Britain. Where we spend our summers complaining it’s too hot and our winters moaning that it’s too cold—except, apparently, when it isn’t cold enough. Right now, the Met Office is cheerfully telling us that the recent chilly spell is about to be swept away by an Atlantic airflow. No more biting easterlies. No more potential for snow.

But here’s the weird thing. This so-called cold snap hasn’t really been that cold. By all rights, the setup we were stuck in should have had us shivering through hard frosts, dodging snow flurries, and scraping ice off our windscreens with frozen fingers. Instead, we got… not much. Some chilly days, yes, but nothing worth writing home about. And that, would you believe, is precisely the problem.

The Winter That Wasn’t

Over in central and Eastern Europe, where winter usually bites hard, temperatures have been playing it suspiciously mild. We’re talking 2.25°C above average—which might not sound like much, but in winter, two degrees can be the difference between a picturesque winter wonderland and, well, a bit of damp pavement.

This means that instead of dramatic snowstorms or record-breaking cold, we’ve had a season of forgettable, chilly mediocrity. And mediocrity doesn’t get headlines. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t scream climate emergency the way a summer heatwave does, so people just shrug and move on.

Why This Actually Is a Big Deal

If you tell someone that global warming means their 33°C summer barbecue is now happening in 35°C heat, they’ll probably just sip their Pimms and carry on. “Still hot, innit?” But in winter, two degrees is the difference between thick ice and slush, between needing snow chains and just an extra jumper. It changes the way weather systems behave across entire continents.

And yet, here in the UK, February might actually end up below average in temperature—cue every pub-based climate expert smugly declaring, “See? No global warming after all!” because apparently, if it’s cold outside their house, then the planet must be fine.

The Beasts From the East: Now More of a Mildly Annoying Dog

Once upon a time, Britain used to fear the infamous Beast from the East—a Siberian weather monster that would roll in and turn the country into an ice rink. Now? It’s more of a Moderately Irritating Red Setter from the East. Still a bit nippy, but nowhere near the bone-chilling, frostbitten horror shows of old.

And why? Because the climate is changing. These beasts are losing their bite, and while that might sound like good news if you hate defrosting your car in the morning, it’s also a sign that our climate is shifting in a way we barely even register.So, while February might feel a little chilly, let’s not kid ourselves.

The real story isn’t how cold it got—but how cold it didn’t get. And that, ironically, is one of the clearest signs that things are warming up.