Although the weather here in Essex has not been to bad during the day we have never experienced so many frosts of a night. For the past month we have had a frost nearly every night. Has it been as bad over the country or just the south east?
We expect to have overnight frosts for a large percentage of the nights in January and February here in Norfolk - I would have expected just the same when I lived in Suffolk.
My son lives on the Suffolk coast where frost is more unusual because of the influence of the sea, but the east winds are bitter.
Last winter was freakishly mild - I think we hardly had a frost at all.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Looking up local weather records is so interesting. In Essex over the past ten years you have had an average of 40.3 air frosts per year. The earliest first frost was on 20 Sept 2007and the latest last frost was on the 21st April 2013. In the winter of 2012/13 Essex experienced 59 frosts!
Perhaps this winter just seems worse - do you keep a record of your garden temperatures? The first thing I do every morning is to check the overnight low on my digital garden thermometer and record it in my diary. I'm going to record rainfall as well (as soon as I've got around to setting up the super dooper weather station thingy I had for Christmas ).
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Brrrrrrrrrr! Obelixx - hopefully mine won't be tested that severely - we do benefit from being quite close to the city - although the north - easterlies don't half chill the bone!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I live in Gloucestershire and can count on the fingers of 2 hands the number of times I've needed to de-ice the car. It's been one of the mildest winters I can remember. I have a lot of alstromerias in pots and the frost hasn't even caught them.
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Freezing or close to freezing on many nights but I feel we've had quite an easy winter here.
Lowest temperature -5C, that only twice. Minus 6 or7C is a usual winter low for us with anything down to -13 or 14C occasionally.
A few all day frosts
Very little snow.
All very easy on the heating bills and for winter tree hackery
In the sticks near Peterborough
It's winter. Frost is what we're supposed to have.
Once spring comes it will come with a whoosh.
We expect to have overnight frosts for a large percentage of the nights in January and February here in Norfolk - I would have expected just the same when I lived in Suffolk.
My son lives on the Suffolk coast where frost is more unusual because of the influence of the sea, but the east winds are bitter.
Last winter was freakishly mild - I think we hardly had a frost at all.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Normal frosts for this time of year, i.e. most nights - which is why we don't plant outside for a good long time yet!
The difference in temperature is good for many seeds to stratify and germinate, so think positive...and spring is only a few weeks away.
Looking up local weather records is so interesting. In Essex over the past ten years you have had an average of 40.3 air frosts per year. The earliest first frost was on 20 Sept 2007and the latest last frost was on the 21st April 2013. In the winter of 2012/13 Essex experienced 59 frosts!
http://www.tijou.co.uk/weather/longtimevalues.html
Perhaps this winter just seems worse - do you keep a record of your garden temperatures? The first thing I do every morning is to check the overnight low on my digital garden thermometer and record it in my diary. I'm going to record rainfall as well (as soon as I've got around to setting up the super dooper weather station thingy I had for Christmas
).
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I was given one of those for Xmas 2009 Dove. It died on January 6th recording -25C. My ordinary wall min/max recorded -32C that night.
Haven't had such horrors since but the winters of 2009 and 2010 often got down to -25C. -15C is a more normal low here.
I lost so many plants and got rather disheartened so haven't recorded temps since.
Brrrrrrrrrr! Obelixx - hopefully mine won't be tested that severely - we do benefit from being quite close to the city - although the north - easterlies don't half chill the bone!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I live in Gloucestershire and can count on the fingers of 2 hands the number of times I've needed to de-ice the car. It's been one of the mildest winters I can remember. I have a lot of alstromerias in pots and the frost hasn't even caught them.
!!! As I've retired I rather hoped my days of de-icing the car were over, but twice this winter I've had to de-ice the windscreen after mid-day!!!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.