Autumn ends!

Tuesday was the end of autumn meteorologically speaking but it’s true to say that winter’s already well under way. My favourite forecast for winter is the one that predicts this really is going to be the worst part of winter with more normal weather for January and February.

Tuesday continued cold with daytime temperature creeping just above zero and night time temperatures below freezing. Once again we missed the worst of the snow fall. There is just enough snow fall to keep covering over the food left out for the birds which needs constant clearing.

From 03 Weather 2010

A little more snow.

It snowed a little bit more on Monday evening but luckily we seem to be missing the worst of the snow. It still remained cold all day with the temperature managing just above freezing at best.

From 03 Weather 2010

It’s a problem keeping the bird bath ice free. After pouring in almost boiling water it takes about an hour for it to refreeze. The bird feeders too have needed the snow removing and stocking up with food to see the birds through another bitterly cold day.

Is it winter yet?

Sunday remained bitter cold after record breaking low overnight temperatures.

From 03 Weather 2010

I just got some winter protection to our tree fern and bananas in place in the nick of time. Last night was the coldest night our tree fern has had to survive. I’m hoping it doesn’t get any colder on nights through the winter when it arrives next month!

We’ve still only had a sprinkle of snow unlike some areas but it does make for some good wintry scenes. Here’s just a selection.

From 03 Weather 2010

Beats last winter for low temperature!

Sunday morning and the overnight low was -7.6°C colder than last winters low of -6.5°C and it’s only the end of November. On the plus side we haven’t had any more snow and the sun is shining. These are the 08:00 temperatures across West Yorkshire today.

From 03 Weather 2010

Saturday continued sunny and very cold. The temperature managed above 0°C for a couple hours today and the temperature was down to below -4.0°C by early evening.

Our first snow of winter

Saturday am
Just a light covering of snow this morning.

From 03 Weather 2010

Sunny and cold

Friday was a lovely sunny day as we missed the snow showers once again.

From 03 Weather 2010

It was bitterly cold and it was difficult to keep the bird bath free of ice. I’m always surprised that tipping boiling water into the bird bath doesn’t shatter the stone but so far so good.

From 03 Weather 2010

Winter scarf

Thursday just got colder with the temperature struggling to just 2.4°C by the afternoon. We missed the snow which affected other parts of Yorkshire. These were the temperatures across West Yorkshire at 14:00 on Thursday.

From 03 Weather 2010

I was glad I gave our tree fern its winter scarf yesterday to keep it protected from the cold.

From 03 Weather 2010

It survived last year with temperatures down to -6.5°C and a prolonged period of cold weather. Its scarf is horticultural fleece pushed into the crown and fixed by intertwining around the base of sturdy fronds.

From 03 Weather 2010

It’s now making sure the crown of the plant doesn’t dry out so on any milder days I will remove its scarf and moisten the crown.

Getting colder!

Wednesday was our coldest day of autumn so far with the temperature struggling up to just 5°C. I decided it was time to protect the roots of our banana plants. The old stems were cut back to almost ground level.

From 03 Weather 2010

This produced some material for the compost heap. The remaining stumps were then covered with plenty of straw to provide protection from the winter frosts.

From 03 Weather 2010

It will be late spring before I remove the straw as hopefully the plants manage to survive another winter.