DECEMBER 1 was the first meteorological day of winter - and it certainly did feel like it!

We awoke to a dreary, dark day where fog and freezing temperatures replaced the warm, if wet, autumn we experienced this year.

Looking through the archives I found several snow pictures and thought readers might like to look back and remember.

The year 2010 was a bad or good one, depending on your affection for snow!

There were heavy falls in January that year and then again in December.

There is something magical about waking up to a blanket of fresh snow- especially if you don't have to go anywhere.

Snow means 10 minutes of helping the children build a snowman followed by hot chocolate and a Christmas movie.

It is even better if the children are grandchildren and they go home to mummy and daddy while grandma and grandad watch the movie in peace.

Or - better still - grandpa goes with them so he doesn't become 'Grumpa' during Christmas movies he doesn't want to watch!

The weather man has told us to expect snow and maybe, by the time you read this, we will have it.

As I look out today, though, it is a dull, grey, cold day and even though the sun is trying valiantly to bring warmth, all it is doing is shining on my computer making it impossible for me to read what I am writing.

Christmas is just around the corner and the bright lights in towns and houses are starting to raise festive spirits.

Those early Christians knew what they were doing when they decided to celebrate the birth of Christ on a day already used by pagans to celebrate the winter solstice - and the Romans who used the coldest, darkest month of the year to celebrate the festivals of two of their gods.

And before the winter grey depresses us even further, take solace from the fact that it is only 15 days until Wednesday, December 21 when we mark the shortest day.

Get your Easter eggs out... it is almost spring!