snowblizzard

Just driven (very slowly) from Westerham to Tonbridge (West Kent) via A21 there appears to be a 'snow streamer' affecting a 2 mile wide coridor around Hildenborough, heavy persistent snow, blizzard conditions almost a complete 'white-out' temperature -2C Brilliant! not seen anything like this here since 1991

It's just brightened-up here in Tonbridge Kent, sun shining through fast moving clouds, temperature has just risen from +0.5C to +1.0C feels very cold in the wind!

Yes, but we live in hope that the warmer sector stays away for as long as possible!

I think you will have to keep everything crossed!! I really hope you are right Nick!

My 'gut-feeling' is that precipitation will be mainly sleet & rain in the extreme SE (Kent, Essex & E Sussex) it's quite often the case with this sort of set-up, especially near the coast!

A palm tree and snow, brilliant!

Possibly during the January 1987 or Feb 1991 freeze/snow event?

Do you really think it will be cold enough for snow to actually settle in Central London, it's a very rare event because it's always 1C or 2C degrees warmer in large cities like London? I think the general air temp would have to be below zero for snow to lie in London and I don't expect it will that cold during the next 36 hours!

Just watched the BBC video forecast with Alex Deakin. He said the main area of heavy snow which is expected to come up from France will initially affect the SE and would arrive later on Monday, has this changed because I thought yesterday it was supposed to arrive early Monday morning?

Why do we put ourselves through this, It happens everytime doesn't it? Much gloom & doom on the forum this afternoon! It's likely to end up as another 'non-event' for Kent? I'm going down the pub!

Yes, that's correct and a small trough of low pressure ran accross from the low countries, combined with snow streamers off the Thames estuary which resulted in a major dumping. It just kept snowing, snowing & snowing, every time you looked out of the window the depth of the powdery stuff had increased by several inches! However, it was awful when it ended though, it took several days to thaw, deep slush everywhere and dense fog as the milder air pushed in over the snow fields & cold ground, what a mess that was!

Hi Phil, Yes, that's an interesting news clip from Jan 1987 freeze I doubt we will ever see the like again in Kent, bloody global warming!

January 1987 was probably my best recent memory of really severe wintry weather here in SE England We had several days of Easterlies where the temperature didn't rise above -3c and at night lows of -10c Also a level 14" of powdery snow with drifts in exposed area's several feet deep, absolutely fantastic! I've still got the BBC farmers forecast on video with John Ketley when he starts the forecast with "the only bright thing about this forecast is my tie" I only wish I knew how to get it uploaded onto You Tube?

Absolutely right. Just look at the temperatures across Europe today at 4pm. http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Reurmett.gif Even Sweden, Southern Norway & parts of Finland are actually above freezing!

Severe cold spells with significant snowfall during winter have been extremely rare in the Southern half of England during the past 100 years. Although when you talk to older people (in their seventies or eighties) they always say "when I was a youngster we had snow every winter and it was always bitterly cold" Absolute rubbish! During the past 100 years, winters in the South have been predominantly mild. Yes, there have been cold and sometimes extreme winter events with heavy snow, but even those rarely lasted more than a few days (1947 & 1963 obvious exceptions) We have to remember that we live on an island and we are surrounded by relatively warm water and the pravailing weather patterns that effect the UK run from West to East which invariably means mild damp air masses. Global warming will have an effect on the UK's climate and can only mean increased atlantic dominance and even milder winters. However, that doesn't mean to say that we will never experience another cold winter spell, if the set-up is right, ie Siberian or Scandinavian Highs with extreme cold pooling across the continent, we are likely to see daytime permafrost and wintry precipitation.

Yes, the last really decent cold spell with heavy snowfall here in West Kent was Jan 1987 but I think it only lasted about 5 days. We have had a few cold snaps with snowy days since then some with moderate snowfall (4-8 inches) but it invariably turned to rain and slush within a few hours. We are not the only ones suffering a mild winter, just look to the East, most of Central & Northern Europe was above freezing during January, even Western Russia is nowhere near as cold as usual! http://85.214.49.20/wz/pics/Reurmett.gif 11pm on 4th February, little chance of seeing the beast from the East!

Yes, cold spells will occur in the future but much less frequently than in the past and for the southern half of the British Isles that has always (in my lifetime) been an infrequent occurence! Despite our latitude, being an island the majority of our winters are likely to be relatively mild & probably damp. I think during the past few years it's the lack of severe cold over central & western Europe that has prevented any severe wintry spells of weather in the UK. Even when we have had the required easterlies, the air mass has not been cold enough and by the time it reaches our shores it's always above freezing at ground level. How many times has snow been forecast but we end up with drizzle or sleet, it's a heart breaking situation for those of us that enjoy extreme cold & snowy conditions.

I was living in Westerham at the time, I certainly remember the winter of 1963, it was great, if you like severe wintry weather. I remember my dad taking me for a walk during one of the blizzards, we walked up the middle of the main road, snow up to my waist, I was only 8 year old! After one really cold night I could actually walk on top of the massive drifts without sinking through, the ice crust was that strong. I think everybody thinks there were more cold winters in the 60's 70's & 80's, but if you were to actually check the archives, there were very few winters during that period that you could describe as severe. We live in hope!

I'm new to this forum so excuse me if this has been posted before! I'm 52 years old and live in West Kent about 25 miles South of London. As far as I am aware, there have only been about 8 white Christmas's (some were only slight) in the South of England since 1900. I can actually only remember one, I think it was 1970? Christmas Day itself was cold and frosty with a light covering of snow grains. However, on Boxing Day a vigerous depression approached from the South West and tracked up through the English Channel before sinking South over the Continent. We experienced blizzard conditions for most of the day, drifts several feet deep in places. With global warming and climate change, surely its becoming less likely that we will ever see another white Christmas in the South of England? I began losing hope along time ago! Your thoughts/comments would be welcome.