Is a bad winter on it's way ?

[sniper 55]

Well with the met office saying it's going to be a bad winter, I'm stocking up on the factor 50!

[Cjtw]

Every year they promise us bad weather and it never happens

Too right, I'm still waiting on my blizzards. Gotta be honest I love the snow and icy weather, my community (small village <200 people) all help each other out, checking on the elderly, clearing drives, paths etc. (free of course), and gritting certain roads/paths since the council won't do our area no matter how many times we ask

It just puts the country in such a bizarre state for a few days a year

[preparedsurrey]

This thread has reminded me to look in to buying one of those portable free-standing gas heaters. Last year they were about £100 in places like B&Q but they seem to be a lot cheaper elsewere at the moment. They seem to all be the same but does anyone have any recommendations?

I bought a paraffin one from house bargains, it was under £100 and runs on caldo low odour fuel.

Not sure if you are going to be using it much but when we were on solid fuel we used to run our paragon heaters on Kerosene instead of pink parafin they just used to require a bit more attention to the wick to prevent a smell. Kero is loads cheaper

[PreparedKent]

Now that I have bought a new car with functioning heating and I'm stocked up for winter I couldn't give a monkeys about the winter... colder the better for me!

When the snow falls, everything grinds to a halt and as I run the family care agency it means I can get out of the office into the bosses 4x4 and have fun, we will once again be the only care firm with 100% rural service this winter

[Fidshackle]

The best advice for weather predictions is to void anything said in the tabloids. I'm looking at the Express here as they LOVE a "worst winter" story. I think it probably stems from the demographic of their readership being somewhat more vulnerable to weather extremes. It's all nonsense click-bait really.

Obviously long distance predictions are kind of tough, but there are some well reasoned forecasters out there that will give you a scientific and unbiased view of the various forecasting models. Doesn't mean they're correct, but at least their opinion isn't just written to attract newspaper buyers in the local Spar shop. One of my favourites is Simon Keeling. http://www.weatherweb.net/

It is looking like we're in for a fairly cold winter, probably with a lot of snowfall for some parts of the country. It's the UK though - it's not going to get bad enough to make any difference to anybody unless you're 90 and too skint to afford heating... or can't be arsed going to work one morning and get "snowed in."

[astalec]

Persoanaly I want a frosty winter to kill all the viruses and bugs that are getting stronger every year

Freezing only affects some bacteria that are big and moistly enough to form ice crystals inside them.
Freezing does not kill viruses nor most bacteria. It merely conserves them for later use
In fact, summer kills more germs than the coldest winter.