Then possibly much colder from about the 20th, with an Arctic blast because of the split in the polar vortex?
Say what

That sounds a bit drastic, along the lines of 'The engines canna take any more Captain' in Star Trek

Vortexes aside, this morning's plan of getting some pruning done in the front garden have been abandoned as after 10 minutes, I couldn't feel my hands or feet any more and then it started hailing. Time to wimp out and get back indoors

Its leaden skies, cold and generally grey here today.