Southern England snow 1946-78 (part 1)

[Summer8906]

Now onto part 3, 1955 to 1959 (Jan/Feb years, as always).

December 1954 was another mild and nondescript 1950s December, slightly drier than average. But the rest of the winter made up for it, January started with a cold easterly and it seems there was a general snow event early in the month in the south. Then a brief milder interlude before another potential snow event around mid month. Finally the month turned much milder, but the cold dominated the month overall.

February had prolonged cold after the first week and looks like there was a further snow event during this time. So this is a very likely Yes.

1956 was a very mixed winter and to me has strong echoes of the winter 30 years later, namely that of 1985/86. December 1955 was (you guessed it) mild again, but this time a bit wetter than normal. January 1956 seemed a very episodic and mixed month: first mild and dry, with some sunshine, then cold and wintry, then mild and wet, and finally at the very end of the month intensely cold. Snow is mentioned in the second week but unclear as to whether the south got very much.

February 1956 is fairly well known as an extreme cold winter month, not unlike 1986 (perhaps a little milder, as it appears mild weather got in for a short time while this did not happen at all in 1986). Snow is mentioned as being widespread, so while no specific snow depths for a southern location are given, this winter would be on the balance of probability yes.

1957 was undoubtedly the poorest winter of the 1950s, being predominantly very mild and also wet. December 1956 was once again mild, and also rather wet, though did have a brief cold and snowy spell just in time for Christmas Day. Snow got as far south as London though the MWR also states that far southern counties missed out, so I'm not sure whether this event really counts as a Southern England snow event.

January 1957 was the only really mild January of the 1950s it appears, such was the tendency for cold Januaries in this period. Mild and nondescript in the south with average rainfall but some snow events mentioned further north. February was similar, but wetter. So I think on the balance of probability this winter will have to be a no.

Winter 1958 was a return to interest. There was a fair amount of Atlantic-driven weather but also some colder and at times snowy spells too. December 1957 though was once again mild, but January was episodic with a cold start followed by a quick change to mild and wet, but then anticyclonic followed by the short but intense snowy spell (mentioned in the other thread) and rapid thaw. Finally cold dry weather developed again at the end of the month.

February 1958 was dominated by wet weather but there was a short but intense snowy spell with snow affecting the south of England, making it two snowy spells in one year. So a yes for this winter.

Finally winter 1959, which was interesting though not so much for snow. December 1958 was similar to previous 1950s Decembers but less mild, with temps just slightly above average, and wet weather mixed with slack lows producing foggy, chilly conditions.  The standout feature of January 1959 was the sunshine, which was well above average. The first half of the month was cold, mostly northerly, then a short mild and wet spell, then finally anticyclonic and cold again. Snow is mentioned in the first half of the month but mostly Midlands northwards. Strangely this month was wet in the southeast, but this appears to have been due to one or two intense rainfall events as the description is of a month with many dry, sunny days.

Finally February 1959 was extremely dry. At first dull and somewhat cold, it became very mild and apparently 19C was reached in London on the last day, which was also very sunny. A foretaste of the coming summer, it seemed. But overall, despite an interesting winter, likely no snow to speak of so will have to be a no.

Next instalment will move into the notoriously-snowy 1960s...

Edited December 30, 2022 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

Philip Eden does not mention snowfall in the South of England in Jan and Feb 1955. However, he does record snowdrifts of 35-45cm in E and S Kent and E Sussex in February 1956. Eden confirms heavy snowfall from 19th to 24th Jan 1958, with 38-59cm of lying snow in parts of Essex. He does not mention the South of England specifically for snowfall in February 1958, although he does talk of 'heavy snow falling widely from 24th to 26th'. We were abroad at the time, so were out of it. Other data from Eden seems to confirm your thoughts above. 

[Summer8906]

5 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Philip Eden does not mention snowfall in the South of England in Jan and Feb 1955. However, he does record snowdrifts of 35-45cm in E and S Kent and E Sussex in February 1956. Eden confirms heavy snowfall from 19th to 24th Jan 1958, with 38-59cm of lying snow in parts of Essex. He does not mention the South of England specifically for snowfall in February 1958, although he does talk of 'heavy snow falling widely from 24th to 26th'. We were abroad at the time, so were out of it. Other data from Eden seems to confirm your thoughts above. 

My comments were based on the summaries from the Monthly Weather Report, which does seem to mention snow specifically for these months. I think I've seen the Philip Eden summaries, but in the 50s and 60s at least (the detail was cut a bit later) the MWR does seem to give a lot of detail.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

Now 1960-64, sorry for the delay in updating.

In a word: the snowy (by today's standards) winters continue, even if you discount "that" one.

December 1959 was mild and wet, continuing the theme of 1950s mild Decembers though would be the last mild one for a while.

January 1960 was mixed, started and ended mild and wet but there was a cold spell of about two weeks in the middle of the month, and this included a heavy snowfall in most areas around the 15th with southern England locations mentioned as receiving heavy snowfall. It was generally wet overall but some southern coastal areas ended up slightly drier than average. Temp was about average overall.

Feb 1960 sounded similar to Jan 1960 with a mild and wet beginning and end and colder middle but no evidence of snow in the south (it was mentioned further north).

Based on the mid-Jan event this winter therefore looks like a yes.

On to 1961, and Dec 1960 and Jan 1961 both had the same strapline on the MWR: "Changeable and rather cold".  Jan 1961 was somewhat similar to 1960 with a mild and wet start and end and cold mid-month, though the cold was a little later than 1960. Regarding southern England snow: "In southern England snow or sleet was fairly widespread around the 3rd and 25th, and snow lay locally to a depth of 2-3 inches". So on the balance of probability, perhaps there was not widespread snow.

Feb 1961 was very mild, with a fair amount of wet weather but a dry and very mild spell midmonth.

A maybe by the looks of things, depending on how widespread the snow in January was.

1962 featured a well-known spell of very snowy weather around the new year, following a generally cold December. It then turned mild and wet for the rest of January, while in the south February was mild, becoming cold, and was a dry month (I misremembered it as wet). So a yes.

1963 is obviously a yes, didn't even bother looking!

The notable feature of 1964 was dryness, while the temperature, relative to the normal, increased throughout the winter. So December 1963 was the coldest relative to normal, and very dry. However no real evidence of southern England snow. Jan 1964 was dry, dull and somewhat cold, with the coldest period mid-month. On the 12th it appeared there was a notable southern England snow event: "up to 12 inches deep locally along the south coast and the South Downs were covered with 6 inches of snow". It appeared to only last two days but looked notable while it lasted.

Feb 1964 was milder and less dry. But thanks to the above event it's another yes.

So keeping tabs on January snow in particular, this appeared to occur in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964 with maybes in 1952, 1953 and 1961. This compares favourably with the 1977-87 period and is obviously much better than anything in the 21st century!

 

[Weather-history]

On 30/12/2022 at 14:37, A Face like Thunder said:

Philip Eden does not mention snowfall in the South of England in Jan and Feb 1955. 

West Country was badly affected by snow around the 23rd February 1955

[A Face like Thunder]

We returned from Singapore in October 1960 and were desperate to see snow during the following winter. But what we got was a mild winter with October and November 1960 and January to April 1961 all above mean, February 1961 by 6.4 degrees F. And I can confirm that there was no snow where we were on the borders of S London and Surrey until 27th December 1961. So 1961 - No, 1962 - Yes but only because the snow of late December 1961 was still there on New Years Day 1962, and was to return with a vengeance on 26th December 1962. 1963 is an obvious Yes. I don't remember the January 1964 snow but Eden confirms up to 30cm around Brighton and Worthing on 13th and 14th January, so Yes is correct.

[Summer8906]

On 09/01/2023 at 15:36, A Face like Thunder said:

We returned from Singapore in October 1960 and were desperate to see snow during the following winter. But what we got was a mild winter with October and November 1960 and January to April 1961 all above mean, February 1961 by 6.4 degrees F. And I can confirm that there was no snow where we were on the borders of S London and Surrey until 27th December 1961. So 1961 - No, 1962 - Yes but only because the snow of late December 1961 was still there on New Years Day 1962, and was to return with a vengeance on 26th December 1962. 1963 is an obvious Yes. I don't remember the January 1964 snow but Eden confirms up to 30cm around Brighton and Worthing on 13th and 14th January, so Yes is correct.

Thanks - the strapline for Jan 1961 was "Changeable and rather cold" though reading the detail it seemed to have less punch than the previous winter.

Starting to look at the second half of the 60s now. It appears Jan 1965 was also a yes but more of that later.

[Weather-history]

On 09/01/2023 at 15:36, A Face like Thunder said:

I don't remember the January 1964 snow but Eden confirms up to 30cm around Brighton and Worthing on 13th and 14th January, so Yes is correct.

[Weather-history]

On 27/12/2022 at 19:27, Summer8906 said:

 

1952 was a very different sort of winter by the looks of things. Another nondescript mild but dry December, followed by a Jan and Feb notable for sunny weather, and both months cold. Some parts of the UK got much snow but the indication seems to be of only light snow for the south, mostly in late Jan. So a maybe for this one - would be interested to hear of anyone who can remember 1952.

 

 

 

There was the famous snow event at the end of March 1952

 

[A Face like Thunder]

I should not forget Sunday 15th March 1964 in Surrey when heavy rain turned to snow and lay on the ground (pictured) for a few days after. 

[Summer8906]

@Weather-history @A Face like Thunder Thanks for those. I've been ignoring autumn and spring up to now, but when I get to 1978 I'll have a quick check of November, March and April in case I've missed anything, such as these events above.

[Sunny76]

On 30/12/2022 at 12:08, Relativistic said:

Sounds like a more-protracted version of my experience as a teenager. I missed the snow in April 2008 as I was abroad, but every year from 2009 to 2013 featured excellent snowfalls. Then 2013/14 came as a massive shock.. especially after 2012/13 spoilt us with five notable snow events (early December, mid-January, early February, early March, late March). I was 17 when 2013/14 rolled around and all I had known through my years at secondary school was winter = snow. I was gutted.

My guess is anyone born between 1995 and 2004 would have been disappointed with the change that occurred in 2013/14, similar to anyone born before 1985, who would’ve have witnessed the snows of 1987, Feb 1991 and Feb 1994 events.

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

My guess is anyone born between 1995 and 2004 would have been disappointed with the change that occurred in 2013/14, similar to anyone born before 1985, who would’ve have witnessed the snows of 1987, Feb 1991 and Feb 1994 events.

I'm not sure anyone born in say 1984 would have remembered the 1987 snow, and even 1991 would be a rather vague childhood memory.

Certainly I have no memory of the summer of 1976, and I was born a few years before that. I have a few scattered memories of summer 1977, but the first one I have some clear memories of is summer 1978 (unfortunately). Consequently, August 1981 was really special to me as it was probably the first decent summer spell of weather I remember!

But being of that age, I certainly grew up expecting winter snow, having experienced it in 1979 (somewhat vague memories though), 1981-82, 1983, and 1985-87.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

7 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

I'm not sure anyone born in say 1984 would have remembered the 1987 snow, and even 1991 would be a rather vague childhood memory.

Certainly I have no memory of the summer of 1976, and I was born a few years before that. I have a few scattered memories of summer 1977, but the first one I have some clear memories of is summer 1978 (unfortunately). Consequently, August 1981 was really special to me as it was probably the first decent summer spell of weather I remember!

But being of that age, I certainly grew up expecting winter snow, having experienced it in 1979 (somewhat vague memories though), 1981-82, 1983, and 1985-87.

I was born in 1978, and don't have many memories of the cold snowy periods up to Jan 87, I do remember Jan 87 though. My formative years - aged 10 to 18 were by and large devoid of much cold snowy weather, bar Feb 91, occasions in 93-94 and winter 95-96. Aged 10-12 is when you want cold snowy weather - old enough to play outside on own.. these years coincided with winters of 87-88 to 89-90 which were largely snowless. My younger childhood years aged 7-10 coincided with a run of shocking poor summers 1985-89 as well!

The sweet spot - year to have been born probably 1972, by winter 78-79 aged 6/7 probably just old enough to remember that winter, but then a long run of winters with some snow and cold up to 86/87 aged 14. Summer wise a raw deal!

 

[A Face like Thunder]

The sweet spot (for me) - being born in the late 1940s, we seemed to have the toboggans out every winter and as for the winter of 1962/3....!

[Summer8906]

43 minutes ago, A Face like Thunder said:

The sweet spot (for me) - being born in the late 1940s, we seemed to have the toboggans out every winter and as for the winter of 1962/3....!

Indeed, looks like an incredible run. I was born rather later but was lucky that part of my childhood and teenage years included 1979 to 1987.

So far only 1948/49, 1949/50, 1956/57 and (as you have confirmed) 1960/61 look like total fails, though I'm not sure about 1952/3 either - it was cold but also very dry, though with a historic damaging wind event.

Moving through the late 60s now, and it looks like 1966/67 could have been another fail for snow, being largely mild and snow free. I will post the full summary of those 5 years soon, but did you record anything that year?

Edited January 12, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

12 hours ago, damianslaw said:

I was born in 1978, and don't have many memories of the cold snowy periods up to Jan 87, I do remember Jan 87 though. My formative years - aged 10 to 18 were by and large devoid of much cold snowy weather, bar Feb 91, occasions in 93-94 and winter 95-96. Aged 10-12 is when you want cold snowy weather - old enough to play outside on own..

A fair bit older than that too I think.. certainly Jan 1987 and Feb 1991 were both in my teenage years and I enjoyed them. From my twenties onwards though snow has been very rare, and incredibly I'm not even sure I've experienced settling snow lasting a week since 1991.

12 hours ago, damianslaw said:

these years coincided with winters of 87-88 to 89-90 which were largely snowless. My younger childhood years aged 7-10 coincided with a run of shocking poor summers 1985-89 as well!

1985-88 I presume you mean, as 1989 was extremely good, perhaps second only to 1995 for ones I remember.

12 hours ago, damianslaw said:

The sweet spot - year to have been born probably 1972, by winter 78-79 aged 6/7 probably just old enough to remember that winter, but then a long run of winters with some snow and cold up to 86/87 aged 14. Summer wise a raw deal!

I was born in the early 70s so (as said above) I did get to experience 1979 to 1987. Despite it being perhaps the best of the lot, my memories of 1979 are vague, though I do recall cold persisting for a long time, snow falling and settling on New Year's Day, one or two snowy days later in the winter, and vague memories of snow hanging around for a long time without being able to pin any detail on dates, etc. First one I clearly remember is 1981/2 and favourite is 1985, due to the two separate snowy spells in Jan and Feb, the first lasting two weeks.

It appears we had almost 50 years of snowy winters from 1939-87. I haven't considered the war years in this thread, but 1940-42 and Jan 1945 are well known for being snowy. It also appears Jan 1939 was very snowy - as well as wet - there seemed to be repeated Channel lows producing dumpings over southern England albeit mixed with wet and windy due to lows sometimes tracking further north.

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

Indeed, looks like an incredible run. I was born rather later but was lucky that part of my childhood and teenage years included 1979 to 1987.

So far only 1948/49, 1949/50, 1956/57 and (as you have confirmed) 1960/61 look like total fails, though I'm not sure about 1952/3 either - it was cold but also very dry, though with a historic damaging wind event.

Moving through the late 60s now, and it looks like 1966/67 could have been another fail for snow, being largely mild and snow free. I will post the full summary of those 5 years soon, but did you record anything that year?

In a word No. I do not remember anything about 1966/7 apart from a lovely sunny, crisp Christmas Day, but with no snow anywhere in Surrey. Eden makes no mention of snow events during that winter anywhere in the UK, so yes, a total FAIL.

The next big snow event for which I have a photo was on 8-9 January 1968 in Surrey.

Eden mentions snowfall on 15th Jan 1966, with 25-30cm in Kent, but I do not remember this event in Surrey. 

Christmas Day 1968 produced a small amount of lying snow in Surrey. Earlier that month, parts of S England were affected by two heavy snowfalls, including 28cm at Brighton, but again I do not remember this event.  

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

A fair bit older than that too I think.. certainly Jan 1987 and Feb 1991 were both in my teenage years and I enjoyed them. From my twenties onwards though snow has been very rare, and incredibly I'm not even sure I've experienced settling snow lasting a week since 1991.

1985-88 I presume you mean, as 1989 was extremely good, perhaps second only to 1995 for ones I remember.

I was born in the early 70s so (as said above) I did get to experience 1979 to 1987. Despite it being perhaps the best of the lot, my memories of 1979 are vague, though I do recall cold persisting for a long time, snow falling and settling on New Year's Day, one or two snowy days later in the winter, and vague memories of snow hanging around for a long time without being able to pin any detail on dates, etc. First one I clearly remember is 1981/2 and favourite is 1985, due to the two separate snowy spells in Jan and Feb, the first lasting two weeks.

It appears we had almost 50 years of snowy winters from 1939-87. I haven't considered the war years in this thread, but 1940-42 and Jan 1945 are well known for being snowy. It also appears Jan 1939 was very snowy - as well as wet - there seemed to be repeated Channel lows producing dumpings over southern England albeit mixed with wet and windy due to lows sometimes tracking further north.

 

Winter of 79/80 looks like the first hints of a warming of U.K. winters, even before 1987/88. 
 

That first half of December 1979 was extremely mild and one of the warmest, if not the warmest at the time. 
 

No snow fell in London after the winter of 78/79 until December 1981.

[Summer8906]

5 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

Winter of 79/80 looks like the first hints of a warming of U.K. winters, even before 1987/88. 
 

That first half of December 1979 was extremely mild and one of the warmest, if not the warmest at the time.

No snow fell in London after the winter of 78/79 until December 1981.

Mind you, wasn't winter 1974/75 supposed to be really, silly mild, one of the mildest on record?

In NW Sussex there was proper lying snow on Sunday Feb 22, 1981 but it thawed in the afternoon as milder air got in.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

5 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

In a word No. I do not remember anything about 1966/7 apart from a lovely sunny, crisp Christmas Day, but with no snow anywhere in Surrey. Eden makes no mention of snow events during that winter anywhere in the UK, so yes, a total FAIL.

Thanks for that. The MWR does mention some possibility of snow around Jan 10th and again around Feb 15, with Salisbury Plain explicitly mentioned, but it doesn't really mention it being widespread.

One thing that does strike me is the similarity between Jan 1967 and Jan 1995, up to a point - and given they are 28 years apart (and the calendar repeats every 28 years) the calendars exactly match too, in a strange coincidence. Both years started with a brief northerly outbreak with wintry showers on the 1st, both were mild and dry mid-month, and both were mild and wet in the 2nd half.  The difference was that a 2nd cold spell (easterly) occurred around the 6th-12th in 1967, which didn't happen in 1995.

5 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

The next big snow event for which I have a photo was on 8-9 January 1968 in Surrey.

So that will be a yes, presumably. I am fairly sure Feb 1969 was also a snowfest so presumably a yes there too.

5 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Eden mentions snowfall on 15th Jan 1966, with 25-30cm in Kent, but I do not remember this event in Surrey. 

Looks like this was fairly significant event and it was cold from the 5th-20th in 1966. The MWR mentions a NW-SE tracking low from Ireland which produced heavy snow as far east as Long Sutton, Hampshire, not too far from Farnham. Also the south east is mentioned as getting significant snow, so perhaps there was only a small gap between these two events which didn't receive any.

5 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Christmas Day 1968 produced a small amount of lying snow in Surrey. Earlier that month, parts of S England were affected by two heavy snowfalls, including 28cm at Brighton, but again I do not remember this event.  

Given that I think Feb 1969 was very snowy, this was clearly a very snowy winter!

Edited January 12, 2023 by Summer8906

[Sunny76]

3 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Mind you, wasn't winter 1974/75 supposed to be really, silly mild, one of the mildest on record?

In NW Sussex there was proper lying snow on Sunday Feb 22, 1981 but it thawed in the afternoon as milder air got in.

Yes 74/75 was a very mild winter.

80/81 had no snowfall in London, and the second half of that winter was fairly mild. Another borefest season.

[A Face like Thunder]

Not particularly relevant but 36 years ago, on 12th January 1987, the daytime temperature never got above -9.1C at Warlingham in Surrey and dropped to 1F (-17C) that night at nearby Coulsdon. That was a cold, snowy month in Surrey, as I well remember!  

[Summer8906]

12 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

Yes 74/75 was a very mild winter.

Thanks, will come to that in due course; I think 1972 to 1976 inclusive (Jan year) were all mild but I'll find out soon enough!

12 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

80/81 had no snowfall in London, and the second half of that winter was fairly mild. Another borefest season.

80/81 was however a SAD-busting season, not that I experienced SAD symptoms as a child.

I remember a lot of sunshine in Jan and Feb 1981, and Feb was quite frosty (I have since confirmed this with the MWR) so while not great for snow, it was certainly a very "livable" winter.

[Weather-history]

23 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

 

Moving through the late 60s now, and it looks like 1966/67 could have been another fail for snow, being largely mild and snow free. I will post the full summary of those 5 years soon, but did you record anything that year?

There were some snowfalls during early January 1967

 

The opening of May 1967, some places reported falling snow