Dry run for Antarctica

For several days the Met Office has warned of a cold snap descending on the country. In the last 24 hours its prediction has come to pass. Tomorrow we're looking forward to a high of 1°C, at least eight degrees below average. Overnight temperatures will fall to -3°C over the weekend and Monday's high won't make it above zero. We're told these Arctic temperatures will be with us for at least another ten days.

On a whim I googled the five-day forecast for Esperanza Research Base on the Antarctica Peninsula (see below). Emilio Palma, the first person ever born in Antarctica, began his life here. We'll be cruising in the general neighbourhood over Christmas. Its overnight temperature is forecast to fall as low as -1°C overnight. London is predicting the same low a few hours from now. Over the weekend Esperanza will enjoy afternoon highs of 4°C, at least a degree warmer than London. Clearly, next week's commute to work will be an ideal dry run for our forthcoming cruise. Who would have guessed?


UPDATE - Friday, November 26
It's 8.00pm and the temperature has plunged. Right now its 0°C outside. By midnight we're expecting the mercury to fall below -2°C. Earlier today the Met Office issued an early warning for blizzards to sweep into London on Tuesday and continue on into Wednesday. Further North snow has already been falling for 36 hours accumulating to a depth of more than 20cms in Scotland and Northern England.