January continued the very wet theme which was strange as it was a very a rare cold month coming in at -1.X degrees below normal. Temperatures being well below normal coupled with the rain you would expect a fair bit of Snow however this wasn't the case. The month again saw a lack of any windy weather continuing the recent trend. The month started on the cold side and the cold spell lasted until the 11th of the month. This period included 7 air frosts with the 3rd coldest night on the 1st when -2.1C was the low. Daytime temperatures settled around the mid 3C mark through this period although the 8th had the 2nd coldest day of the month at 1.4C. It turned briefly milder mostly by day from the 10th to 11th before colder conditions returned on the 12th. The 2nd cold spell lasted until the 16th when the weather turned less cold although the night of the 16th recorded the coldest night at -2.9C. Milder air continued to arrive with double figures on the 19th and 20th with 10.4C and 10.5C being reached on the 19th and 20th. The warmest was in this period when 7.4C was the low on the 20th. The 20th produced a rapid drop in temperature with 6.2C drop in 35 to 40 minutes. Bizarrely this was not when the front had passed but when the front had arrived. In the West of the country this produced large amounts of Snow whoever the front increased speed so only s short spell of snow which melted as the temperatures recorded on the passing of the front. The next few days produced the coldest day at 1.1C on the 24th. The day temperatures actually peaked at - 0.3C the day before but an increase in wind brought a rise in temperatures so the high actually occurred the next morning. After the 26th it turned milder until the last few days of the month which so a return of colder weather. Another interesting feature of the month that it was the day time temperatures that were well below normal while the night time were suppressed by a smaller amount. Rainfall was well above average but the month was actually fairly dry until the 11th. Only 6.2mm fell in this period. The period 11th to the 15th produced 54.5mm of rain. The next spell of heavy rain came courtesy of Storm Cristoph which over three days produced 48.7mm. The warning from the met office showed again that service is too slow and not fit for the purpose. 7mm doesn't warrant a amber warning and neither does 16.7mm. At most yellow should have been issued on the 19th and 20th. After the 21st the next five days were dry. More heavy rain came on the 27th and 28th pushing the total too 147.5mm. The totals being 19mm and 11.1mm but no warning. This highlighted the inconsistency of the met office warning system yet again. The month continued the trend of quiet again quite in regards to wind storms. Storm Cristoph didn't have much in the way of puff and considering we had named storms for less windy weather than we got on the 25th we should perhaps had a storm named for that day. The month yet again failed any wind storms and this is run now of 13 months at least. The month was storm free in regards to any thundery weather. Snow fell on 10 days but only produced two days of snow lying. The first since March 2018 which is a horrifying statistic. The heaviest Snow fell on the 14th leaving 10cm which managed to hang on to the morning of the 16th before rapidly melting. February will lose the cold weather for a few days before it comes back by the first weekend in a form of a beast from the east which looks set to last for four days before it's replaced by an equally cold northerly flow. So Snow is expected to be on the agenda with some showers or spells of prolonged snow and severe night time frost. The middle of the month sees a milder interlude with rain at times and some strong winds before turning cooler again from the north. The second half o f the months looks to less cold with further spells of rain and some mild interludes. The milder weather looks unlikely to outweigh the cold first half so a cold month on the cards with some significant snow and frosts in the first two weeks. Rainfall above average leading to a very wet winter.

January continued the very wet theme which was strange as it was a very a rare cold month coming in at -1.X degrees below normal. Temperatures being well below normal coupled with the rain you would expect a fair bit of Snow however this wasn't the case. The month again saw a lack of any windy weather continuing the recent trend. The month started on the cold side and the cold spell lasted until the 11th of the month. This period included 7 air frosts with the 3rd coldest night on the 1st when -2.1C was the low. Daytime temperatures settled around the mid 3C mark through this period although the 8th had the 2nd coldest day of the month at 1.4C. It turned briefly milder mostly by day from the 10th to 11th before colder conditions returned on the 12th. The 2nd cold spell lasted until the 16th when the weather turned less cold although the night of the 16th recorded the coldest night at -2.9C. Milder air continued to arrive with double figures on the 19th and 20th with 10.4C and 10.5C being reached on the 19th and 20th. The warmest was in this period when 7.4C was the low on the 20th. The 20th produced a rapid drop in temperature with 6.2C drop in 35 to 40 minutes. Bizarrely this was not when the front had passed but when the front had arrived. In the West of the country this produced large amounts of Snow whoever the front increased speed so only s short spell of snow which melted as the temperatures recorded on the passing of the front. The next few days produced the coldest day at 1.1C on the 24th. The day temperatures actually peaked at -0.3C the day before but an increase in wind brought a rise in temperatures so the high actually occurred the next morning. After the 26th it turned milder until the last few days of the month which so a return of colder weather. Another interesting feature of the month that it was the day time temperatures that were well below normal while the night time were suppressed by a smaller amount. Rainfall was well above average but the month was actually fairly dry until the 11th. Only 6.2mm fell in this period. The period 11th to the 15th produced 54.5mm of rain. The next spell of heavy rain came courtesy of Storm Cristoph which over three days produced 48.7mm. The warning from the met office showed again that service is too slow and not fit for the purpose. 7mm doesn't warrant a amber warning and neither does 16.7mm. At most yellow should have been issued on the 19th and 20th. After the 21st the next five days were dry. More heavy rain came on the 27th and 28th pushing the total too 147.5mm. The totals being 19mm and 11.1mm but no warning. This highlighted the inconsistency of the met office warning system yet again. The month continued the trend of quiet again quite in regards to wind storms. Storm Cristoph didn't have much in the way of puff and considering we had named storms for less windy weather than we got on the 25th we should perhaps had a storm named for that day. The month yet again failed any wind storms and this is run now of 13 months at least. The month was storm free in regards to any thundery weather. Snow fell on 10 days but only produced two days of snow lying. The first since March 2018 which is a horrifying statistic. The heaviest Snow fell on the 14th leaving 10cm which managed to hang on to the morning of the 16th before rapidly melting. February will lose the cold weather for a few days before it comes back by the first weekend in a form of a beast from the east which looks set to last for four days before it's replaced by an equally cold northerly flow. So Snow is expected to be on the agenda with some showers or spells of prolonged snow and severe night time frost. The middle of the month sees a milder interlude with rain at times and some strong winds before turning cooler again from the north. The second half o f the months looks to less cold with further spells of rain and some mild interludes. The milder weather looks unlikely to outweigh the cold first half so a cold month on the cards with some significant snow and frosts in the first two weeks. Rainfall above average leading to a very wet winter.