Thursday’s The Times contained a very short article explaining the current weather experiences (something to do with cold air from the arctic  creeping over or by passing the Urals) and quoted the rhyme:  “If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, winter will have another bite. If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,  winter is gone and will not come again. Well Candlemas Day was clear and bright and extremely cold  and the cold is forecast to continue for a while– so no surprises there. We planted a pear tree in the garden on Thursday.  I usually try to avoid appearing in the vanguard of fashionable thought, but I notice that our own dear queen was doing much the same thing at her Sandringham estate – so I guess we are with the zeitgeist.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2096079/The-Queen-wears-head-scarf-protects-Siberian-cold-Jubilee-tree-planting-ceremony.html