Favourite Decembers

[Frigid]

Here's my top 3:

1. 2010 for obvious reasons. Heavy snowfall and notable lows, don't think we'll beat it in our lifetimes. To experience a historic CET winter month was great.

2. 2009, the final week to December was very memorable, leading to a cold January. 

3. 2022, though not much snow around here the 7-17th was the coldest period since Dec 2010..frosts were extreme and thick. Under clear skies it was picturesque. The final 10 days was quite a disappointment, a colder latter half would bump this to 2nd place.

Honourable mentions are 2012, 2017 and 2020.

[Sunny76]

On 15/11/2020 at 13:57, A Face like Thunder said:

1981 - a clear winner in view of snow and cold

1962  - fog / smog (early Dec) and snow (late Dec)

1978 - cold snowy end to the month/year

1997 - Christmas Eve gale in the NW of England

1987 - warmest sunniest Christmas Day that I've ever known.

1987 was the weirdest one, but that’s part of the reason why I can never forget it lol.

[MP-R]

My list remains unchanged from the previous page. Sadly 2022 doesn't make the list overall given the lack of snow and how belly up it went from midmonth onwards. The spell itself was nice though and the frosts were memorable!

[Sunny76]

5 hours ago, MP-R said:

My list remains unchanged from the previous page. Sadly 2022 doesn't make the list overall given the lack of snow and how belly up it went from midmonth onwards. The spell itself was nice though and the frosts were memorable!

No, I disagree.

December 2022 had a decent cold frosty spell, and probably the coldest for many years.

It’s because the milder weather came in by Christmas which kind taints it a little. Still, it was quite notable considering how hot the summer was prior to that. 

[Thundery wintry showers]

As with many others, 2010 takes my top spot by a fair margin.  I remember I actually welcomed the temporary thaw around midmonth as it removed the snow before it turned icy and gave the country a chance to get moving again, and it added a bit of variety to the month.  Then I spent the Christmas period in Cleadon in South Tyneside with my parents, where it was snowy again from the 19th-25th and at times phenomentally cold.  Despite being just 2 miles inland, at my weather station I recorded a max of -3.3C on the 20th and a min of -9.9C the following night.  I didn't mind so much that I fell just short of -10C, because it fell to -10.3C early on the 3rd.  Unlike in south-eastern Britain, in Tyneside the month was also generally sunny until the 25th.

Second and third spots are trickier but I'm inclined to err on the side of Decembers that had white Christmasses.  Thus, second is probably 2009 because of its memorable cold spell in the second half and its varied first half and its above average sunshine.  

Third is probably 1995 because of how near-perfect I found the Christmas period in Cleadon (we had a white Christmas by every possible definition, as a succession of snow showers clung to that strip of the coast on Christmas morning).  It was a very fitting end to what remains my favourite year for weather.  But my inclusion of Dec '95 is somewhat Christmas-centric, because I remember the first two-thirds of that month being mainly cold and cloudy with raw easterlies and not much snow.

2022 doesn't even come close for me.  Here in Lincoln the month was remarkable for the fact that I didn't see any sleet or snow falling despite how cold and frosty the first half was, but that just meant that towards the end of the cold spell I wasn't unhappy to see it go.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Thundery wintry showers

[Rob 79812010]

December 2010 without a doubt. The coldest December since records began and snow levels in parts of the country were off the scale! Remember pictures of the higher parts of Sheffield which  I believe brought 2 feet of lying snow! Forget drifts, that just depends how windy it was. Dickens would have been proud. 1981 was memorable as well and an excellent runner up!

[Norrance]

For me.

2010

1981

1995

2009

No others compare for lasting cold and snow in my lifetime.

 

[MP-R]

21 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

No, I disagree.

December 2022 had a decent cold frosty spell, and probably the coldest for many years.

It’s because the milder weather came in by Christmas which kind taints it a little. Still, it was quite notable considering how hot the summer was prior to that. 

That’s the one. Peaked too soon and under delivered given the potential. Notable but not special.

[Bristawl Si]

Just 3:

2010

1981

2009

That's it, for my 61+ years.

2022? No chance.

Actually, should say NYE 1978 - the fierce blizzard, that set the tone for rest of Winter 78/79. How did i forget?

Edited January 21, 2023 by Bristle Si

[John88B]

Just now, Bristle Si said:

Just 3:

2010

1981

2009

That's it, for my 61+ years.

Living in the same area over my 53 years I can concur.

Of course Dec 81 was followed by Jan 82 that gave us the biggest snowfall I've ever seen in the area. A real stand out winter that sticks in my memory.

[Summer8906]

1st - 1981 and 2010 (joint).

3rd - 1995

4th - 1996

5th - 2001

 

Worst (for weather) would be 2015, and runners-up (in chronological order) would include 1987, 2011, 2013, 2018 and 2019.

[Summer8906]

On 20/01/2023 at 17:48, Sunny76 said:

No, I disagree.

December 2022 had a decent cold frosty spell, and probably the coldest for many years.

It’s because the milder weather came in by Christmas which kind taints it a little. Still, it was quite notable considering how hot the summer was prior to that. 

 

For me the final 14 days of December 2022 were so dire that it would be a long way from the top. I think it would just about get into the top 10 (of years since 1979).