thevalley

Hard to believe but max temps of -6c for a few days in January 1987 for the heat island of the UK Central London and -5c max and nearly a foot of snow CLondon feb 1991 . The suburbs of London Biggin Hill -12c and nearly 2ft of snow with drifts of 18ft at the airport 1987 . It really was a classic with dry powdery snow with almost blizzard like winds Feb 91 was a gentler affair but still very potent. If we can get the Scandi High before Mid Feb then we may be in Business

According to my Half Swedish boss the Swedish meteorologists have forecasted way back in September a very cold start to winter and a very cold end well in to late March for Western Europe. In 2005 from late Feb to middle of March Biggin Hill had snow showers almost everyday and some snow lay for over a week. would be ideal especially if it led to a warm spring . On the model discussion forum there is one particular contributor who is just so active when the weather is mild and damp and boring and to me it just doesn't make sense. The reason I joined Netweather was to view and discuss weather extremes -Cold snow extreme hot weather which is very unusual for this Country. Our normal weather is just that normal boring wet mild and non de-script. Oh well as long as it is not just a wind up. Nick Sussex for measured and reasoned forecasting to Yamkin who is a snow lover very much like myself. Lets hope we can have some weather worth talking about soon Oh I forgot- today bland, mild, damp 7c and a bit windy. that's not me by the way that's the weather.

Biggin Hill a Max of +1c which in any winter is cold- wind chill makes it feel about -5c Playing outdoor tennis tonight under floodlights

Well you never know it could be mid -feb with conditions as good as February 1991 -what a fantastic event that was for the South East -Central London had a max of -5c and 6ins of lying snow that lasted a week Its going to happen I just looked into my broken tea bag at the bottom of my cup. hate that when it happens

Looking good for the South East and especially high ground over 150m Could be snow on the ground for the weekend as temps are not expected to rise until Monday. Best get the camera ready as it looks a though we may have to wait until late Feb for the next snow event which could be special.

Many snow events but especially January 1987 with 2ft of snow with 20ft drifts in Biggin Hill and max temp of -8c . February 1991 with over a foot of snow with brutal cold (I'm hoping for a a February repeat this year.) Then of course December 2010 Freezing weather on 4th Dec followed by heavy snow on Tuesday the 7th which only stopped on Friday morning 10th 72 hours of non stop snow which left over 40cms of dry powdery snow and a night temp on Friday of -11c -unfortunately a warm front moved in on Saturday evening spoiling the dry snow but leaving about 6ins of snow which lasted the whole of December . On Saturday morning of the Dec 18th there was an intense snow storm which left 14cms of dry snow . Horzontail snow with high winds left windows covered .

Horrible horrible day driving to work in heavy rain. dark dank miserable weather-In the middle of our fantastic super cold spell I not only got used to the cold but started to take the snow for granted, I wont do that again-I really need my snow and frost fix. I always think people are trying to wind us coldly lovers up when they say they love mild winter weather and cant wait for the Atlantic to wake up -so folks here we have it 10 days of mild wet bleak mush where everything looks dull and dirty . Oh well better search for my happy pills and get some artificial sun rays as I could be suffering from SAD. . .

Hi Blunt I'm in the same boat - been following and been interested in the charts and weather for many years and I thought its about time I learnt more -Just your remark re ; Met Office at Holborn -When I was working in the City -every lunch time I would walk up to Holborn to get an update on the Weather-Fantastic when there was a cold spell especially in the late seventies and early eighties when it was quite something to see London mid- day temps at( -4/5c ) and even lower than -6c once.

Biggin Hill had some snow last night -not amounting to anything but it was nice to see-the horrible damp foggy weather is do depressing - makes miss the snow. Today the sun has come through Hooray -Hope we have some real snow soon and a heavy white frost-What a big kid I am

The South is hanging on to the cold a bit longer Max 2.5c in Bromley -Biggin Hill 1c temps starting to fall . Will get warmer from now on until Sunday

6ins of snow in Bromley Kent and still snowing heavily expect at least 20cms by tonight current temps -1c and temps dropping could be -5c with snow cover overnight

Mr Data -Help Needed. -Just looked at my old London Weather Book with records of Kew Temps going back to 1841 -Just wondering what the rest of the country was like. Im sure you have covered this but I suppose the odds must a 100 to 1 for a repeat coming up. Record for Kew London 1890/1891 Nov 1890 Max day temp +14.6c Lowest Max temp -3.6c Lowest Min -5.8c (2 Freezing day recorded ) Dec 1890 Max day temp +6.6c Lowest Max temp -5.8c Lowest Min -11.8c (16 Freezing days Recorded) (10 consecutive days below freezing) Nov Mean +6.0c Dec Mean -1.5c January Feb and March 1891 were also cold (March 1891 had one of the greatest snow storms which lasted two days with drifts of 11ft even near to Central London. A Mild start to November ending in a very cold last week. - December coldish start -incredible cold from 8th to Mid Jan but with 24 dry days in December Anyway -could we be on the verge of a similar set-up

Very windy heavy rain temp 3.8c dew point 2.8c at Biggin Hill Kent on the North Downs -temps almost cold enough for some wet snow .

Top Ten 1963 -Snow snow -freezing snow -Built a snowman just after Christmas still their end of February 1970 Snow on Boxing day with thunder and Lightning snow lay for the 12 days of Christmas 1976 The hottest summer for a 1000 years -Commuting was a nightmare -sat out in the evenings enjoying cold beers in a tee shirt and shorts till very late most evenings for 6 weeks. 1978/79 After seven years of almost snowless winters the start of a run of very snowy winters -New years Eve took the dog for walk a little worse for wear-snow started to fall with almost gale force winds -never been so cold next day snow drifts and a max of -5c below freezing-the winter was one of the coldest 1986 Feb snowed early Feb snow still there beginning of March ending with a big snowstorm in the South East.and Central London having a Max of -2c in a March. 1987 Jan -The coldest and snowiest weather I have seen Biggin Hill had 24" of snow with 20ft drifts at the airport road buried a bus and snow plough cut off for almost four days an event unlikely to be repeated. The city of London had its coldest day ever recorded with min of -9c max -5c 1987 Oct -The great storm- woken by an incredible noise with wind that buckled one of the windows. went outside to be hit by an incredible force -Keston lost some beautiful trees specatular but devastating 1991 Feb -Downing street was bombed and pictures showed heavy snow falling-. 8 days followed with incredibly cold temps and heavy snow. nearly a foot lay in central London with even the city having max temps of -4c. 2009 Feb snow brought heavy snow with a foot falling in about 3 hours. 2010 December cold brought heavy snow which instead of disappearing as usual stayed for weeks in January 8 days of below freezing A winter on par with 78/79 and 81/82:drinks:

Lets face it the norm for the UK is a mild temperate winter which does not mean there wont be cold and snow events but to have a winter like the last one would be extremely unlikely -probably a one in hundred chance of three reasonably/very cold winters in row. Typical autumn weather now and very similar to last year and I don't think anyone expected last winter to be so cold. Just one thing that is a bit puzzling how can anyone pin-point a slightly colder than average winter for the South East- far too localised- to get that I would assume a cold dry continental winter from the a very cold predicted Central Europe just brushing the UK and not having a enough time to pick up moisture from the North Sea..