Hi Guys,
Just reading the news and there forcasting a very cold hard winter (ok when are they not forcasting a cold winter) But with the weather this cold so early in the year i tend to think its not going to be a plesant winter.
Whats your thoughts on this?
Cambourne7
The holly bushes around us are loaded with berries, another suggestion it might be a cold winter. Brrr.
Vony.
YES, a farmer once told me the more berries on the trees the colder the winter , so we had better wrap up warm get some home made soup done & into the freezer ready. ;D ;D ;D
The weather people predicted a warm dry summer !
Metcheck can't even get the week ahead anything like right. I'll take it as it comes.
Quote from: Vony on November 14, 2007, 17:52:16
The holly bushes around us are loaded with berries ...
That might be because we've had a warm autumn.
i once heard that you can tell on the severity of the coming winter by looking at the thickness of the skin of your onions!!!
Mine were washed out this year in the floods, so its of no use to me!!
it'll kill off all the nasties, yeahhhh!!! ;D
It must be getting cold :o because I've started packing my thongs :P away untill the spring. ;) ;D ;D ;D
ALTHOUGH I LOVE WINTER I DO JET OF TO MY SISTERS IN THE USA ;)I HOPE ITS A COLD WINTER
Quote from: rosebud on November 14, 2007, 18:04:27
YES, a farmer once told me the more berries on the trees the colder the winter , so we had better wrap up warm get some home made soup done & into the freezer ready. ;D ;D ;D
But what if the power goes?
My dad always used to quote one of the old sayings:
Enough ice in November to bear a duck
The rest of the Winter will be slush and muck.
So it can be as cold as it likes this month, so long as his saying is right!!
Also, on TV tonight they did an item on record holly berries on trees. This was seen as a sign of a very cold winter to come because it was providing food for the birds to see them through the harsh winter. I've also known loads of berries on hollies and having very mild winters.
The forecasters told us we were going to have the hottest summer on record this year. For hottest read wettest. If they are forecasting a very severe winter this/next year I would forecast you will be able to go out without your coats by mid-January.
I take each day as it comes.
valmarg
My neighbour's oak tree that has a huge amount of it's canopy over my lower garden, STILL has most of it's green leaves. Usually by now about 50% should have fallen. By the 2nd/3rd week of December the tree is normally all bare. It's a weird year, for sure. ::)
All the oaks in our woods are still in mostly full green (with some brown) leaf, the Rowan and Birch have semi dropped.
So many berries everywhere, but as Valmarg said, we have had lots of berries in mild winters too.
I dont take a lot of notice of the forcasters now......I just look out of the window, its far more reliable :)
Either way in 6 months it will just be a bad memory...
;D
Quote from: cornykev on November 14, 2007, 19:23:51
It must be getting cold :o because I've started packing my thongs :P away untill the spring. ;) ;D ;D ;D
Winter draws on. ;D ;D
I'll take the hit as and when it as it comes. Whatever the weather, there is always something to be doing at the plot. Keep the chin up old beam.....
If the frost we had in Notts last night is anything to go by, then i think it will be a cold one, it was white over this morning.It would be nice for a change to have a proper Winter,i for one miss the divsion of the year with a bit of seasonable weather.
I think that a lot of berries on Holly means we had a wet summer - not a forecast for winter.
Cold winter my arse, we'll probably have the barbie out on Christmas Day. 8) ;D ;D ;D
FROGLEGS! I was happy to see the frost this morning in Notts :)
About bloody time!
I really hope it IS going to be a cold winter - to redress the balance of the ridiculous Spring & Summer we've had. And to give me an excuse for going to sleep in my neighbour Ahmed's shed!
I feel sorry for all the spring flowers that are dazed & confused & are poking their heads up in my garden. But there's nothing I can do... apart from doing my bit for recycling & being aware of Global Warming issues.
Quote from: Trixiebelle on November 15, 2007, 19:11:16
I really hope it IS going to be a cold winter - to redress the balance of the ridiculous Spring & Summer we've had. And to give me an excuse for going to sleep in my neighbour Ahmed's shed!
1, What as the weather to do with sleeping in a shed. ???
2, Why would you wont to sleep in a shed. ???
3, I hope you mean sleep as in zzzzzz, and not :P :-* ;) :-* ;) ;)... :o(at your age you should not be getting your bits cold, ma duck.)
4 Does Ahmed know you sleep in his shed. ???
5 And what would they say at Tall trees when they find out ya sleeps in a shed. :o
;D ;D
Help the homeless................!! :o ;D
I did read about Ahmeds shed in one of Trixies previous posts, sounds lurvely. I dont do envy Trix, it sounds fab and its lovely to have neighbours like that. Has all his dried corn gone yet?
They had a weatherman on the last 'Autumnwatch'. He said that the general concensus at the met office was for a 'milder than average winter, but colder than last winter' (being deliberately vague as ever). He also said it was going to be drier, which considering that last winter was one of the wettest recorded, that isnt saying much!
I personaly dont hold by some of these old wives sayings about winters. Lots of berries on bushes and trees? Just a sign of the right kind of weather when the flowering wood was formed, the flowers out and the berries forming. How can the plant know the future? I have watched a blackbird tucking into pyracantha berries already. What does that prove?
What is more informative is to look for patterns in th weather. In the last couple of years we have had dry summers and wet autumns, which last year was followed by a wet mild winter. This year we have had a dry spring, wet summer and (so far) dry autumn. The weather seems out of sync with the seasons so it migh be fair to guess the winter might follow the pattern of the autumn (like last year) and be dry and cool/cold. Who knows. Conversely if you look back to autumn 2005 we had a sharp cold snap in mid November, a bit like we have just expereinced. This weather was them followed by a colder winter. Is this a sign for this year? Who knows?
All I ask for is a winter that is not too cold, not as wet as last winter but be cold enough to bump off plenty of pests, especialy the slugs and snails, which as we know were worse this year because so many more survived the mild winter.
Quote from: Garden Apprentice on November 17, 2007, 00:45:49
How can the plant know the future?
And we now pass straignt over to the Met Office for the latest forecast presented by ... a stick of pyracantha !
Holly bushes will be giving out tips for Goodwood next !
Quote from: Vony on November 14, 2007, 17:52:16
The holly bushes around us are loaded with berries, another suggestion it might be a cold winter. Brrr.
Vony.
Quote from: Barnowl on November 15, 2007, 12:42:30
I think that a lot of berries on Holly means we had a wet summer - not a forecast for winter.
I think it's what you might term 'an old wives tale' plenty of berries in the hedgerows meant that nature 'was looking after its own' ie providing plenty for the lean months.
This year is a good year for berries, but I am sceptical about the forecasters 'coldest winter', the same as I was for the hottest summer.
If weather forecasters worked in the private sector of industry, they would be sacked for their failures, inaccuracies!!
Just a thought...
Could the abundance of berries mean a drop in numbers of birds?
Not in my back yard.
valmarg
Quote from: valmarg on November 17, 2007, 21:34:59
Not in my back yard.
valmarg
Nor mine!
Loads of sparrows, plus blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, doves and an unidentified migrant seen briefly.
Who else had an inch of snow last night??
Did you tim? we are not far from the colswolds I wondered how near it got
marg
Just wind and rain. :'( ;D ;D ;D
2 to 3 inches here. I was lovely....all gone by morning though.
Quote from: tim on November 19, 2007, 13:08:17
Who else had an inch of snow last night??
I would say a good two inches here. A bit earlier than usual, we get the really nasty stuff in January/February.
valmarg
Havent had snow, but earlier this evening had a tremendous hail storm, complete with thunder and lightning. The hail fell so thick it looked like snow, and made the roads around the area pretty dicey for a while.
Dont know about a cold winter but I reckon its going to be a very peculiar one weatherwise I think, if recent days are anything to go by.
I agree AG think we are in for a bit of a bumpy ride. :-\
I am stocking up on Tinned food lucky enough i have a gas stove so if we loose power i can still make tea and some food. But if its bad now come jan & feb its going to be worse.
Q - With all this rain how to stop onion sets and garlic rotting in the ground?
In their latest seasonal forecast the Met Office do not seem to think that it is going to be a very cold winter ..
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/seasonal/winter2007_8/index.html (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/seasonal/winter2007_8/index.html)
It was such a cold night last night, there was a monkey asking for a welder.
thats nowt ace.........this morning i had to snap a dog off a lampost!