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Coldest December & January On Record For Scotland


Mondy

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Posted
  • Location: s.w. of Edinburgh (Currie - 145m / 475ft asl)
  • Location: s.w. of Edinburgh (Currie - 145m / 475ft asl)

TWS, I mostly agree with what you say but East/central Scotland and right through the central belt does very well from E/N/E or Easterlies provided the uppers are low enough. I think a lot of forecasters miss the potential for snow in these areas when the focus is always further south. The December 17th Easterly gave around 3 inches in my area with hardly a mention of snow in the forecasts.

I also remember the famous January 87 spell which gave huge amounts of snow to Fife and the Lothians and all the way through the Forth/Clyde valley to Glasgow !

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Posted
  • Location: Sale (Cheshire)
  • Weather Preferences: Dry and cold...
  • Location: Sale (Cheshire)

Look at it this way Scottish posters, you're considerably hardier and stoical in the face of weather adversity than the great big soft dwellers of southern England...whistling.gif

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Posted
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)
  • Weather Preferences: cold and snowy in winter, a good mix of weather the rest of the time
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)

TWS, I mostly agree with what you say but East/central Scotland and right through the central belt does very well from E/N/E or Easterlies provided the uppers are low enough. I think a lot of forecasters miss the potential for snow in these areas when the focus is always further south. The December 17th Easterly gave around 3 inches in my area with hardly a mention of snow in the forecasts.

I also remember the famous January 87 spell which gave huge amounts of snow to Fife and the Lothians and all the way through the Forth/Clyde valley to Glasgow !

I think you are both on the same page really. The northerly just means northerly sourced rather than actual northerly. This is correct, as a continental feed can often lead to either less cold uppers due to a longer sea track or for a high to sit over Scotland.

ENE is still best IMO, perhaps WNW coming a close second (Remember the Braer storm!).

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

TWS, I mostly agree with what you say but East/central Scotland and right through the central belt does very well from E/N/E or Easterlies provided the uppers are low enough. I think a lot of forecasters miss the potential for snow in these areas when the focus is always further south. The December 17th Easterly gave around 3 inches in my area with hardly a mention of snow in the forecasts.

I also remember the famous January 87 spell which gave huge amounts of snow to Fife and the Lothians and all the way through the Forth/Clyde valley to Glasgow !

The January 87 spell sort of bridged the two, for although the source was continental, it was definitely arctic continental and the pool of cold upper air flooded the whole country. The December 17th easterly was similar, an arctic continental source so the cold pool hit Britain full-on.

But on the other hand the polar continental air from the heart of eastern Europe, delivered to Britain via an easterly supported by a Scandinavian High, often doesn't deliver to most of Scotland. I don't think Scotland got a great deal of snow out of the easterlies of 5-7 December 1995 and early January 1997 for instance- though even here there are exceptions, such as 20-22 November 1993 which dumped sizeable amounts of snow in parts of eastern Scotland.

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They are excellent pics, however it would be slightly unfair to consider them representative of this winter's conditions for the majority of population centres. Because of the altitude it would be like pictures from somewhere like Buxton being used to get an idea of general conditions of northern England or the Midlands and in our typically marginal situations it's a different world.

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Posted
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)
  • Weather Preferences: cold and snowy in winter, a good mix of weather the rest of the time
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)

They are excellent pics, however it would be slightly unfair to consider them representative of this winter's conditions for the majority of population centres. Because of the altitude it would be like pictures from somewhere like Buxton being used to get an idea of general conditions of northern England or the Midlands and in our typically marginal situations it's a different world.

True, but I'm sure you could find pictures of around 6 inches of snow from almost any lowland part of Scotland as a minimum from early January/late December - central Edinburgh saw that on the 23rd, even around that down to Leith, while most of the central belt saw something along those lines. Perth, a major town, saw a foot of snow at one stage, while I believe places like Lanark saw around 8-10 inches at one point, not to mention Inverness, sea level, getting a foot of snow and parts of East Lothian, only a few miles from Edinburgh and the coast, saw around 18 inches (I think).

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Posted
  • Location: G.Manchester
  • Location: G.Manchester

What was the deepest snow depths in those villages, and the deepest snow anywhere?

"The deepest level snow in a populated area during the 20th century was 1.65 metres - near Ruthin in northeast Wales in March 1947, and at Tredegar in southeast Wales in February 1963".

Don't know about in any area of the UK.

Worldwide;

"The winter of 1998/9 at Mount Baker saw a whopping 1,140 inches (about 29 metres) of snow, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association."

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Posted
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)
  • Weather Preferences: cold and snowy in winter, a good mix of weather the rest of the time
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)

What was the deepest snow depths in those villages, and the deepest snow anywhere?

In this spell, I think the deepest in a village was perhaps Aberfeldy which, I believe had around 2 foot at one point, while the most anywhere was Cairngorm, 1100m asl, which saw 200cm at one point.<object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="
type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="349"></embed></object>
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Posted
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy weather in winter. Dry and warm in summer.
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL

There was deep snow across the border regions as well, I think there was around 2ft in some locations with places like Coldstream, Galashiels and Hawick badly hit.

The pictures taken were at fairly low lying areas in northern Scotland, certainly a lot lower altitude than Buxton in England. Aviemore is at around 600ft above sea level and I'm certain Grantown is lower than that as it is situated further down the Spey river. I'm sure there will be some pics of the depths at Cairngrom somewhere on the internet, there was certainly some massive drifts up there even on the road up at around 400/500m.

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The most impressive pic is probably from Tomintoul and this is regarded as the highest town in the highlands at a similar altitude to Buxton. All the towns are over 200 metres, a comfortable distance inland from the warm sea and in an area which may see orographic enhancement of precipitation - all factors which increase the chances of impressive snowfall.

This is the same for Buxton and other Peak District towns and in no way represents conditions lower down in the north Midlands or northern England. However, 6-8 inches was seen quite widely in Manchester for example, like the lower parts of Scotland. Just that the nearby hills saw twice that.

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Posted
  • Location: Dundee
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, thunderstorms, gales. All extremes except humidity.
  • Location: Dundee

The most impressive pic is probably from Tomintoul and this is regarded as the highest town in the highlands at a similar altitude to Buxton. All the towns are over 200 metres, a comfortable distance inland from the warm sea and in an area which may see orographic enhancement of precipitation - all factors which increase the chances of impressive snowfall.

This is the same for Buxton and other Peak District towns and in no way represents conditions lower down in the north Midlands or northern England. However, 6-8 inches was seen quite widely in Manchester for example, like the lower parts of Scotland. Just that the nearby hills saw twice that.

Though Speyside and it's towns / villages are generally above 250 mtrs and Upper Deeside even higher there were towns in Moray and Highland Perthshire [plus the Borders]that had 40cms plus at relatively low altitudes. The Tay / Tummel valleys are much deeper so at Pitlochry and Aberfeldy for instance the lowest points are under 100 mtrs despite being well inland. Faskally Met Office reporting station by Pitlochry for example is 94 mtrs asl and has had similar snow lying records to Buxton over the years though Buxton is about 1000 feet higher.

Edited by Norrance
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Posted
  • Location: Teesdale,Co Durham. 360m asl
  • Location: Teesdale,Co Durham. 360m asl

"The deepest level snow in a populated area during the 20th century was 1.65 metres - near Ruthin in northeast Wales in March 1947, and at Tredegar in southeast Wales in February 1963".

Don't know about in any area of the UK.

Worldwide;

"The winter of 1998/9 at Mount Baker saw a whopping 1,140 inches (about 29 metres) of snow, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association."

UK record snow depth in populated place is held by Forest in Teesdale, Co Durham. 211cm depth exceeding those recorded in Wales for over 2 weeks.

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Posted
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy weather in winter. Dry and warm in summer.
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL

Yes agreed Tomintoul maybe fairly high up but Grantown where the videos that I posted were recorded is at a relatively low altitude and certainly not comparable to Buxton in height or in distance from the sea. Similarly as Tucco confirmed some towns/villages in the border regions at low altitudes had depths of snow around 2ft and lying snow for around a month.

Probably because it's not southern England it's not been highlighted.

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Posted
  • Location: Inbhir Nis / Inverness - 636 ft asl
  • Weather Preferences: Freezing fog, frost, snow, sunshine.
  • Location: Inbhir Nis / Inverness - 636 ft asl

They are excellent pics, however it would be slightly unfair to consider them representative of this winter's conditions for the majority of population centres. Because of the altitude it would be like pictures from somewhere like Buxton being used to get an idea of general conditions of northern England or the Midlands and in our typically marginal situations it's a different world.

They're not representative of the conditions for the majority of the population centres, they're just pictures of villages in the Cairngorms.

As has already been mentioned, Inverness (which is the main population cluster in the Highlands) saw over a foot. The heavy snow of Hogmanay 09 will be remembered for a while I think.

4232775141_5af36d15a2_b.jpg

Farr, outside Inverness, saw over 3ft apparently.

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Posted
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy weather in winter. Dry and warm in summer.
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL

As a regular visitor to Scotland (Highlands skiing, Aberdeen work), I think that many people from England don't realise how much snow Scotland can actually get sometimes. A lot of people don't know that there are five ski areas in Scotland.

I suppose they cope with it better, so it causes less problems and therefore is less newsworthy. It was similar for us in the north east of England in late Dec/early Jan in the fact that although we had had heavy snow from the 30th Dec it wasn't until the snow hit southern England around 5th Jan that it became main news. There was also bigger depths of snow in the north east however all the news coverage was of the heavy snow in the south.

So it doesn't suprise me that some people find it hard to believe that places in Scotland at such low altitudes and fairly close to the sea can see so much snow.

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So it doesn't suprise me that some people find it hard to believe that places in Scotland at such low altitudes and fairly close to the sea can see so much snow.

A grasp of geography helps to show the difference. Whilst the peak official depth at Aviemore was an impressive 41cm it was a more typical 15cm at Aberdeen and a paltry 5cm at Rosehearty and 3cm at Lossiemouth. That is the difference between being inland with some altitude and on low ground near the sea.

Edited by Interitus
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Posted
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)
  • Weather Preferences: cold and snowy in winter, a good mix of weather the rest of the time
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)

A grasp of geography helps to show the difference. Whilst the peak official depth at Aviemore was an impressive 41cm it was a more typical 15cm at Aberdeen and a paltry 5cm at Rosehearty and 3cm at Lossiemouth. That is the difference between being inland with some altitude and on low ground near the sea.

I don't recall Rosehearty ever getting snow in any set up ever if I'm honest - always seems to be 5C and rain, so 3cm is pretty impressive there! Aberdeen didn't see the totals it often does from regular northerlies, with the peak depth in central Edinburgh also being 15cm on the 23rd, and perhaps something similar in the suburbs on the 2nd January. Also, Perth, at sea level, saw around a foot, and as I mentioned earlier, parts of East Lothian at around sea level also saw depths between a foot and 18 inches.

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Posted
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy weather in winter. Dry and warm in summer.
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL

A grasp of geography helps to show the difference. Whilst the peak official depth at Aviemore was an impressive 41cm it was a more typical 15cm at Aberdeen and a paltry 5cm at Rosehearty and 3cm at Lossiemouth. That is the difference between being inland with some altitude and on low ground near the sea.

I would class inland upland towns/villages as places like Buxton, Alston and Braemar which are all a whole lot higher and further inland than Grantown which is where my pics were taken from.

Aviemore is situated at an altitude of 650ft and Grantown a whole lot lower. I would also class Grantown as being fairly near to the coast. As others have mentioned Inverness at sea level received a foot of snow which hung around for nearly seven weeks.

There were major falls of snow (1.5ft+) last february in Scotland as well. There are major snowfalls each year in Scotland even at low altitudes (Aberdeen is particularly susceptible to northerly winds) close to coast the difference this year being the duration of lying snow.

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Posted
  • Location: Inbhir Nis / Inverness - 636 ft asl
  • Weather Preferences: Freezing fog, frost, snow, sunshine.
  • Location: Inbhir Nis / Inverness - 636 ft asl

I would class inland upland towns/villages as places like Buxton, Alston and Braemar which are all a whole lot higher and further inland than Grantown which is where my pics were taken from.

Aviemore is situated at an altitude of 650ft and Grantown a whole lot lower. I would also class Grantown as being fairly near to the coast. As others have mentioned Inverness at sea level received a foot of snow which hung around for nearly seven weeks.

There were major falls of snow (1.5ft+) last february in Scotland as well. There are major snowfalls each year in Scotland even at low altitudes (Aberdeen is particularly susceptible to northerly winds) close to coast the difference this year being the duration of lying snow.

It is a different ballgame in Scotland without a doubt, being a lot more vulnerable to northern winds and the like. Aberdeen and Inverness in particular often get lying snow in March and it is not particularly fascinating to see snow in April.

SnowFall_Average_1971-2000_17.gif

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Posted
  • Location: Manchester City center/ Leeds Bradfor Airport 200m
  • Location: Manchester City center/ Leeds Bradfor Airport 200m

I was always under the impression that cities in Scotland don't usually do too well in winter due to been so close to sea, I think Leeds does better than some Scottish cities as we are inland and a large part of Leeds is above 150m.

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Posted
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)
  • Weather Preferences: cold and snowy in winter, a good mix of weather the rest of the time
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)

I was always under the impression that cities in Scotland don't usually do too well in winter due to been so close to sea, I think Leeds does better than some Scottish cities as we are inland and a large part of Leeds is above 150m.

Edinburgh and Glasgow tend to be sheltered from many setups which bring snow to Leeds, though the higher latitude helps, and places slightly further inland like Perth and the mate corridor can see quite a lot, while Aberdeen is probably the snowiest city, with slightly less marginality than Inverness in general.

LS

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Edinburgh and Glasgow tend to be sheltered from many setups which bring snow to Leeds, though the higher latitude helps, and places slightly further inland like Perth and the mate corridor can see quite a lot, while Aberdeen is probably the snowiest city, with slightly less marginality than Inverness in general.

LS

(Edit: Complete off topic post :nonono::))

After a quick look at Google Earth I have been surprised to find the following LS :)

Arguably Perth is as coastal as Glasgow. If you draw a 25 mile radius circle from the centre of Glasgow almost none of the area covered is salt water, it would really surprise you how far inland Glasgow is. Perth is similarly about 25 miles inland from the sea, with the Tay provding a similar amount of salt water river towards it. The only difference is that Glasgow itself is bigger, so obviously outer areas are closer to the sea. On top of this Perth is 25 miles from the open sea, while Glasgow is 25 miles from the main firth of Clyde and fully 80 miles from open sea. If anything Perth is more coastal as if you drew a 50 mile circle round both places it would be Perth with a far greater % of the area beneath the circle as salt water :)

I am really surprised by that.

Edited by CatchMyDrift
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Posted
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)
  • Weather Preferences: cold and snowy in winter, a good mix of weather the rest of the time
  • Location: Glasgow, Scotland (Charing Cross, 40m asl)

(Edit: Complete off topic post whistling.giflaugh.gif)

After a quick look at Google Earth I have been surprised to find the following LS smile.gif

Arguably Perth is as coastal as Glasgow. If you draw a 25 mile radius circle from the centre of Glasgow almost none of the area covered is salt water, it would really surprise you how far inland Glasgow is. Perth is similarly about 25 miles inland from the sea, with the Tay provding a similar amount of salt water river towards it. The only difference is that Glasgow itself is bigger, so obviously outer areas are closer to the sea. On top of this Perth is 25 miles from the open sea, while Glasgow is 25 miles from the main firth of Clyde and fully 80 miles from open sea. If anything Perth is more coastal as if you drew a 50 mile circle round both places it would be Perth with a far greater % of the area beneath the circle as salt water pardon.gif

I am really surprised by that.

Perhaps it has something to do with the majority of big snow events coming from the west, meaning that Perth is more sheltered in that instance, and perhaps also because Perth is more exposed to an easterly while both struggle with anything directly northerly (Perth probably moreso) ?

edit:to try and claw back the on-topicness of this post, February needs to come in at 0.1C if we are to beat 62/63, or a more realistic 0.75C if the second coldest winter, that of 78/79, is to be beaten.

My guess is that it will be a close run thing for the latter, though the current fairly moderate cold spell isn't nudging temperatures down enough at the moment.

Edited by LomondSnowstorm
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