The severe winter of 1894-95

[Weather-history]

The winter of 1894-95 was severe with a CET of 1.2C. Here's a summary of this winter.

DECEMBER 1894

December 1894 was mild for the most part and the first three weeks were dominated by SWlies.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18941210.gif

It was not until the last week, when the winds veered to the NW that colder weather arrived with frosts and snow showers to exposed areas.

18cm of snow was reported in Norfolk at the end of the month.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18941230.gif

JANUARY 1895

January started with cold northerlies and temperatures near freezing.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950103.gif

Troughs in the flow gave snow showers to most parts and many places had a snow cover, Oxford had 8cm by the 6th.

High pressure to the west moved across the UK and under the clear skies and with a deep snow cover, very low minima were recorded with -11C in parts of Norfolk

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950109.gif

and -18C in parts of the Highlands. Freezing fog formed and was slow to clear, a maxima of -5C was recorded at Ross-on-Wye in freezing fog.

Milder air tried to push in from the Atlantic with a system and a heavy snowfall resulted across the UK with depths of snow of between 8 to 15cm being widely reported.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950112.gif

The Atlantic air finally broke through and there was a thaw resulting in flooding in a number of areas.

Temperatures were in double figures in the south, Kew recording 11C.

The NNWlies returned on the 21st with a low over the near continent and

it's active cold front moving across SE England bringing thunderstorms, snow and hail.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950122.gif

The northerly flow for a few days and conditions were severe over northern Scotland with heavy drifting snow and snow fell elsewhere exposed to the north wind.

FEBRUARY 1895

At the end of January, high pressure was intensifying over Scandinavia and reached a pressure of 1049mb

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950131.gif

A very cold easterly flowed across the UK and most of Europe and there were severe frosts with minima of -13C at Loughborough and -15C being recorded at Chester.

Heavy snow showers came with the easterly with Yorkshire and Lincolnshire getting the brunt of the showers, South Shields was severely affected by 15 hours of continous snowfall

forcing the closure of the shipyard. Small polar lows affected the west with snowfalls, Douglas on the Isle of Man recorded 20cm of snow.

As the high over Scandinavia moved over the UK then came a phenomenally cold spell with exceptionally low minima. Temperatures of -20C or less were regularly recorded, -27.2C was recorded at Braemer on the 11th, the lowest ever UK minima, -24C at Buxton also on the 11th, -22.2C at Rutland. -12.7C was the mean average temperature for Wakefield in Yorkshire between the 5th and the 14th. Canals, rivers, lakes and ponds froze in the severe cold, the Manchester Ship canal was iced over, there were ice floes in the Thames and the Thames estuary itself was impassable because of ice.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950214.gif

Many people died of hypothermia, there was mass unemployment as industries were closed by the conditions and coal supplies dwindled as transporting coal by canal or rail became impossible.

As the high began to slip westwards, milder Atlantic air slowly encroached and temperatures crept above freezing for the first time in a couple of weeks, London had its first frost free night on the 21st for three weeks. Maxima temperature were finally returning to close to normal by the end of the month.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950228.gif

Data for Winter 1894-95

December 1894: 5.1 (+1.3)

January 1895: 0.2 (-3.3)

February 1895:-1.8 (-6.2)

Coldest spells of the winter

6th-13th January: -1.5

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950106.gif

26th January-1st February: -3.0

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950128.gif

5th-18th February: -4.8

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950209.gif

The first half of February: -4.3

The period 1st January-14th February: 0

January 1895 is the 26th coldest ever recorded

February 1895 is the second coldest February ever recorded

Coldest daily CET maximum: -4.5C 6th February

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950206.gif

Coldest daily CET minimum: -13.5C 8th February

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18950208.gif

Mildest daily CET maximum: 11.2C on the 13th December

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/slp/1...slp18941213.gif

Photos from February 1895

http://www.segfl.org.uk/victorianlearningj...n_over_1895.jpg

http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/upload/img_400/H4967.jpg

http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/upload/img_400/H4970.jpg

http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/upload/img_400/H6656.jpg

[John Cox]

Thanks Mr Data,

That was a great read.

Very similar to the winter of 2006-2007

[MAF]

Once again, an excellent post there Mr Data. The photos for London are amazing.

I think if we were to ever have a winter like that again here in London, we would come to a complete standstill

Once again, Well Done

[Weather-history]

To gauge just how cold that spell was in Feb' 1895, here are the record minima set for these dates in February that were set in 1895

7th: -21.7

8th: -25.0

9th: -23.9

10th: -25.6

11th: -27.2

12th: -20.6

13th: -21.9

14th: -21.7

16th: -23.9

17th: -23.9

18th: -23.9

19th: -22.2

[Dawlish]

To gauge just how cold that spell was in Feb' 1895, here are the record minima set for these dates in February that were set in 1895

7th: -21.7

8th: -25.0

9th: -23.9

10th: -25.6

11th: -27.2

12th: -20.6

13th: -21.9

14th: -21.7

16th: -23.9

17th: -23.9

18th: -23.9

19th: -22.2

Good grief. Could you imagine the utter chaos if that kind of winter was ever to be repeated with 60m people now in the UK and 32million cars - mind you I suppose we could use the Thames as an extra few lanes to the Embankment!

[Weather-history]

Good grief. Could you imagine the utter chaos if that kind of winter was ever to be repeated with 60m people now in the UK and 32million cars - mind you I suppose we could use the Thames as an extra few lanes to the Embankment!

It was chaos back then but at least they had some experience of dealing with the situation after recent severe winters but it would be a lot different now since we are more independent than back then as we have private transport etc

Edited November 10, 2006 by Mr_Data

[Rustynailer]

It was chaos back then but at least they had some experience of dealing with the situation after recent severe winters but it would be a lot different now since we are more independent than back then as we have private transport etc

The River Trent froze completely in 1890/1(inland) and that's no small river, it looks like quite an experience I suppose it froze through again in1894/5.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...yUK%7CcountryGB

[Weather-history]

Talk about enterprise! Making money out of the severe cold with a trip ice skating!

From the Times of 7th February 1895

[johnholmes]

fascinating read as ever, tks Mr D

[carinthian]

A great read. Mr Data. You must have spent a lot of time on that one. I will save that one.

C

[Weather-history]

Thanks for your comments :lol:

More Times reports on this great freeze coming up.

Looking at those minimum temperatures and converting them into Celsius.

Cambridge, Loughborough: -13C

Oxford: -11.7C (-17.2C on grass)

York: -8.9C

London: -8.3C

Liverpool: -7.8C

Yarmough: -6.7C

Jersey: -6.1C

Scilly: -2.8C

Some maxima

London: -1.1C (Brixton)

Aberdeen: -2.2C

Yarmouth: -3.9C

York: -5C

Around Europe

Paris

Max: -7.2C

Min: -12.8C

Berlin

Max: -8.3C

Min: -10.6C

Vienna

Max: -10.7C

Min: -17C

[ANYWEATHER]

Very good read thanks. Wasnt minus27.2c recorded in Scotland as recently as December 1995? Well perhaps this winter will buck the trend and end up like that one!!

[Weather-history]

Here's from the 14th February 1895 edition of the Times

[Rollo]

Great info Mr data-thanks very much,It makes me wonder if given the same synoptics during a even larger teapot just how much higher the temperatures would be-if only we were given the opportunity to find out!

[Polar Continental]

Thanks Mr Data, a brilliant read there from the Times, some paragraphs read as though the reports are from the Arctic.

Quote, ‘The Thames below London Bridge was again very full of drifting ice yesterday.’ Quote ‘The Report from the Welsh Harp stated that the ice there last night was 9 and half inches thick.’

Amazing stuff.

Tip to some older folk like me. If you are like me and have problems reading the small print from the Times, a good way is to save the picture to your desktop and open in another application such as Adobe Photoshop and use the zoom function, this does help to make easier reading.

Paul

[johnholmes]

yes, good tip Paul I do that.

[Weather-history]

Note in the report of two people successfully crossing the Sound (between Zealand and Sweden) on ice. Can be seen on the map link.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/denmark_pol99.jpg

One point of interest is that there have been only 8 sub zero CET Februarys but half of them have occurred since the second world war (1947, 1956, 1963 and 1986). It is remarkable to think that from 1659-1946, there were 4 sub zero Februarys in 287 years and there have been 4 in the last 60 years.

Edited October 7, 2007 by Mr_Data

[johnholmes]

global warming Mr D

[cheeky_monkey]

Note in the report of two people successfully crossing the Sound (between Zealand and Sweden) on ice. Can be seen on the map link.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/denmark_pol99.jpg

One point of interest is that there have been only 8 sub zero CET Februarys but half of them have occurred since the second world war (1947, 1956, 1963 and 1986). It is remarkable to think that from 1659-1946, there were 4 sub zero Februarys in 287 years and there have been 4 in the last 60 years.

yeah i have noticed that januaries were much colder than february in those times!

[Weather-history]

15th February 1895

[Weather-history]

Some amazing stuff in that last article

A block of ice nearly 20ft high on the Thames bank at low tide, men digging ice out of canal creating an ice wall of up to 10 feet high, several feet wide and two miles long!

I wonder how long that took to melt!

[charlton north-downs]

Great Piece Mr Data. Its like having two weeks of January 1987 times 3 .

[Weather-history]

Here's the final installment.

February 16th 1895 edition of the Times.

[Weather-history]

In one of those reports, it mentions Lough Neagh was frozen over. Lough Neagh covers 151 square miles.

Those readings from Rutland in C, first value: air minimum; second value: grass minimum

5th: -13.3C; -13.8C

6th: -19.4C; -20.6C

7th: -20C; -21.1C

8th: -22.2C; -25C

9th: -15C; -18.3C

The economic and human impact the great freeze was having