A Face like Thunder

Thank goodness it's not 23rd March 2020, the first day of lockdown!

Surprisingly still dry and quite bright here and not as chilly in the brisk wind as I was expecting. Sat 23rd March 2013 was spent in Chester and the snow lay thick on the ground, although surprisingly there was none back in Crewe. In the N Wales hills, there was a disastrous loss of sheep and lambs to the cold and snow. It was also the last full weekend before Easter. A sign of things to come perhaps? I hope not!

On the patio every day. getting my ancient bike out of storage and it worked (more or less) to give me my daily exercise, walking round admiring the blossom in the sun, 8pm Thursdays on the doorstep applauding the NHS in the evening sun, waving at the dustmen (sorry, not pc) as they did their early morning rounds in the sun, sitting outdoors with the others in the close to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, getting my hair cut on the patio, on line meetings, dance lessons and even church services. A completely different and (in my case) unique world which I shall always remember. And, no disrespect to those with different views, thank goodness the start of lockdown coincided with the great weather. I hate to think what would have happened with peoples' mental health, including my own, if we had had the usual dross in March and April, with the better weather reserved for later in the year when our levels of permissible activity (outside of Downing Street) were already being extended.

Gorgeous day here today and no sign of the Northerlies which are arriving for the weekend. No moans from me today!

What a gorgeous day it has turned out to be and not too chilly despite a brisk wind

Dry and bright, even sunny, this morning and not particularly chilly...yet, just how I like it

WillinGlossop that's the Saltburn I know in 'Spring'! I don't imagine the miniature railway was running, but were you able to take a ride on the Cliff Tram? Seaview Fish restaurant has certainly gained considerable popularity since it opened a few years back, and there are long queues for takeaway fish & chips during the summer holiday months. I've loved going to the town since my early childhood.

CongletonHeat Couldn't agree more and far from amused in this part of Cheshire! Bits and pieces of hail or sleet in the rain this lunchtime (a cold front moving through perhaps?), signs of it brightening up now.

I spoke too soon! Forecast - dry and cloudy, Reality - wet since 10am although it has stopped now + signs of it brightening up a bit. Heavy blobs in the rain bordering on hail or sleet but nothing more.

damianslaw I wish we'd been dry yesterday, with persistent rain until 4pm. At least it's dry this morning!

Rain has stopped at last but very wet underfoot. 1-2 signs of it brightening up a bit but I'm not holding my breath on this.

I was in South Cheshire at the time but don't particularly remember this gale. Highest windspeed (100mph) was near Caernarfon, so the N Wales mountains may have protected us from the worst of the wind.

Weather-history I was in Surrey at the time and whilst I don't remember this snowfall, I do remember the unexpected snow two weeks later on 5th April 1989 when I was caught out on Kingswood golf course whilst trying out a group walk, and the resulting and totally unexpected whiteout was a bit scary, despite my proximity to the village. Definitely the heaviest April snowfall I've seen and I must have smiled when we safely negotiated the golf course a few weeks later on the actual walk. No such problems today, just steady rain which, hopefully, will clear away this afternoon.

damianslaw late March 2013 saw a disaster in the N Wales hills with the loss of many sheep and lambs due to snowfall. I was in Chester Sat 23rd and the snow was thick on the ground in the city. Remarkably there was no snow in Crewe.

raz.org.rain it's called selling newspapers and advertising space. At the same time as a mini-heatwave is forecast, someone else will be forecasting the 'exact spots in England where a wall of snow will fall'. Don't bother with these headlines I say.

Yes, a nice day, dry throughout and really mild, with just some 'fluffy' cloud which didn't spoil the feel of the day. Cloud coming in now and I suspect we may get some rain overnight again lasting into tomorrow.

Our day out yesterday had some great weather but proved ultimately fruitless in view of an unfortunate muddle in dates. Today has started off well again but some cloud bubbling up in an otherwise blue sky. Still very mild though and likely to continue that way for 2-3 days before a chilly Northerly moves in for the weekend.

severe snowstorm yes, lovely to see the sun first thing with cloudless blue skies. We are out and about today, so could do with more of this.

According to the Countryfile forecast, we've got some levelling up ahead this week, the wet SE starting to dry out and the rain falling mainly in the North and West.

I sometimes hear the unmistakable two-tone whistle of Sir Nigel Gresley down in the yard at Crewe station whilst I'm walking the neighbour's dog about a mile away.. Lovely! A dry afternoon but a lot of cloud and very mild. A mixed week ahead according to the forecast on Countryfile tonight. Some rain midweek and then turning colder towards the end of the week as the dreaded NW's set in.

Steady rain early, but moved away by 9am and now dry, cloudy and really mild.

I don't remember this at all and neither, it appears, does Philip Eden in his very good book on British Weather disasters. I was living in Surrey at the time , so we may have missed it but I'm a bit surprised that Eden didn't pick up on it. Informative as always, thanks Weather-history

General gloom of the day added to by Crewe's failure to win at MK Dons, their 3rd defeat in four games and making their quest for automatic promotion from L2 less likely by the day. Two winnable home games to come and a few days of sun would do nicely, thank you.

Very gloomy but very little rain so far this afternoon.

Easter Sunday, 30th March 1975. It was snowing (as has happened all weekend) as the evening service at our local church in Surrey came to an end, when suddenly there was a brilliant flash of lightning followed by an instantaneous crash of thunder and all the lights in the church went out. We didn't know whether to laugh or fall on our knees and beg forgiveness for our many sins!