Usually by now I’ve entered lots of photographic competitions and been in the local paper with my picture but this year I’ve entered nothing. I seem […]
How you define the first day of winter depends on whether you are referring to the astronomical or meteorological winter.
The day in our calendar that marks the first day of winter usually refers to the astronomical seasons which are a result of the Earth’s axis and orbit around the Sun.
Astronomical winter
This year, astronomical winter begins on 21 December 2021 and ends on 20 March 2022.
8 interesting facts about winter
Whether you dread the windy weather or look forward to the crisp mornings, find out 8 interesting facts about winter.
Winter is a fascinating time of year and we’ve got 8 interesting facts about the season.
There are two different dates when winter could be said to begin, depending on whether we are referring to the Meteorological or Astronomical winter.
Astronomical winter is defined by the Earth’s orbit around the Sun and begins on the winter solstice, which falls on 21 or 22 December.
However, when recording and comparing climate data, it is important to have set dates that can be compared and so for this reason a fixed date of 1 December is used to mark the start of the meteorological winter.
2. Earth is closest to the Sun in winter
You might be surprised to know that in the northern hemisphere the Earth is closest to the Sun during winter.
Around 3 January, the Earth reaches perihelion (peri meaning ‘near’ and helion meaning ‘sun’) and the Earth is 3.1 million miles closer to the Sun than at aphelion (around 5 July when the Earth is furthest from the Sun).
Earth’s distance from the Sun is not what causes the seasons but it does affect the length of them. Around perihelion, the Earth is moving around 1 kilometre per second faster than at aphelion which results in winter being 5 days shorter than summer.
Perihelion
Peri = near
Helion = sun
(metOffice web)
3. The coldest temperature recorded in winter
The coldest temperature ever recorded during a UK winter was -27.2 °C, which has been recorded 3 times. It was twice recorded in the village of Braemar, on 11 February 1895 and again on 10 January 1982, and once in Altnaharra on 30 December 1995. Both sites are in the Scottish Highlands.
4. The winter of 1963
The winter of 1963 is one of the coldest on record and the coldest since 1740. Temperatures consistently reached lower than – 20 °C with blizzards, snowdrifts and even the sea freezing around the coast.
The severe cold began just before Christmas in 1962 as a high pressure system sat to the northeast of the UK for much of the winter, dragging cold polar winds over the UK.
On 29 and 30 December, a blizzard struck the UK with snowdrifts up to 6 metres deep. Snow continued to fall frequently and until early March 1963, much of the UK remained covered in snow.
5. The roots of winter
The word winter comes from the Germanic wintar which in turn is derived from the root wed meaning ‘wet’ or water’, and so signifies a wet season.
In Anglo-Saxon cultures, years were counted by the winters, so a person could be said to be ‘2 winters old.’ The first day of winter was also of symbolic importance named Vetrardag and falling comparatively early in the year between 10 and 16 October.
6. Wet snow vs. dry snow
Ever wondered why sometimes snow sticks together and sometimes it’s powdery and loose? The reason for this lies in the snowflake’s journey as it falls through the atmosphere.
Snowflakes that fall through a dry, cool atmosphere will be small and powdery and won’t stick together. We call this dry snow – it’s ideal for skiing, but not for building a snowman.
The snowflakes that form wet snow will have fallen through temperatures slightly warmer than 0 °C. As they fall, the snowflakes melt slightly around the edges and stick together to form large, heavy flakes. These stick together easily and are the best for a snowball fight and making snowmen.
7. Reindeer vision
Some reindeer living above the Arctic Circle live in complete darkness for several weeks of the year.
To adapt to this, a small area of tissue behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum changes colour from a gold colour in summer months to blue in winter. This allows the reindeer’s eyes to detect ultraviolet light and to see in the dark.
8. How much water is there in snow?
The exact amount of water contained in snow can vary quite significantly depending on how the snow formed, but as a general average, every 12 cm of snow would provide 1 cm of water.
Well, this has been a cold week; jumpers and hats back out of the cupboard! Today we’ve had more snow – just light flurries on and off today. The poor Magnolia tress was not looking […]
Well, this has been a cold week; jumpers and hats back out of the cupboard! Today we’ve had snow – just light flurries on and off today; blowing playfully through the tree blossoms and golden […]
We are nearer to Spring than we were in September.
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.”
Oliver Herford
Mild December Days
It has been a mild weekend. A chance for me to get out into the garden and clean the bird bath and top up their drinking water.
Over the weekend I receive the first few Christmas cards throughout my letterbox. They all showed snowy wintery scenes, pictures of fat robins or carol singers in the snow.
We don’t seems to get any carol singers anymore. Not like I used to when I was younger, I even went carol singing myself.
We also don’t get White Christmas’s any more either. Not in Yorkshire anyway! I would love some of the white stuff on the 25th, only if I could justify sitting in the house all day with the fire on!
Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning
Pink Sunrise & Sharp Frost
A most beautiful sunrise this morning. The whole sky was lit up pink!
A sharp frost had also made wonderful ice patterns on the roof of my car and the shed windows..
Also, the saying Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning is quite relevant for today as we have another storm heading our way. This time it’s storm Barra. As long as it doesn’t do any more damage to my shed (the last storm blew my shed door off!)
A bit of gardening & tidying up after Storm Arwen and the snow/frost that we had a few days ago.
My lovely Cosmos has had to be pulled up, until next year when I’ll plant some more. I’ve also ordered some lovely golden yellow ones for next year as well.
The birds are loving the berries in the garden, I keep seeing them eating all the left over grapes as well!
Monday morning here again, another (and hopefully my last) of being off with Covid. Got the all clear with my (two) LFT this morning so fingers crossed back to work tomorrow.
I’m still full of cold, no taste or smell and chest a bit wheezy this morning but if I take it nice and slow all week there’s another weekend there waiting for me!
Deep Winter
Thought I would show one of my Winter fine art composites from last year – this was made with many layers on PhotoShop. Yes, the rabbit is (was) a real rabbit that a photographed on a hill near me, funnily enough called Bunny Hill! The top header picture is actually part of Bunny Hill!
The Christmas craft fair at No3 went great – I sold my friend sold quite a lot of cards. I don’t know what portion of stock I have left until I return to work tomorrow. So a big shout out to Nicola Harper Textiles Artist! (link to come soon).
A bit late on the updates but we had S N O W ! Normally I’m the first one out there with my camera chasing the deepest snow. Not. this. time. Still trying to get back to ‘normal’ but at the same time having to go back to ‘normal’.
Made my first step out into the garden to chip away at the thick ice and the snow that had accumulated on the bird baths over the past few days. I could here the birds chirping in delight at having some fresh drinking/bathing water!
That’s all the news today, keep warm, keep safe and enjoy the day 🙂