2 years ago I spent New Years day on Ingleborough doing ie axe braking and practicing wearing crampons
Last year I spent New Years day fighting with foot deep snow and -16C temperatures (not to mention the frozen pipes) in Southport (30m elevation) and we had both wood burners running flat out..
This morning I put a fleece back in the cupboard as I was too warm walking down the street and have just opened the door and closed the one wood burner running right down.
Hey, I was at the Station Inn in Ribblhead on NYE 2009/2010...Felt like being in a resort in the Alps with the snow and cold...
I've just gone out to faff in the car in flip-flops and could still happily be out there without being particularly cold...
Anyhow...why? Intense Polar Vortex in situ, very cold stratosphere keeping it there means low heights at high latitudes, allowing the jet stream to be above or north of us whilst Azores High blocking to our south is conducive to mild SWlies influence. Up until the stratosphere warms up (seemingly under way) thus favouring blocking at high latitude and the split of the PV, no cold but the odd shot from Polar Maritime air or inversion cold if we are under high pressure.
It's simply because I had planned to at last gather up the Quasar and my other new gadgets and gizmos and head for the Lakes to test them, and myself, in the wonderful white stuff.
Much like a child as Christmas looms, every night since mid-december I've been restless attempting to sleep, looking forward to getting the weather reports in the morning as if they were the presents I so desperately wanted. Almost two weeks away from work, a full tank of petrol and a pack full full of goodies: I had it all worked out.
This is the reason why it's so warm, just to p**s me off!!!
To rub salt into the wounds, the colder weather is set to return in January so it appears (according to the obvious warming of the stratosphere ). So I'll be stuck at work, counting the hours away and reading about the fun everyone else is having!!!
stop feeling sorry for yourself..this is my first winter as a teacher..thinking...finish school 16 December, not back till the 9 January...whoopy do...might even go to Scotland for a week.
stop feeling sorry for yourself..this is my first winter as a teacher..thinking...finish school 16 December, not back till the 9 January...whoopy do...might even go to Scotland for a week.
Stop feeling sorry for myself...?
You jammy git, my school finished on the 16th and we're back on the 3rd!!!
Bloody academy rules. The little darlings (bless them all) will be runing round, stuck on overdrive from Christmas no doubt!
ha ha
So annoying though isn't it! All this time off without taking any holiday and there's a sudden, brief warm spell that looks set to change after going back!
It's not that this weather is unusual but that the few years before have been much colder than average. This year, we're back to normal, with mild south westerly air flow rather than cold Arctic air from the north. Without a big blocking area of high pressure, we get clouds which help to trap heat. As well as this, Europe in general is warmer than places in America on the same latitude due to the warming ocean currents of the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic drift.
