Synoptic Situation at 0600 26/12/1962        next day

High pressure over the British Isles has collapsed as a trough moves S into
N England and N Ireland.  It will continue to move S clearing the S coast by
midnight.  High, 1042, just N of Iceland will persist. Small low, 1004mb, N
Denmark  moving slowly SE linked to the trough moving S over Br. Isles.
Low, 990mb, Azores persisting, linked by fronts across N Africa to another
low, 1008mb, near Italy.  Jet stream in this region is at about 38 deg. N.

Weather over the British Isles:

Most places from S Scotland to S coast stayed at or below zero all day with
plentiful sunshine, with more cloud in the Channel Islands.  The far N saw
increasing cloud through the day with a belt of rain/snow moving S to be
over N England by 0600.  By 0900 the belt of snow had just reached as far S
as Birmingham and most stations in the N Midlands, N England and S Scotland
had snow cover.

Maxima: Gatwick 0C, Guernsey 1C, Cardiff -1C, Birmingham -1C, Watnall -1C,
Manchester -1C, Newcastle 0C, Leuchars 2C, Glasgow 3C, Wick 6C, Tiree 8C,
Belfast 2C and Valentia 4C.  Most stations in England and Wales were
reporting "ground frozen" or "snow covered"

Minima:  These were lowest in the S ahead of the trough.  Gatwick -9C,
Guernsey 0C, Cardiff -9C, Bristol -7C, Birmingham -11C (-15), Watnall -7C,
Manchester -1C, Newcastle 0C, Leuchars 1C, Glasgow 2C, Wick -1C,
Lerwick -2C, Tiree 3C, Belfast 1C and Valentia -2C.

Weather over the rest of Europe:

Cloudy in most places except Iberia and parts of Scandinavia behind the
trough.  Some snow fell along the trough and in the far S of Europe adjacent
to the low in the Mediterranean.

Maxima:  Oslo -11C and Stockholm -2C (both ahead of the trough),
Helsinki -1C,  Moscow -6C, Minsk -4C, Warsaw and Berlin -7C, Sofia -5C,
Prague -10C, Cologne -13C, Paris -6C, Brussels -4C, Brest -1C, Bordeaux -6C,
Barcelona -2C (with snow), Madrid -2C, Nimes -1C, Rome 6C and Venice 0C.

Minima:  Oslo -6C, Stockholm -1C, Helsinki 0C, Minsk -6C, Warsaw -11C,
Berlin -7C, Cologne -15C, Paris -11C, Brussels -5C, Brest -1C, Bordeaux -8C,
Madrid -9C, Nimes -8C and Venice -3C.  Coastal Norway was -1 to +1C. Coastal
Portugal was 0 to 5C.

Forecast:

The band of sleet and snow will clear the S coast and be followed by showery
weather in all areas.  Showers will be of snow in the N and in the S
tomorrow.  It will be cold generally with night frost.


Some other 1200 GMT Temperatures:

Verkhoiansk -54C, Murmansk -7C, Reykjavik -1C, Chesterfield -35C,
Goose -22C, Gander -7C, Toronto -14C, Montreal -17C, New York -3C,
Boston -6C, Washington -4C, Pensacola 12C, Dodge City -9C, Calgary -6C,
Winnipeg -26C, Regina -28C and Vancouver -4C.