When arriving here at work at 4:30am, the weather always seems a little more noticeable. What I mean to say is that when it's still dark and you are a bit tired, the weather, whatever the conditions, is always a wake-up call.

We certainly have had it all this last week with snow reports from parts of the Midlands, Wales and the Home Counties and some very low, 'Winter-like' temperatures, to cloudy, wet weather and feeling milder...that theme continues...

And it's not just here in Britain where spring looks as if it's finally on its way.

It appears to be quite a mild end to the winter in Washington, USA after what has been reported to be the 'wettest year in recent memory'. The cherry blossoms of the Capital draw hundreds of thousands of visitors every spring and this year will be no exception with the peak blooming period being from March 24th to April 2nd, right on target for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

The flowering Cherry here in the UK can blossom as early as March although typically it is a little later in April/May. It often waits for a change in temperature to urge its flowers to unfurl. The Cherry Blossom is a hardy tree although it doesn't like waterlogged ground, not a problem at the moment as its snow that has been the real focus of our recent forecasts.

Overnight showers on Friday left as much as 14cm (5.5inches) of snow in parts of the Midlands and Wales; the south of England was also affected. Temperatures also dropped after the snow as the skies cleared leaving motorists to battle with ice which was a particular problem along the M4 in Wales and M5 in Worcestershire.

Today however, marks the start of the warmer weather, for a time anyway. Temperatures by Tuesday could possibly be as high as 16C (61F).

Weather News from the last five days:
12/03/2004
11/03/2004
10/03/2004
09/03/2004
08/03/2004

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