Today will still be generally cold, but it marks the start of the temperature starting to rise. Today should see the temperature rise to 5° C, and tomorrow could see double that. Most of today is going to be what I would call "lightly overcast". 5 and 6pm could see some rain (the extra hour has been added in the latest revision), but the rest of the day should be dry. Tomorrow morning could see a lot of rain, but the afternoon should be dry, and it might be sunny for a while. There may be rain again in the evening. By early afternoon the temperature may rise to 12° C. That will feel warm after the recent freezing temperature, and maybe actually warm in the sunshine.
  I said that I felt OK yesterday morning, but that wasn't strictly accurate. What I really meant was that I didn't seem to feel any worse than I do most mornings - feeling like I'm 106 years old, and on my last legs. The thing, that with hindsight, made yesterday morning different was those aches and pains didn't fade away after getting up, but stayed with me for much of the day. This was obviously one of the common side effects of my Covid vaccination - short lived 'flu like symptoms. I even had the headache, and eventually the fever that are also common. It may sound dreadful, but it was actually sort of, in a twisted way, enjoyable - a lot like being drunk ! These and other wonders of the day, plus other stuff about my sleep, and my thoughts and plans this morning, can all be read in my full archive page for today.

   It is bloody cold right now. My outside thermometer agrees with the prediction of -4° C, but much of the sky is blue, and the sun will soon make it over the rooftops, and a lot of today could be sunny, or if not sunny, then it will feature sunny spells. By 1pm the temperature may have risen to 0° C, and a few hours later it will be 1° C. It should stay there until 9am tomorrow when it will rise another degree. Tomorrow should see the slow transition to slightly warmer days, and also back to wetter days. Monday might be almost warm if the wind is light enough. From then on most days should see the temperature hit 10° C, and sometimes a bit more. It is the first hint that spring will eventually arrive.

  I am not very good at multitasking. I don't mean the more traditional meaning of doing many things at the same time, but doing lots of things one after the other. Going out to get my Covid jab seemed like such an important thing that I didn't feel the need, or just didn't want to do anything more for the rest of the day. It seemed like a perfect time to lay on my bed, quietly reading. Unfortunately I couldn't keep that up for too long, and I did do other stuff.  That other stuff is described in my full archive page for today, along with stuff about eating, sleeping, and my thoughts this morning (plus how I have no idea what I will be doing today).

   It is about -1° C at the moment, but this afternoon could end up at +1° C !  Better news is that there could be some sunny spells this morning, and then, after a hour or so of dense cloud, there could even be an hour of sunshine followed by some sunny spells. Of course this is the forecast at 5am this morning, and by 8am everything could be different. Tomorrow morning is shown as starting very cold, -3° C, but it should see the start of things beginning to warm up. By Monday we could see daytime temperatures going above 10° C.
  

   I was quite surprised to see there had been another light fall of snow during the early hours of the morning. I'm not sure that it lasted as long as 6am, as shown in the screenshot above. It was quite a light fall, and I expect most of it will have disappeared by, or soon after midday when we should be having some nice sunny spells. In fact the sun is doing it's best to shine even as I write this, and I am sure it is behind the rooftops that are in it's way at the moment. Today is going to be a colder day than yesterday - a high of just 0° C even when the sun is shining if we believe the forecast. The rest of today, and also tomorrow should stay dry. Tomorrow may also be very slightly warmer - plus 1° C, but it seems I'll be walking to the hospital for my first covid jab when the temperature will be minus 1° C ! There could be some sunny spells tomorrow afternoon. That will make the day seem nicer even while it is bloody cold.

   I originally had some doubts about getting out for a walk yesterday, but I was ready to go before midday, and I went....   I had no grand ambitions beyond taking a look around the Linear Park, and maybe take a few snaps of the scenery. I knew that I had missed the best of the snow, and therefore the most photogenic views, but a few pictures do show the remains of the snow, and of the ice. All the pictures, plus that pointless video, and a description of the rest of my day, my night, a strange occurrence in the night, plus my thoughts and plans this morning, can be seen in my full archive page for today.

   Today should see some sunny spells, or maybe that should be may see some sunny spells. There should be a sunny spell sometime soon, but at the moment the small patch of blue is about 5 or 10° above where the sun should be. I can't see directly upwards at the moment, my bedroom ceiling is in the way, but from what I can see through the window it seems that there is a huge patch of blue above us. The problem is that towards the southern horizon, where the sun would be, there is still dark cloud. Anyway, with a bit of luck there could be a scattering of sunny spells today, and the temperature may rise to 2° C for a few hours in the afternoon. Having just refreshed the weather page I now see no sunny spells this afternoon, but more sunny spells this morning. The temperature profile of the day remains the same, and the day is still shown as being dry. I can imagine most of the snow will disappear by late afternoon. Sunny spells are still predicted for tomorrow, but paradoxically it may be a little cooler than today.

   Yesterday felt frustratingly boring. I think the trouble was that I couldn't do the one thing I wanted to do, and I didn't fancy doing anything else. I wanted to go for a walk in the linear park, but I felt I ought to stay in and rest the pulled muscle in my left thigh. That did turn out to be a good idea, and it felt closed to being healed by the evening. Most of yesterday felt quite miserable, but there were highlights - most spectacularly a message from Angela about how I could get a covid vaccination at the hospital instead of having to go who knows where. To save any suspense, I can reveal that I will be getting the jab this coming Friday morning. You'll have to read the details about that, and details about the rest of my day, night, and the start of this morning, in my full archive page for today.

   The forecast in the screenshot above has changed a fair bit since I took the screenshot. That sunny spell shown for 8am turned into snow. For the last hour or so, and maybe for another hour, there has been more light snow falling. It, and the snow which fell at around 2am, is slowly filling in the "bald" patches. The current prediction is for just light cloud from 10am to 7pm, and the temperature rising to above zero, but one by one, single, solitary degree ! From 8pm the temperature will drop below zero again, and more light snow is predicted.

  That is the forecast according to The Met Office. The BBC (Meteogroup) forecast reckons that there could be some sunny spells when the cloud gets lighter, but the temperature forecast agrees with The Met Office. Another difference is that the BBC predict no snow until as late as 11pm, and then heavy snow may fall. There might, or might not be more snowfall tomorrow. It is curious that they assign only a 10% chance of precipitation for their predicted snowfalls, but at 9am they keep to the 10% chance of "precipitation", but say there will be a full hour of sunshine ! The Met Office predict only a few sunny spells tomorrow. Both forecasters agree it will be another very cold day, although the temperature could rise to above zero before falling during the evening. The BBC goes to extremes by predicting it could go down to -4° late tomorrow night. The Met Office say only -2° C.

  The great thing yesterday was going shopping in Aldi yesterday morning, but I covered that yesterday. After that nothing much happened if you don't count eating too much crap. My left thigh muscle was still sore after slipping over on the black ice on my way to Aldi, but most of the time it was hardly noticeable. It would become very noticeable when I went to bed. I have described my day as best I can, and described the problem when going to bed, plus there is a long rambling description of my thoughts this morning in my full archive page for today. It even includes a crappy video !

   There was some more snowfall in the early hours of the morning, and the road outside was starting to look very wintry. Any snow that had fallen would have settled because today the temperature will be below zero all day long. The coldest is predicted to be -2° C, and the warmest -1° C ! More snow has been forecast for around now, but it has been a very feeble effort. The latest revision says it will finish in the next hour, and won't snow again until about 8pm, and it will still be very light snow showers - that is if you put your faith in the Met Office. If your faith lies more with the BBC, and their Meteosat forecasters, then it will snow all through today, and some of it will be heavy snow. Staying with the Met Office - Tomorrow may see more light snow in the morning, but then the temperature will rise, and it could be 0° C by the start of the afternoon, and possibly 1° C by sunset. There might even be a sunny spell in the afternoon !

  With no snow to see until late afternoon, I decided not to go out, but to pursue some things to do indoors. That didn't amount to much, but did include another small bit of laundry - just a hand towel, a pair of underpants, and a pair of lounge pants. As usual I describe much more about the day, my eating, my sleep, but no dreaming this time, what I have already done this morning, and what I might do in my full archive page for today.

   The original forecast had snow starting to fall just before midnight last night. Then it was put back to 3am, and finally to 11am. At 7 or 8am it was drizzling because the temperature seemed to be 1.6° C according to my two outside thermometers. Finally, perhaps 20 minutes before 9am, some light flurries of snow, or more likely sleet fell. There are even a few (10 of them at the last count) snowflakes blowing around as I write this. My hopes for some snow photography have all but evaporated. Maybe if the temperature continues to fall, and the real snow starts at 11am, as above, by something like 3pm there could be a thin covering on the ground, although that does rather assume the temperature gets low enough to freeze the wetness outside.

  I have just checked the latest revision to the forecast. The snow is now shown to start at 1pm. It will only be light snow, and it may continue to 7pm. From about midday to midnight the temperature will fluctuate between 0° C and -1° C. That should set us up for a better chance of snow tomorrow. The latest prediction is for light snow to fall from 6am to 1pm. With the temperature down to -2° C there is a good chance tomorrow snow will settle. It is a shame that no roaring blizzard is predicted to really pile it up. There could be a bit more snow on Tuesday, but the forecast for 2 days in advance is usually 183% wrong !

  As sort of predicted, yesterday was far from a hive of activity, but I did do a few important things. One of the was being like a kid getting all excited about Santa leaving presents in the night, except in my case I was hoping to wake up to a nice covering of snow. I was bitterly disappointed. All the details worth mentioning about yesterday, and stuff about eating, sleeping, dreaming, plus thoughts about today, are in my full archive page for today.

   We've had a few unscheduled short sunny spells this morning, but now the sky seems to be getting darker. The mist shown on the screenshot above disappeared from later revisions of the forecast. The current prediction is that the rain will now start at midday. Not all of it will be heavy, but most will. The hail shown for 3pm (above) has now disappeared off the chart, and 4pm is now shown as light rain, but..... More importantly, reality has diverged from the forecast. Quite some time has passed thanks to another long rambling phone call from Lee. During the last half hour, and maybe full hour (I was only semi-conscious while Lee was rabbiting away) the sun has been shining ! There was also a light shower before the sun came out. At the moment most of the sky is white, and the sun is an ill defined blinding patch of light that can still cast a strong shadow. Presumably the rain will still catch up with the forecast, and that the temperature will start to fall away soon. The current temperature in the shade, but at the height of the upstairs windows, is 10° C. That is higher than it should be, and probably puts a crimp on tomorrows forecast for lots of snow.

  Until now the forecast from both the Met Office, and The BBC (Meteogroup) was for a considerable amount of snow tomorrow. The latest update now shows only rain from midnight to 3am instead of snow, but heavy snow is forecast for 3am. It was supposed to snow all day, but now the snow is shown as finishing at 7am, although there could be some short falls of light snow a few more times during the day. It is possible there might still be 4 or 5 hours of light snow on Monday, but it feels like the chance of some good snow photography is getting less and less.

  I felt the need for some exercise yesterday, and the weather finally lured me out for a walk, although it took some time before I felt ready, and the weather felt ready for me to go out. I actually went out a bit too early to get the best of the sunshine. There are some pictures, plus a video, as well as a description of some parts of my walk, plus the usual stuff about health and eating and sleeping and dreams (featuring for the first time ever - I think - time travel), and finally my thoughts and plans for today in my full archive page for today.

   The latest revision to the forecast has put back the first sunny spell to 9am, but there is still some big clouds in the sky, although I can see some blue. It's just that the blue areas are nowhere near where the sun is. To make matters worse, the latest revision to the forecast shows the sunshine fizzling out with only sunny spells at 2pm, and nothing after but cloudy skies with the possibility of a shower at 9pm. The temperature is still shown as rising to 10° C this afternoon. Tomorrow's forecast is a real mixed bag. The temperature will briefly rise in the late morning, but towards the end of the afternoon it will start to fall until it almost hits freezing point by midnight. During the course of the day there could be mist, fog, drizzle, light rain, medium rain, heavy rain, and just before midnight, sleet ! Sunday, the day after tomorrow is the start of maybe almost a week featuring at least one fall of snow. The current prediction is that snow will fall all day on Sunday !

   The sunny spells shown for 9am in the screenshot above have started on time, but sadly the latest revision to the forecast says they will only last for this one single hour. The rain is now shown to start at 1pm, but there might be a dry hour around 9pm - not that that is of any use to us. It is now predicted that after this slightly cool start to the day, almost all the rest of the day will be no more than 8° C. Tomorrow morning may see light cloud followed by some sunny spells in the afternoon. It may also be slightly warmer at 10° C.

   I could probably describe yesterday as being a day of rest. I hardly did anything, but things did happen. One thing that happened was that I was far more careful about my eating, and I don't know how I did it. Another event was the delivery of a case of beer. I have described the events of the day, as meagre as they were, plus stuff about eating (I was good !), sleeping, this morning, and a few more pictures from Tuesday, and finally a song from the mid 1990s (with slide show accompaniment) in my full archive page for today.

   The forecast rain seems to have started a bit late this morning. The second to last time I looked outside was about 8.50am, and it was still dry then. It is now raining, but the clouds are only mid-grey, and the rain seems to be very light. Maybe those clouds will turn to dark grey, and heavy rain will fall, or maybe the forecast is being extra pessimistic. The latest revision to the forecast only changes two things compared to the screenshot above. The light rain is now predicted to last until 1pm, and at 3pm there could be a sunny spell ! Today will be cooler than yesterday, and although there may now by a single hour of 10° C, 9° C is more representative of the day. Tomorrow should see much lighter cloud, but there could still be at least a 30% chance of rain at times. There could also be a sunny period or two. The temperature will probably be about the same as today.

  I felt I just had to take advantage of the forecast sunny spells, and the almost warm weather, to go for a walk yesterday. I have to admit I was a bit impatient to get out, and left before the sunny spells had really got established. I think the forecast was still saying that midday to 1pm would not feature any sunshine, and that was almost true. The best periods of sunshine started when I was three quarters through my walk, and continued after I got home. As usual I took my camera, and there are a selection of photos on my full archive page for today. It also includes the sad state of my eating, a brief mention about what seems to have been a fair sleep, and how today may be a very tedious day for several reasons (and those reasons).

   ....This morning the temperature has reached that magic temperature where it is not painful to stand in my unheated kitchen. I think my thermometer was saying slightly under, but only a few tenths of a degree, the 7° C shown in the forecast. As I write this there are only a few hints that the sun has risen in the east, but looking to the west does show some clear sky, not much, but some. A refresh of the Met Office forecast page now shows we should be getting a sunny spell soon. If that big cloud could move a foot to the right we would be having a sunny spell right now ! There is probably going to be light rain after dark this evening, but the daylight hours should be dry with sunny spells, and at 12° C it could feel mild enough for bare arms ! Strangely enough, the BBC weather web page makes no mention of any sunny spells, but back in the real world, we could be having a sunny spells any minute now. Both the BBC and Met Office agree that tomorrow is going to be a disgusting day - dark cloud, copious rain, and zero chance of seeing the sun, but at least it should still be in the region of 9° C.

  It was odd how I felt between OK and good when I went shopping early yesterday morning, because I seemed to feel lousy for the rest of the day. I ended up doing little except eat, sleep and read yesterday. I probably had a couple of fair snoozes in the day, and those probably affected my sleep. The whole story is written in my full archive page for today. It includes more about eating, some accounts of weird dreams, plus some potential plans for today.

   I've just refreshed the weather forecast hoping to see something a bit better than the screenshot above, and indeed things have improved....a bit ! The filthy grey clouds are now due to change to lighter clouds an hour earlier at 1pm instead of 2pm, and by 6 or 7pm the sky should be clear of all clouds for a while. Other than that, the screenshot above tells a fairly accurate picture of what a nasty day today will be. Tomorrow may bring good and bad. There will probably rain, some of it heavy from the earliest hours until, maybe, 9am. The afternoon may feature several hours of sunny spells before more rain falls. The best bit is that the afternoon temperature may reach 12° C. The wind may be fairly light tomorrow afternoon, and because of that those sunny spells may even feel warm.

  I made the mistake of saying I seemed to feel OK yesterday morning, but it was less good than that. By midday I found myself feeling bad, not terrible, not awful, but still sort of bad. I seemed to develop a selection of aches that individually would have been ignorable, and would have been ignorable in total if sufficiently distracted, but I felt bored and restless. That made the impact of even a small fleeting itch, or something else ordinarily of no consequence, feel much worse. It meant I couldn't raise the enthusiasm to do anything until I had to rush to prepare the dining room for another small boozing session. The booze included some I had ordered that turned up just in time for a finishing flourish to the session. All the details that are fit to write (aka I can remember) are in my full archive page for today. As per boringly normal, it includes stuff about food, eating, sleeping, shopping, and how I seem to feel very tired today.