Now we are into meteorological winter, I thought I would relay my thoughts on what the season is likely to turn out like overall.

Leading scientists have been predicting mild and much wetter winters for some years as the planet continues its warming trend.

And I am thinking along those lines this particular winter. However, it does not mean that Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will escape any cold snaps on offer, because, I am sure there will be some, but most likely no really prolonged wintry outbreaks. As we have seen already with the impacts of climate change, Mother Nature has thrown some serious day-to-day weather events our way, even here in the British Isles, and this trend will no doubt continue as the years pass.

This means substantial rain or snowfall can be expected in very short periods of time.

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We have already experienced this in northwest England, where what started out as a rash of snow showers - ended up as a major snowstorm which dumped 30cm of the white stuff on parts of Cumbria triggering a major rescue operation whereby villages were cut off and motorists stranded in their vehicles in blizzard conditions. Here in the Central South England district which includes our neck of the woods, there has been serious flooding in places after torrential rain hit the area over a 24-hour period.

Now, for a look at what weather we can expect during the week ahead, and in short it’s going to be more wet and windy weather at times.

In my column last week, I touched on the jet stream becoming more active and that is still the case, hence my brief intro for the coming days.

Expanding on the likely scenario that will unravel, I think a named storm is possible by this weekend and if this materialises, it has the potential for damaging winds across some parts of Britain, particularly western regions, however, there is some uncertainty on how far east the strongest winds will be as the Atlantic low tracks towards our islands.

But what I can say is heavy rain is likely in our part of the world as the depression moves in. Further rainfall in one form or another is anticipated thereafter with some drier and brighter conditions included in the mix.

Daily maximum temperatures will be around or above average at times.

On cloud-free nights following dry and bright days, minimum temperatures may drop low enough for a grass frost to form.

Mist and fog patches are possible on some nights.

Readers can follow my regularly updated daily and weekly forecasts on X (formerly Twitter). My X site account handle is @HIOWweather.