Sunny76

Yeah, for the London area snow fell in these years during the classic so called golden era of 79-87. 1979 - snow fell in January and February. 1980 - snowless during 79/80 and 80/81. Contained some mild periods for the south. 1981 - snowed in December 1982- snowed at the start of January, continuing the cold theme from December 81. 1983 - another snowless year with some flurries in feb, but no lying snow for London. 1984 - nothing 1985 - cold but no snow in london 1986 - cold in February, but no snow 1987 - snow in January and the heaviest since the winter of 1981/82, and this would be the last snowfall in London until February 1991. So, even during the golden era, snow was still very much a rare visitor. On average it would come around every 3-5 years, which is still a long gap. It’s still damp and dreary. Regardless whether we have snow or not, I still class the current weather as cold. I really hope we don’t endure another summer like last year during 2022. It really was depressing, and it came off the back of a cold dull May.

And we will be freezing in July when it’s barely reaching 19-20c with cloud and damp west winds. That’s what I hate sometimes about this country.

Even before 88, there was never a guarantee of snow, in the southern half of the country. The early to mid 70s was quite poor for snowfall, but 79-87 brought the shift to colder winters. The same could be said for the late 2000s.

I never remember snow lying on the ground in March or April, apart from 2018. 2013 was very cold and could easily rival anything from the 1980s in terms of bitter temps. I was born in 76, and only remember some snow flurries or sleet showers in March and April in some years.

I don’t agree with the statement made by our Greek friend. The only summers I would class as decent from the last 9 years would be 2013, 2018, and the early summer of 2020, with the first half of August being quite hot, but with that nice extended dry sunny period during April until early June, before the weather went downhill in mid June. July was mostly dull and overcast. 2021 was awful in the south, with only 3 weeks of sunny or hot days in June and July. The rest of it was weeks of dull and dreary weather. The warm sunny September wasn’t enough to make up for it. The fact we didn’t reach 35c and barely hit 32c last summer, still highlights the unpredictable nature of our weather. I can’t wait for some warm sunny days with a hot spell thrown in. Just what we need, after the recent cold weather.

Yes, 1989 and 1994 were like that. Although 89 was a better summer overall. Both summers had decent warm and hot sunny spells during June and July, and some warm days during August.

Too far to travel just to enjoy snow. Latvia is a fair bet. Only 2 hours east.

We’ve gained about an extra hour of evening daylight, but it’s still nowhere near the feel or longer evenings just yet. That doesn’t come around until early March, for me anyway. To add to that, mornings are still painfully dark and dreary, even with a clear sky. Seen the moon a good number of times on my way to work this past week or so. Once we see the daylight creeping in around 6am, and post 6pm in the evenings, I feel this is where we start moving into a lighter time of year.

I know it’s early, but when do you think the first storms will arrive this year? And, will it be widespread daytime storms, evening storms or overnight ones, and/ or a combination of both. My prediction is for early June to be thundery, but see August as a stormy month, with one evening and overnight storm. Not localised either, like the last few summers.

While I don't see a 2012 happening this year, a 2018 is probably less likely as well. All we need is a long sunny period with low humidity and daytime maxes between 23-27c between late May and Late August, with a few days here and there of rainfall.

1981/82 ended on a mild note. Wasn’t February 1982 quite mild, after the cold January?

Not sure if I go with the pollution theory. 2019 was pre-Covid, and that year was poor for storms in the london region.

I don't know how anyone can consider this current spell t shirt weather. Yes its nice and bright, but the recent spell has been quite cold. Nights and mornings are quite cold at the moment. I personally can't wait for the nice warm weather, but will enjoy the winter while its here. Hoping we don't another dull fest of a summer like 2021, which in my location was cloudy for weeks on end.

I'll add something else. May will be poor, but will have a thundery end, and the early part of June will see some violent overnight and daytime storms.

All sounds interesting from a storm perspective. I remember storms in August 1986, and then late August 1987, which were overnight. Don't remember anything earlier apart from August 1981 daytime darkness. The question I would like to ask is, why we don't get thundery spells like that anymore? I thought summer 2021 would be perfect for more convective activity, especially after the cold lingering into late spring. But, most of the thundery stuff was very localized. I'm hopeful summer 2022 will see a shift back to more thundery periods between June and August. Here's hoping anyway lol.

Yes, it was a very strange event. Yes it was early July 1991. I remember seeing distant lightning and some rumbles. It was a very warm night, after the hot week. This followed a cold June only a week or so before.

Does anyone recall these overnight storms during August 1986? I remember them moving in during a Sunday night, into Monday morning. I remember being woken up by them, and there were several storms that night. This was during a very warm humid spell, as I have a vague memory of it being very dull but warm at the time. It was a cool or cold month overall, but this weekend was very muggy in the London region.

1981 was like that, and even 2020 felt cold in March after the mild winter. This was before we had that nice long sunny spell during the first lockdown.

Far from an expert, but is there a chance the current cold and dry weather, will produce a snowy spell further down the line? Not saying it will happen. I’m enjoying this weather, and would be happy if it stays like this for the remainder of winter, with or without snow. Just keep the damp rubbish at bay.

Still a long way to go. No major improvements for longer daylight until early March.

I never write winter off until early March. For me, March 1st is the big turning point from the winter into spring. Still a good 6 or so weeks to go before then. Even with the slight increase in daylight, it’s still a long process until we start to see and feel the benefits of longer daylight hours. February is another dismal month, apart from if we get a springlike snap, but even then it’s still dark at 5.30.

I think that’s probably what people thought it winter 1979-80. After the snowy winter of 78-79, the following winter was fairly mild, apart from the cold January, and the early part of December 79 was extremely mild. Wasn’t this from the period when the music video for ‘Another brick in the wall part 2’ was made. The weather looks quite mild and the students are wearing t shirts.

I think that’s probably what people thought it winter 1979-80. After the snowy winter of 78-79, the following winter was fairly mild, apart from the cold January, and the early part of December 79 was extremely mild. Wasn’t this from the period when the music video for ‘Another brick in the wall part 2’ was made. The weather looks quite mild and the students are wearing t shirts.

Just out of curiosity, how old are you? I remember the late 2000s and early 10s producing arguably the best winters since 1995, 91 or even the mid 1980s era. Feb 2009, Jan 2010, November and December 2010, Feb 2012, and January 2013 all produced snowfall, even in the London area. I don’t think the 1980s even gave London that many years with snow in a row. Even the mid 2000s during that warmer phase after 1997 still gave us one day snowfalls in January 2003, thunder snow in January 2004(although didn’t last more than an hour or so) and March 2005 produced a light covering. Even last winter gave us one day of snow across west London and other areas, so like you, I believe a widespread snowfall will happen again. It’s almost the same as waiting for another 2018 summer, it will happen again, but a summer with a one week hot spell and several warm weeks mixed in with cloudy humid or cool conditions is the order of the day since 2019. 2022 will hopefully give us a sunnier summer, or at the very least a sunny clear late spring and early summer similar to 2020. Winters have become milder since late 1987, however I would argue our summers have not become much better since the same period. Really nice sunny summers are few and far between, and the last good one was 2018.

August 5/6th 1981 in London, when it turned completely dark as night, due to severe daytime thunderstorms. It was like nighttime for a few hours. Was 5 at the time, but felt like the day was constantly dark until the evening. My memory however may have played tricks on me, and there was probably a break in the darkness. A number of other weather memories come from 1987 below: January snow in London. Was very cold for days on end with minus temps during the day. Very snowy and cold windchill. Warm sunny April Severe storms in the evening and into the night of August 21st 1987. The great storm in October. The winds were terrifying. Christmas Day sunshine in 1987. Blue skies and temps reaching 14-15c. Felt like an April day and even more surreal when you added blue sunny skies and a very mild temp.