I guess this article was shown on BBC reporting Scotland last night...
"Scots winter coldest on record"
"Scotland has had its coldest December and January since records began
nearly 100 years ago, according to met office figures."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8493129.stm

As has already been discussed in another thread, this is simply not true.
December/January 1981/82 was colder across the whole of Scotland, I haven't
seen any proof yet that even one station or area has had a colder 2 month
period this time around?
Many sites also recorded a lower mean for December/January 1978/79, though
this wasn't the case in the central lowlands. And some sites also had a
lower mean for December/January 1976/77, again not the case in this area.
December/January 1939/40 must also be a strong candidate for having a colder
mean Scotland-wide?
To be factually correct the article should be titled, "some parts of
Scotland have had there 2nd or 3rd coldest December/January in 100 years".
But this doesn't grab the headlines, sadly.
I also note the stat's are attributed to met office figures and not
necissarily the met office themselves... What figures are these? Does anyone
know?
And what happened to February being a winter month?
Alex.

ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº
Conditions in Wishaw @ 2:25pm, 2/2/10
Temperature 2.7°C. Dew point 1.2ºC. 90.0%RH
Mean wind speed 2mph from the West South West.
Remarks; 2cm snow cover
Cloud cover: Scattered Clouds
MSLP 1002.6mb, Steady.
Today's Max. 4.5°C at 1:50am.
Today's min. 0.4°C at 8:36am.
Today's rain 5.2mm
Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
N55º47'14", W3º55'15". 360ft/117m amsl
http://www.alex114.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº

"Alex Stephens Jr" wrote:

I guess this article was shown on BBC reporting Scotland last night...
"Scots winter coldest on record"
"Scotland has had its coldest December and January since records began
nearly 100 years ago, according to met office figures."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8493129.stm

As has already been discussed in another thread, this is simply not true.
December/January 1981/82 was colder across the whole of Scotland, I
haven't seen any proof yet that even one station or area has had a colder
2 month period this time around?
Many sites also recorded a lower mean for December/January 1978/79, though
this wasn't the case in the central lowlands. And some sites also had a
lower mean for December/January 1976/77, again not the case in this area.
December/January 1939/40 must also be a strong candidate for having a
colder mean Scotland-wide?
To be factually correct the article should be titled, "some parts of
Scotland have had there 2nd or 3rd coldest December/January in 100 years".
But this doesn't grab the headlines, sadly.
I also note the stat's are attributed to met office figures and not
necissarily the met office themselves... What figures are these? Does
anyone know?
And what happened to February being a winter month?
Alex.

Alex ... I've done a bit more digging:
in southern Scotland there were colder Dec/Jans in 1878-79,
1879-80, 1890-91, 1939-40, 1962-63, 1976-77, 1978-79, and
1981-82. It was almost as cold in 1940-41, 1944-45, 1950-51,
1958-59 and 1961-62. My suspicion is that the number of colder
Dec/Jans in northern Scotland might be even larger, although a few
of the members of the list might be different.

Philip

"Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom wrote in message
...
"Alex Stephens Jr" wrote:

I guess this article was shown on BBC reporting Scotland last night...
"Scots winter coldest on record"
"Scotland has had its coldest December and January since records began
nearly 100 years ago, according to met office figures."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8493129.stm

Alex ... I've done a bit more digging:
in southern Scotland there were colder Dec/Jans in 1878-79,
1879-80, 1890-91, 1939-40, 1962-63, 1976-77, 1978-79, and
1981-82. It was almost as cold in 1940-41, 1944-45, 1950-51,
1958-59 and 1961-62. My suspicion is that the number of colder
Dec/Jans in northern Scotland might be even larger, although a few
of the members of the list might be different.

Philip

Thanks for the much wider historical perspective Philip... And so much for
records begining "nearly 100 years ago".
Interesting to see 3 and 4 year batches crop up again. Bodes well for the
next winter or two!

As an interesting aside, the February mean is currently negative here, so
the provisional winter mean figure is not far away from the all time record,
26 days for that to change of course. I shall resist the devil's advocate
temptation forthwith. :-)

Alex.