Well, its been cold in the heartland, with the same ice on the ground that feell/froze 3 weeks ago. That is called weather. But averages over large areas year after year are called climate. Daffodils on January 31 is not normal in the Netherlands. I skated 200 km at the end of February or earliest March 1986 in the Netherlands....which did not happen very often either. But the net effect of the warmth in Europe all fall through, evidently, January, is starting to look pretty strange...I suppose you could call it a stuck weather pattern, but the 10 warmest years globally all being since 1994 is not some anomalous weather pattern...it is a changing climate.
Well, have to check if they have opened the park lake here for the first time since 1999 for skating, and if not, I'll call and ask them to check and open it: no way it is not more than the minimum 10 cm thick (4").
Chris

• warmest January in parts of Europe