Nearly everyone who I told about this trip said, as if to warn me about something I had not considered, “it will be cold and wet!”. Yes, I am aware of that. We spent a winter in England 19 years ago and we lived for many years in Vancouver, Canada. I figured that will prepare us for this winter. But, time will tell. In this post I will keep track of the winter weather.
Weather in Santa Fe before we left: Six inches of old snow in our yard, daytime temps in the 20s and 30s, nighttime in the teens. Very cold. It warmed up after we left to daytime temps in the 40s.
Wednesday January 2: Bath - very cold and dry
We arrived at Gatwick at 6:30am to pitch dark. It seems like the sun does not come up until 8pm or so. Since I have not been up early since then, I can’t confirm this. Wednesday in Bath was cold, highs in the 30s. We needed our winter coats, wool scarves, gloves, and hats. There was a bit of a wind in Bath also.
Thursday January 3: Bath - cold and dry
Warmer than yesterday - daytime temps in the 40s. No rain. At night it goes down towards freezing.
Friday January 4: Cotswolds - cold and foggy
Heavy fog as we were driving up to Nailsworth. Not that cold.
Saturday January 5: Cotswolds - cold and dry
Sunday January 6: Cotswolds - cold and crisp
It isn’t the bright sun we get in Santa Fe, but it was bright and cold. No rain.
Monday January 7: Cotswolds - rain and bright periods
Rain and wind in the night and in the morning, then it cleared in the afternoon to blue skies and sun. Daytime temps in the mid 40s.
Tuesday January 8: Cotswolds - cold and dry
We did a two hour hike mid-day. It was windy on top of the hills, and muddy in some spots, but really good walking weather. I wore wool long underwear but was a bit too warm. We needed hats and gloves, but wore fleece sweaters under raincoats.
Wednesday January 9: Cotswolds - cold and mostly dry
It rained in the night again and drizzled for about 10 minutes mid-day when we walked into Nailsworth for lunch and some shopping.
It gets dark early - pitch black by 5pm, evening starts at 4pm. There have always been clouds in the sky but the sun breaks through frequently.
Thursday January 10: Cotswolds - can’t remember!
Friday January 11: Cotswolds - mild, rain and drizzle, snow in the evening
Today we drove to Oxford in the rain, took the train to London. It was not raining there. By 5pm back in Oxford it was raining and it turned to snow! There was about 3 inches of snow in our part of the Cotswolds.
Saturday January 12: Cotswolds - colder, sunny, snow on the ground
Today was wonderful. Bright sunshine on fields of snow. It was melting in many places, but north facing slopes like ours still had a few inches. Also up on the Minchinhampton Commons. It clouded over by 4pm and there was some evening rain.
Sunday January 13: Cotswolds - mild, some rain, I think
Monday January 14: Cotswolds - mild, some rain
We went out for a two hour hike (to Woodchester Park). It was muddy from the snow and rain. It drizzled a little but not much. A bit more rain later in the day.
Tuesday January 15: Cotswolds - mild, rain in morning and evening
There was a clear patch during the afternoon when we could have gone for a hike but we were being lazy (I made new header buttons for my blog).
Wednesday January 16: Cotswolds - some overcast, some sun
We did a hike along the cycle path that goes from Nailsworth to Stroud. When we were in Nailsworth the sun came out and it was like a summer day. The winter coats, scarves and hats that we needed when we left the cottage were no long necessary.
Thursday January 17: Cotswolds - overcast, some rain, some sun
Friday January 18: Cotswolds - bad day - heavy rain, wind
Saturday January 19: Cotswolds - overcast and some drizzle, mild
Sunday January 20: Cotswolds - a bit of sun, but cold
Monday January 21: London - rain
Tuesday January 22: London - sunny! but cold
The rest of this week was good. No rain. Sunny and mild on most days.
Sunday January 27: Cotswolds - like a spring day. Sunny, warm, beautiful. I wore my winter coat on a hike but should have worn a lighter jacket.
Monday and Tuesday were good. No rain. Sunny and mild on most days.
Wednesday January 30: Cotswolds - Sunny and warm. Getting overcast by end of day. Weather is changing.
