LONDON (Reuters) - The Met Office forecast on Friday there was a 50 percent chance of a warmer winter than average this year for northern Europe, including Britain.
The Met Office said there was only a 20 percent chance of a colder winter, while there were no clear signals for precipitation during the three months between December and February.
In its first forecast for 2009/2010 winter, the office said in September temperatures and rainfall for much of northern Europe, including Britain, were likely to be near or above average.
The UK average temperature for December to February for 1971-2000 is 3.7 degrees Celsius, the office said. A milder winter in the UK is defined by winter-mean temperatures greater than 4.3 degrees.
Comment from ClimateRealists.com
The battle lines have been drawn. WeatherAction.Com, who use the Sun's Solar & Magnetic output say a Cold Winter and the Met Office say 50% chance for a Mild Winter and only 20% cold.
We will follow this forecast and see how close they run.