In reply to j_duds:
> "with long-range forecasters warning that temperatures could fall to as low as minus 20°c (4°f) in some areas through December and January."
Does this not happen most winters in the UK, at some point, somewhere. Hardly the herald of the next Ice Age. Weather forecasters are a bunch of scare-mongering idiots.
The forecast yesterday for where I am working in the hills in Fife on the BBC website was for sleet/light rain all day. It was a beautiful, cold day. About as different as you can get.