Britain facing one of the coldest winters in 100 years, experts predict

Telegraph (UK) ^ | January 2, 2010 | Nick Britten

[Mrs. Don-o]

Britain is bracing itself for one of the coldest winters for a century with temperatures hitting minus 16 degrees Celsius, forecasters have warned.

[snip]

And the likelihood is that the second half of the month will be even colder.

Weather patterns were more like those in the late 1970s, experts said, while Met Office figures released on Monday are expected to show that the country is experiencing the coldest winter for up to 25 years.

[snip] A spokesman for the Met Office said: “It is certainly a while since we had cold weather like this and there isn’t any sign of any milder weather on the way.”

[snip] The cold weather comes despite the Met Office’s long range forecast, published, in October, of a mild winter. That followed it’s earlier inaccurate prediction of a “barbecue summer”, which then saw heavy rainfall and the wettest July for almost 100 years.

Paul Michaelwaite, forecaster for NetWeather.tv, said: “It is looking like this winter could be in the top 20 cold winters in the last 100 years.

Meanwhile, a fleet of gritters in Perth, central Scotland, was grounded this week because it was so cold, leaving roads untreated in temperatures of minus 10 degrees.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Ummmmmm.....3 weeks ago they woke up to this blaring headline and forecast from the MET in the same newspaper:

Copenhagen climate conference: Met Office predict 2010 will be warmest on record

"By Louise Grey, Environment correspondent in Copenhagen
Published: 5:33PM GMT 10 Dec 2009

"Next year will be the hottest on record, the Met Office has predicted, as scientists released the latest figures supporting evidence for climate change."