Christmas 2000

[virtualsphere]

I was surprised to see some northern blocking over Christmas / Boxing Day 2000 while looking through some archive charts.  I don't remember any notable weather from this spell here - did anyone get a white Christmas from this?  We did get snow a year later on Boxing Day in 2001.

2000:

2001:

[A Winter's Tale]

Maximum/minimum temperature at Glasgow airport:

24th 4/1

25th 2/-2

26th -3/-5

27th -1/-6

28th -1/-9

29th -3/-10

30th -3/-11

31st 4/-6

I was four at the time and I can remember some snow showers on Christmas Eve. I woke up to a covering of snow on Christmas morning and I can remember snow lying on the ground up to about New Year. There was a large snowfall around the 28th - being so young at the time I can’t remember specifically how deep the snow was but at least 6-8 inches of snow fell in the Glasgow area.

As a four year old I thought it was just normal Christmas weather and in the following 20 years only 2004, 2009 and 2010 had snow on the ground on Christmas Day. It was certainly a very ideal period of festive weather.

A snow depth of more than 15cm, 5 consecutive ice days, a maximum of -3C and a minimum of -11C would not have looked out of place in the major cold spells of Dec 2009-Jan 2010 and Nov/Dec 2010.

Obviously the cold spells in 2010 were more prolonged and had more widespread impacts but December 2000 like the Beast from the East in 2018 are examples of relatively short but sharp cold spells which can produce impactful and memorable weather without being exceptional in terms of length.

I would prefer a potent cold spell no longer than 7 days to an uneventful period cold up to 2 weeks or more.  I would rank Dec 2000 up there with the more notable and memorable cold spells I’ve experienced. 

 

[Cheshire Freeze]

Wasn't it the 27th or 28th December 2000 that a polar low swept down across the UK? I can remember I couple of inches falling here. Was a cold period of weather.

[A Face like Thunder]

7 hours ago, CreweCold said:

Wasn't it the 27th or 28th December 2000 that a polar low swept down across the UK? I can remember I couple of inches falling here. Was a cold period of weather.

Yes, of course CreweCold. We were in the Lakes over Christmas and, although I don't recall snow on Christmas Day, I do recall the journey back to Crewe on the 27th or 28th being a bit scary, more so at the northern end in the Lakes than around Crewe. Philip Eden notes snowfall of 20cm in Glasgow and Belfast on the 27th/28th, and more in parts of Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and County Antrim. 

[LetItSnow!]

IIRC the Met had recently come out with a statement saying that snow would become a rarity shortly prior to this event taking place. Must have been quite awkward! The cold spell actually came off the back of an exceptionally mild & wet first half to December, which is why the month still recorded a CET of 5.8. It would go on to give way to a generally chilly period from January to April. The winter of 2000/2001 reminds me somewhat of the winter just gone (from observation, yours truly happened to be born in February 2001!). I’m reminded of a chilly but not quite cold winter that got more severe the further north you wore. Indeed across Scotland I think winter 2000/2001 was quite harsh with some severe snowfall in early February. Overall a winter of repeated cold attacks but never anything sustained.

[Summer18]

I was living in Staffordshire at the time. I remember Christmas Day and Boxing Day being frosty but dry. The snow came on the morning of the 28th and was really deep. It lasted until around New Year’s Day and then we had a really foggy spell. It felt very cold at the time. 

[Weather-history]

 

[Summer8906]

A battleground winter overall between low-latitude depressions and colder weather further north, if I remember right. The lows weren't that far south so for perhaps half the time, in the south of England it was just extremely wet: in fact I think every month from September 2000 to April 2001 inclusive was wetter than normal. For the south of England it was a missed opportunity for snow as the synoptics were probably the most favourable for any winter from 1997/98 to 2007/08 inclusive.

I think the spell started developing around the 16th when the lows, which had been battering the south, retreated further south still and we had an initial cold outbreak. Then the mild and wet came back for a few days if I remember right, before retreating again by the 23rd when it was cloudy and cold, but not dramatically so.

By Christmas Day arctic air had spread south and most of the period was sunny and cold, with some snow showers. (was in NW England during this period rather than the south). Not sure if there was any prolonged snow where I was, but I know the Manchester area got some. There was a slight mildening on Sat 30th due to a NW-SE moving front introducing slightly more Atlantic-sourced air (reminiscent of the similar event on 8 Feb 1996) but temps were still slightly below normal, and then on the 31st a full-on breakdown arrived from the SW, a situation that was to be repeated three years later. Then about 4 days of mild and wet, with one or perhaps two notable windstorms, before colder, but dry and frosty, weather took hold again around Jan 5th. After two weeks of cold and dry, mild and wet dominated around Jan 21 - Feb 11 again, particularly the week of Feb 4th which was very wet (but much colder further north), before colder (average by day, cold at night) and sunnier weather took over once more. Then it turned cold and unsettled at the end of Feb and remained that way well into spring. And finally, like 1989 and 2018, there was a sudden flip to warm and sunny at the start of May.

 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

15 hours ago, virtualsphere said:

I was surprised to see some northern blocking over Christmas / Boxing Day 2000 while looking through some archive charts.  I don't remember any notable weather from this spell here - did anyone get a white Christmas from this?  We did get snow a year later on Boxing Day in 2001.

2000:

2001:

2001 is an interesting one as it shows the polar vortex mostly in the Eastern hemisphere, rather than Canada, which accords with Dec 2001 being a month of frequent northerly outbreaks. Wonder what triggered the change which produced near constant mild, stormy, and often wet weather in Jan/Feb 2002?

[LetItSnow!]

7 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

A battleground winter overall between low-latitude depressions and colder weather further north, if I remember right. The lows weren't that far south so for perhaps half the time, in the south of England it was just extremely wet: in fact I think every month from September 2000 to April 2001 inclusive was wetter than normal. For the south of England it was a missed opportunity for snow as the synoptics were probably the most favourable for any winter from 1997/98 to 2007/08 inclusive.

I think the spell started developing around the 16th when the lows, which had been battering the south, retreated further south still and we had an initial cold outbreak. Then the mild and wet came back for a few days if I remember right, before retreating again by the 23rd when it was cloudy and cold, but not dramatically so.

By Christmas Day arctic air had spread south and most of the period was sunny and cold, with some snow showers. (was in NW England during this period rather than the south). Not sure if there was any prolonged snow where I was, but I know the Manchester area got some. There was a slight mildening on Sat 30th due to a NW-SE moving front introducing slightly more Atlantic-sourced air (reminiscent of the similar event on 8 Feb 1996) but temps were still slightly below normal, and then on the 31st a full-on breakdown arrived from the SW, a situation that was to be repeated three years later. Then about 4 days of mild and wet, with one or perhaps two notable windstorms, before colder, but dry and frosty, weather took hold again around Jan 5th. After two weeks of cold and dry, mild and wet dominated around Jan 21 - Feb 11 again, particularly the week of Feb 4th which was very wet (but much colder further north), before colder (average by day, cold at night) and sunnier weather took over once more. Then it turned cold and unsettled at the end of Feb and remained that way well into spring. And finally, like 1989 and 2018, there was a sudden flip to warm and sunny at the start of May.

 

To say the period from September 2000 to April 2001 was a extremely wet in the south actually hides just *how* extreme it was + the exceptionally wet April and May of 2000 just a couple of months earlier. The southeast recorded crazy amounts like 170-200% of their average rainfall across these 7 months which is absolutely insane to think of. I remember reading that the first week of February saw well over the average February average with flooding because the ground just couldn’t cope with more water. I can’t think of any spell of weather so wet in my memory, only summer 2012 and winter 2014 are comparable but even these fail to match the unprecedented and sustained rainfall totals in the south/southeast during late 2000 and early 2001. Even the fairly non-descript somehow managed to be extremely wet in the southeast! Off topic slightly since we were talking about Christmas but it’s a fascinating spell and I was born during the middle of it! I suppose it explains my love of the rain. ? 

[virtualsphere]

Thanks for all the replies, interesting stuff.  Looking at those forecast videos, SW Wales looks to be one of the few areas with rain rather than snow which is probably why I don't remember much!  One memory I do have of that period is driving back to Wales from the south coast of England just before Christmas 2000 and hitting some pretty dense fog on the M4. 

@LetItSnow! yes I believe autumn 2000 was the wettest on record for the UK as a whole, possibly the wettest season as well at that point but I think it was overtaken by winter 2013-14. 

Source: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-temperature-rainfall-and-sunshine-time-series

8 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

2001 is an interesting one as it shows the polar vortex mostly in the Eastern hemisphere, rather than Canada, which accords with Dec 2001 being a month of frequent northerly outbreaks. Wonder what triggered the change which produced near constant mild, stormy, and often wet weather in Jan/Feb 2002?

 

I think 2000/01 was a La Nina / eQBO combination like we have this winter.  There's been a few good posts on here recently about this combination being a potential driver for a front-loaded winter with the polar vortex recovering later in the season.  Certainly looks like a strong vortex in place by mid-Feb 2001:

 

[damianslaw]

15 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Yes, of course CreweCold. We were in the Lakes over Christmas and, although I don't recall snow on Christmas Day, I do recall the journey back to Crewe on the 27th or 28th being a bit scary, more so at the northern end in the Lakes than around Crewe. Philip Eden notes snowfall of 20cm in Glasgow and Belfast on the 27th/28th, and more in parts of Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and County Antrim. 

A decent cold snowy spell timed well for the festive season. After months of heavy rain.. it was interesting to see northern blocking on the scene..  something we had not seen since Jan 97. Christmas Day here was very cold and frosty but no snow. Likewise Boxing Day although we may gavs had some snow showers later in the day. The snow arrived during the early hours of 28 December and lasted until early afternoon. Had about 5 inches it was moderate rather than heavy and very powdery.. poor for snowman building. The next 3 days were ice days and a memorable snowy new years eve was had.. the thaw set in on the 1st Jan. It was very similar to last week Dec 95 except we had more snow as it wasnt quite a cold 

[damianslaw]

1 hour ago, virtualsphere said:

Thanks for all the replies, interesting stuff.  Looking at those forecast videos, SW Wales looks to be one of the few areas with rain rather than snow which is probably why I don't remember much!  One memory I do have of that period is driving back to Wales from the south coast of England just before Christmas 2000 and hitting some pretty dense fog on the M4. 

@LetItSnow! yes I believe autumn 2000 was the wettest on record for the UK as a whole, possibly the wettest season as well at that point but I think it was overtaken by winter 2013-14. 

Source: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-temperature-rainfall-and-sunshine-time-series

 

I think 2000/01 was a La Nina / eQBO combination like we have this winter.  There's been a few good posts on here recently about this combination being a potential driver for a front-loaded winter with the polar vortex recovering later in the season.  Certainly looks like a strong vortex in place by mid-Feb 2001:

 

Mmmm late Feb 01 turned cold and the first half of March was very cold with easterlies. 

[Summer8906]

14 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Mmmm late Feb 01 turned cold and the first half of March was very cold with easterlies. 

In fact as I said above I think the last day of the zonality was Sunday Feb 11.

Following a very wet week in the south with slightly milder than average temps (but snow in the north IIRC) Sunday 11th was very mild, dry and cloudy but then a cold front came south and I don't think there was any further zonality for a good while, until a further short zonal spell around March 10th.

It became anticyclonic on Mon 12th and this persisted for perhaps 10 days, if I remember right this was a very sunny period in the south with average daytime temps but cold nights. Then the northerly plunge and colder weather, with cold cyclonic weather near the end.

March had variable temps but an emphasis on cold, with three separate easterly periods: 1st-5th, around the weekend of the 17th, and around the weekend of the 24th-25th. There was the odd experience of 'Light Sunday' that year - the earliest possible date of the 25th - being dull and cold with temps perhaps around 5C, yet it being light until approaching 20:00. Very strange experience. Between these cold spells there was mild, wet weather but the mild was cancelled out by the cold so it was a cold month overall. Some similarities perhaps between March 2001 and March 2018 synoptically, though 2001 didn't produce any big snow events in the south, just one day of wet snow (the 20th, IIRC).

Edited December 14, 2021 by Summer8906

[cheeky_monkey]

sheet i remember this Xmas came on the back of that awful Autumn of incessant rain ..was living just outside Exeter then and it snowed on Xmas day afternoon for a few hours ( didn't settle) heralded in a cold Xmas week ... which was pretty icy due to all the rain run off from the fields freezing on the roads and footpaths 

[shunthebartlett92]

Not strong memories of this (was only 8 at the time) but I do remember some significant snowfall around that time and sledging with my cousins just down the road, wouldn’t surprise me if it was this spell around Xmas! Birmingham was quite badly hit. My word these clips look dated, and is that Nicholas witchell doing the news there? Must be old haha

Edited December 22, 2021 by shunthebartlett92

[damianslaw]

Dec 2000 up there with my favourite Christmas week weather memories. Indeed I haven't experienced a deeper snowfall than on 28th/29th Dec during any 24th to 31st Dec period. I'm 43. Possibly new year eve 78 brought more. 1995, 1996 were colder. 2001 brought some snow on 28th. 2017 recently delivered 2 inches 29th but went. 2004 couple of inches on 25th. 2005 again 2 inches on 29th but didn't hang about. 2010 3 inches on 27th then thawed. Other Christmas periods brought light dusting. 93 brought about 3 inches on 27th as well. Lots of snowfalls but nothing substantive. 

[Weather-history]