Synoptic Situation at 0600 17/12/1962            next day

High, 1036mb, Azores stationary.  Low, 968mb, Just SW of Iceland about to
split, with the main part moving SE towards N Scotland and perhaps later the
North Sea.  Occlusion lies from the parent low SSE to W Ireland as a warm
front approaching SW England and W France.  Secondary low, S Ireland
expected to move across W France.  High, 1020, Spitzbergen extends a strong
ridge down through Scandinavia,

Weather over the British Isles:

The area was covered by strong NW winds early on but these eased as a ridge
moved across during the night.  Most places saw some sun:  Gatwick 3.3 hrs,
Boscombe Down  6.8 hrs, Birmingham 1.5 hrs, Bristol 3.9 hrs, Cardiff  1.4
hrs, Manchester 2.8 hrs, Newcastle 5.3 hrs, Glasgow 5.4 hrs, Tiree 0.5 hrs,
Lerwick 0.3 hrs, Belfast 1.7 hrs and Roches Point 3.9 hrs.  A few light
wintry showers fell, particularly in the far N.

Maxima were 7 to 9C over England, Wales and Ireland.  Scotland was a little
cooler: Glasgow 6C, Eskdalemuir 4C, Tiree 7C, Lerwick 3C, Wick and Dyce 4C.

Minima fell close to zero in most places under clear skies: Gatwick -1C,
Bristol 1C, Cardiff 1C, Birmingham 2C, Manchester 3C, Newcastle 0C,
Eskdalemuir -3C. Glasgow 0C, Tiree 1C, Lerwick 0C, Wick and Belfast -2C,
Birr -1C and Valentia 4C.

Weather over the rest of Europe:

N winds covered much of the W for the whole period but eased in strength.
The low over E Germany moved slowly E into W Russia.  Pressure built over
Scandinavia during the period.   Many W and central regions had rain showers
during the day but these died out overnight from the W.  There was some snow
ahead of the low moving into Russia.

Maxima: Moscow -3C, Warsaw 0C, Berlin 3c, Cologne 5C, Paris 8C, Bordeaux
11C, Brest 9C, Madrid 11C, Nimes 15C, Bern 4C, Venice 0C,  Belgrade 1C,
Bucharest 4C and Prague 4C.  Scandinavia was very cold:  Oslo -6C,
Helsinki -10C but further N,  -10 to -30 was typical.  Coastal Norway was 3C
in S to -5C in N in E winds.  Overnight showers died out in most places but
many S areas remained cloudy.

Minima:  Berlin and Paris 0C, Brussels 5C, Bordeaux 2C, Madrid 2C, Nimes 6C,
Venice -2C, Belgrade 3C (post warm front) and Warsaw -1C.  Again Scandinavia
was much colder:  Oslo -9C, Stockholm -7C, Helsinki -17C with values -15
to -35 in the N.

Forecast:

Some sun at first over the E, but rain or drizzle will spread to most parts
with some snow on high ground at first. A rather cloudy NW airflow will
follow tomorrow.  Temperatures will be near average.

Some temperatures elsewhere at 1200 GMT:

N Siberia was in range -20C in the W to -55 in the far NE.  N Canada was -25
to -40C at Eureka. Montreal -13C, Toronto -16C, Chicago -6C, New York -3C but
the S had warmed up: Pensacola 9C, Charleston 9C, Dodge City 4C.  Regina 4C, Calgary
5C, Fort Smith -11C, Fairbanks -13C and Vancouver 7C.