Great Festive Blizzard of 1927

[Weather-history]

The Christmas Blizzard of 1927 was one of the worst blizzards of the 20th Century to hit the south.
On Christmas Eve, there was a cold ENEly flow across the UK bringing with it, snow showers to the east coast and night frosts.
By Christmas Day, a low pressure had moved into the English Channel and this engaged the colder air. Initially, the precipitation that fell was rain but as the low pulled down even colder air, the rain turned readily to snow and by midnight, many southern and southeastern counties had a snow cover. Conditions the next day were horrendous with heavy snowfalls and a gale force NEly wind bringing blizzard conditions and severe drifting. Villages were cut off by drifts up to 20 feet and food supplies had to be air-drop. Transport was virtually paralysed with train services seriously delayed or cancelled. Even in central London, depths of snow were approaching 10"
 

 

From Guardian of Christmas Eve 1927

27th Dec 

28th Dec

29th Dec

30th Dec

 

31st Dec

 

Winston Churchill building a snowman at his home, Chartwell

[Jamie M]

This one always sticks out fresh in my mind for how annoying it must of been if I had been alive during that period.

I'd have to dig out my copy of the Kent Weather Book to be certain but Canterbury was completely flooded with rain galore whilst Maidstone nearby had complete blizzards. Mild sector of the low would have been bang on over my head!

Monthly Weather Report shows 28 mm at Canterbury & 47 mm at Folkestone on the 26th.

I see it also talks about some spots near sea level having no snow lying at all.

[A Face like Thunder]

A remarkable weather event. Ian Currie & Mark Davison devote eight pages to this storm in their book on Surrey weather, and it is interesting to note that places such as the top of Reigate Hill (where the M25 is located now) and the main road from Croydon to Warlingham, were impassable to all but the most hardy of walkers / skiers, with villages such as Chaldon, Tatsfield, Farleigh and Chelsham blocked and needing air lifts of food, and all within about an hour from Central London. At S Godstone, drifts were 15ft deep, and on New Years Eve, the temperature at Croydon was 11F (-12C) at dawn. I cannot imagine what the results would be if this were to be repeated now!   

[Weather-history]

A tear drop low 

[Summer8906]

It's of note also perhaps that January 1928 was exceptionally wet by the looks of things, one of the wettest on record at the time, comparable perhaps to January 2014. I'd guess the low track moved a little further north into the new year.

[Weather-history]

A pictorial history of this event

 

[Weather-history]

One great weather event (Christmas snowstorm) led straight into another when the thaw came at the start of January 1928. Along with rain and gales, this brought terrible flooding along the Thames Valley. 

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Weather-history
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[Weather-history]

On 27/10/2022 at 09:26, Weather-history said:

One great weather event (Christmas snowstorm) led straight into another when the thaw came at the start of January 1928. Along with rain and gales, this brought terrible flooding along the Thames Valley. 

 

Another one of those Channel 5 weather documentaries, this time on the January 1928 Thames flood. 9pm, Sunday night

[A Face like Thunder]

On 25/11/2023 at 12:16, Weather-history said:

Another one of those Channel 5 weather documentaries, this time on the January 1928 Thames flood. 9pm, Sunday night

Now you see it, now you don't. Late change to a programme (a repeat?) on the 2018 Beast from the East. Pity, I was looking forward to seeing film archive from the 1920s.

[osmposm]

My late father was born in 1920 in London, and lived most of his life there. He was always convinced that White Christmases were the norm when he was young - quite untrue, of course, they were rare in the south even in the earlier 20th Century. I'm quite sure the reason was the 1927 blizzard, which must have made a huge and indelible impression on a 7 year-old's mind and memory.