to the North Altantic Drift. I'm sure this area isignificantly cooler
than the UK.

I thought that they *did* have a warm current there, so perhaps less
powerful than the NAD. Judging by the temperatures I see in the
newspaper each day for Vancouver, the winters in coastal BC don't seem
any colder than ours. In fact I have the impression that if anything
they tend to have less really cold weather than we do, perhaps because
of the blocking effect of the Rockies.

Just looked it up on Wikipedia. In both December and January Vancouver's
mean max is 6C and the mean min is 1C; February is a bit warmer. So very
much the same as our values. However their coldest ever month, January
1950, was considerably colder than our coldest, with a monthly mean of
-6.3C

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Vancouver
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)