What would make the perfect winter

[Geordiesnow]

A Winter like 1962/63 for me.

It started to snow in England on boxing day and thawed in early March. (see my signature below)

It beats any other cold spell/winter in my lifetime both for its longevity and it`s nationwide extent.

Remarkably we had many sunny days during the snow and sub-zero cold weeks.

1947 would come a poor second as it didn`t really start untill mid-January.

It would be quite something for many of you younger members to experience a 62/63 type Winter just to show you what a real long cold spell feels like.

As a young-un and a fan of cold weather you would think i would agree you but i don't, i would hate such a lengthy cold spell as it would get boring and tiresome. Also i would not like a Easterly which lasts for a week, as my bedroom faces the East it would probably get cold and i would struggle to sleep.

My perfect winter would be some cold spells from the North and East, and at least one severe Easterly cold spell which lasts around 3-5 days but not any longer than that.

[Nick F]

I'd like to experience Jans 1985 and 1987 again, not just to enjoy the novelty of snow staying on the ground, accumulating for a week or more and not melting under sub zero temps ... but also how our society in the populus parts of England today copes with it with our reliance on today's centralised consumer supply network which would be very fragile if the roads ground to a halt, plus the general effect on transport of all kinds which has become increasingly fragile and underprepared even for the most trivial of cold snaps. As strange as it may seem such a hope, especially to those who's daily life would be affected, we perhaps need such an event to bring to light the inadequacies in the country's infrastructure, and bring home that 'mother nature' can still affect our everyday lives in a big way, not just in far flung corners of the world - but right here.

I liked Jan 1985 for the frequent snow falls which didn't melt but built up and persistent easterly winds which kept temps sub-zero for many days, Jan 1987 for the shear brutality of the cold which came from the east.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I mentioned in another thread that I've often thought of January 1985 as "the forgotten January" of the 1980s, sandwiched between severe cold and snow from easterlies in 1982 and 1987, and from north-westerlies from the Midlands northwards in 1984- although it has been getting more mentions recently. Taking the country as a whole it was probably the coldest and snowiest of the lot, with frequent easterly and north-easterly outbreaks in the first two-thirds, and then quite a polar W/NW'ly influence at times in the last third with snow in the north.

[Anti-Mild]

I remember December 1995 vividly. I lived in Dundee at the time and my g/f (now Mrs A-M) and I had been visiting her folks in Middlesbrough and on the bus up the landscape just got more and more 'cold' looking. We passed through Galashiels and the river was frozen and we went through Edinburgh there was a thermometer by a garage on the Queensferry Road that read -13c!!

The following day was the first, and so far only, time that I felt too cold. It was just unbelievably cold! I was waiting for a bus to go into Dundee centre and it was brilliant sunshine but there was powdery snow everywhere and I couldn't feel my hands or feet !!

That said, I would love the country to get another spell like it.

[cheeky_monkey]

I mentioned in another thread that I've often thought of January 1985 as "the forgotten January" of the 1980s, sandwiched between severe cold and snow from easterlies in 1982 and 1987, and from north-westerlies from the Midlands northwards in 1984- although it has been getting more mentions recently. Taking the country as a whole it was probably the coldest and snowiest of the lot, with frequent easterly and north-easterly outbreaks in the first two-thirds, and then quite a polar W/NW'ly influence at times in the last third with snow in the north.

i think jan 85 is largely forgotten because it came in the middle of that 10 year spell of cold snowy winters..also although fairly snowy and cold..nothing spectular in terms of cold or snowfall..but i agree much better than jan 87..and probably only coming second to jan 79..as far as januaries i can remember..with regards to snowfall just ahead of jan 82...if it had come in the last 15 yrs would be top of lots of peoples lists me thinks!

[sundog]

I recall that most southern areas were heavily hit by an easterly on 5-7 December 1995- it was not as long-lasting as the cold and snow from northerlies that most of Scotland, NE England and parts of W Britain experienced on 24-31 December, but it did mean that a large majority had at least some of the white stuff.

The problem with the 24-31 December period, if I remember rightly, is that the polar low that hit Scotland full in the face on Christmas Eve drifted out into the North Sea come Christmas Day, so most of England and Wales missed it altogether. It appears that the polar low did affect northern parts of NE England as well, as I recall a prolonged snow shower on Christmas Eve at Cleadon that deposited 3cm.

Further south there were snow showers in parts of Ireland, Wales and NW England on Christmas Eve which gave Lancaster a white Christmas. Some scattered snow showers dotted about on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but significant falls and accumulations were largely confined to north and east-facing coasts.

The similar late December 2000 spell, albeit shorter-lived, was rather more "productive" taking the country as a whole as the polar low tracked right across Britain- although unlike 1995, the main blast arrived just after Christmas and so only limited areas saw a real white Christmas.

Nonetheless I'm pretty certain that Christmas Day 1995 was, and remains, comfortably the most widespread white Christmas in terms of snow lying since 1981.

I got more snow in late December 2000 then i did in Dec 1995,although the cold was more severe in 95. I got a few inches of snow from that polar low in Dec 2000,the 27th i think to be exact. Most of it hung around till new yrs eve. On xmas eve 95 we were forcast to get snow overnight,but coming back from the pub in the small hrs the skies were crystal clear and we only ended up getting a severe frost much to my dismay.

[stormforce 10]

I got more snow in late December 2000 then i did in Dec 1995,although the cold was more severe in 95. I got a few inches of snow from that polar low in Dec 2000,the 27th i think to be exact. Most of it hung around till new yrs eve. On xmas eve 95 we were forcast to get snow overnight,but coming back from the pub in the small hrs the skies were crystal clear and we only ended up getting a severe frost much to my dismay.

yep i remember december 2000, it was quite an impressive polar low, dublin did well from that snow event. and it did last till new years eve.

Edited September 23, 2008 by stormforce 10

[Thundery wintry showers]

December 2000 also featured my only sighting of "thundersnow"- 29 December at 4:50am, got woken up by a loud clap of thunder, while in the meantime it was chucking it down with snow outside. I have seen thunder-sleet on a few other occasions, and there was one (22 December 2003) when I was woken up by thunder and lightning from a distant snow shower passing along the North Sea, but 29 December 2000 was the only occasion with snow falling at the time.