Winter 2025/2026

[GloriaSmud]

We’re a few weeks from the start of meteorological winter on the 1st December but there are already some musings on websites about what the next season might bring….

So here are the thoughts of:

Netweather ~ (Vegemiteandhoneyontoast posted a link to this one on the Autumn thread).....
https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/news/13184-winter-202526-outlook-what-four-decades-of-weak-la-nina-winters-tell-us

Two from TheWeatherOutlook…..
https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/weather-news/7632/winter-2025-26-weather-outlook
https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/weather-news/7672/uk-snow-or-cold-snap-in-november---here-is-what-the-model-data-says

And SevereWeatherEurope (a new one that I haven’t come across before, has some well put-together explanations)….
https://www.severe-weather.eu/long-range-2/winter-2025-2026-outlook-colder-season-forecast-for-united-states-canada-europe-fa/

My thoughts (more gut feeling than anything and based on the weather we’ve been having recently!), is that we’re veering towards a fairly quiet but colder than average winter. I don’t think we’ll have many storms but there’ll be rain at times (which will go some way towards upping the reservoir levels.) I think there’ll be some cold snaps (maybe more at the start of winter), plenty of sunny days and nighttime frosts. Hopefully (for those that like it!), we’ll get some snow and the chances of that will increase if the quiet, settled weather stays and systems from the Atlantic try to move in. Any snow will probably last a day or two rather than the ‘so much snow that the country grinds to a halt,’ sort of thing.

So we’ll see if any of these predictions come true!......

Still showing as snow here, although the temps have never 'matched as such. So snow tonight and into tomorrow morning at 2 / 3 degrees is unlikely. It is more likely to fall as sleet, other than on high ground. However, allowing for minor temperature fluctuations, it could fall as snow. Whatever falls tonight and tomorrow will freeze either way as if the temp is accurate for tomorrow night it's going down to minus 1 degree.

Snow is such a PITA to forecast.

Yes SoMentallyDrained, it's looking a bit marginal snow-wise for some over the weekend but some places could see quite a lot, especially the north/Scotland/higher ground. And then it's back to unsettled next week...

Some thoughts from Netweather and TheWeatherOutlook.

I'd love a bit of snow just to see the sky a bit brighter 😔

The last time we had this much sustained rain (Feb 2020) we had a beautiful, long, dry spring and summer. However, our farmland remained waterlogged with areas of almost lakes / wetlands that became a semi permanent feature due to the water table being so high. The winter wheat nd similar crops weren't going to suck all that up, so we ended up with large areas where crops wouldn't grow.

It finally dried out last summer. Those 'wetland areas' are now back in the same places. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for it to dry out this time. I keep a nature and weather diary and have dated drone footage from above those fields.

The only good thing is that we are seeing quite a lot of rarer wetlands birds. It's a nightmare going forward though as you say with wetter winters becoming the norm. Likely the farmers will sell their land and more houses will be built. Great.

I don’t think we can afford to sell off farmland - we need to invest to maximise it - we drained the fenlands in the past and we need to be thinking how we manage going forward

it’s expensive but better than the alternative

I think the time for thinking about it has long gone.

I live in a large river catchment area, the run off from fields left bare, with no cover crops is criminal, the River is thick with top soil, lanes and drainage covered & blocked with earth....

Few if any farms are building small scale reservoirs for water that will be needed in the summer months.

No action from Govt, councils or anyone else, its all "oh this is a 1 in 100 year event...."

Its not....

We were having a discussion last night about what would be preferable, a winter like this, where it’s relentlessly grey and rainy or one like 2010/2011 when the snow came and didn’t leave.

We are now flooded everywhere up here so I think it would be better for society in general moving forward would be to have colder, dryer weather but that winter was endless too and so difficult to carry out day to day tasks.

We are forecast sleet tomorrow and then a brief snow “downpour” on Sunday. It looks more settled for us next week, not the days of nonstop rain that we have been having. We aren’t high so we don’t get loads of snow but it does come off the Pennines onto us so I suppose we should expect some.

Torrential rain tonight. But it's warmer and muggy again

Day 38 update. It’s still raining. Not sure I can remember a time when it has rained for so many days continuously.

Should get a lull from about now until this evening. Tomorrow’s forecast has just sun on the app but looking at the hourly breakdown it is going to rain in the evening. Going 24hrs without rain looks unlikely.

Yes still raining here. Just before I went to bed last night there was snow on the forecast, but no, it rained.

I'd like to know how to submit a complaint.

Snowing heavily in Corwen this morning. Just wet and windy here.

The weeping willow DH planted in the middle of our boggy bit of lawn two years ago. Has grown madly this winter. I'm expecting a beautiful umbrella of shade this summer

Rain just hasn't stopped here today. There are weather warnings for the next few days ~ we're covered by an ice warning tonight so looks like it's all going to freeze overnight. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a nice day for everyone.

Netweather's thoughts on the next few days...

Some nice snow pictures towards the east. Snow on the mountains and hills. It's cold tonight.

There's a weird bright thing in the sky and it is GLORIOUS

We have just done Newcastle to Edinburgh some lovely snow on the Pentlands.
And it was sunny the whole way 🌞🌞🌞😎

The 🌞 has got his hat on.

That's awful. I said to my Mum a week or so ago that I thought St Swithin's Day was in July!

Thankfully, we had a bright and sunny day today, but very cold with snow. We had an hour down the beach and it was amazing.

Fingers crossed we turn a corner soon for those suffering with flooding.

A lovely blue sky there, RainbowZebraWarrior

We went for a walk by the canal and even though it was only 2C, there was some real warmth in the sun. Snow/wintry showers due to start tonight around 1am ~ I think though that anything that does give a covering here, will have melted by 6 or 7am and then it's on to more rain throughout the day ☔

Yesterday morning was lovely and much needed. Clouded over in the afternoon, absolutely chucked it down in the evening.

Today has just chucked it down all day. We did manage almost 24hrs without rain. So here we are on day 40. 😭 Hoping for a few days in a row with no rain at all for stuff to dry out and the puddles to dry up. The garden is probably a bog at this point.

We were going to use our free day national trust voucher to visit a garden, but went to the local indoor discount shopping center instead. Dry but grey now.

Oh it’s just brightened up and the birds are all chirping away.

So after thinking I'd wake up to at least a hint of something wintry on the ground this morning, I woke up to sleety rain... then we had rain for most of the day... and then the sun came out just as it was about to get dark 🙄

This week looks chilly, unsettled at times but not too much in the way of rain and hopefully, more sun. Thoughts from Netweather on the week ahead...

More (rain and snow) weather warnings for tomorrow/into Thursday. The metoffice seems to think the Midlands is going to get heavy snow for a while tomorrow evening, the BBC forecast is for sleet. So we'll see....

Miracle today, managed to get some washing on the line, didn't completely dry but now situation is normal, another rain warning....