One minute it felt like the first stirrings of spring, the next moment we were plunged into a winter deep freeze, so what happened to the weather on Wednesday?

The UK was split down the middle, the western side bathed in mild winds blowing off an Atlantic depression, while the East was struck by bitterly cold air swept in from an anti-cyclone over Europe.

But predictions of an apocalyptic freeze are wide of the mark. The Atlantic weather will win out today as the anti-cyclone retreats farther into Eastern Europe. By the weekend the westerly winds will be firmly in control over the UK.

Piers Corbyn, the long-range forecaster of WeatherAction, has widely reported a warning that this month will remain intensely cold. Indeed, he expects this to be one of the coldest Januaries in the past 100 years.

But indications for next week are for more wet, windy and relatively mild Atlantic weather, and overall the Met Office expects a fairly mild month. Further brief cold snaps are expected at some stage, but that is usually what happens at this time of year — it is winter after all.

The problem is that more sensational weather forecasts make much better news headlines. Who remembers the dire warnings that do not happen? For example, Mr Corbyn also forecast a storm over Christmas, and that failed to materialise.