[Favourite christmas weather memories 24-31 Dec]

It's got be Christmas eve 1968. Living in the Midlands.

Played football with friends in the morning before the rain set in around lunchtime. 

The BBC weather forecast was only talking about rain. Then - from nowhere - the rain started to turn to snow. What a shock!

The ground was completely covered by tea time. Temperatures stuck at zero. The snow died out in the early hours.

I really though all Christmases were going to be like this!

[The sharp cold snap of 26th November-2nd December 1973]

I was still at school and remember it well. I had hoped the rest of the winter was going to cold. Unfortunately it was dismally mild!!

[Songs that remind you of late summer and autumn looming?]

Hey Jude by the Beatles!

Release date 26th August 1968. A stunning hit throughout that autumn!

[Summer of 1972]

I remember this summer very clearly.

It was the first time I was allowed go on holiday with some friends rather than my parents.

I'm not sure who made the decision but we plumped for sunny Skegness! We were there for two whole weeks. The weather was so dull and cold and miserable.  I honestly don't remember the sun ever making an appearance. 

Such happy days.......perhaps not in this case!!

 

 

[Switch around: Spring warmth to winter cold in a few days]

4 hours ago, Weather-history said:

3rd April 1968 Guardian 

I remember 1968 as though it was yesterday!

Warm sunshine at the end of March. Pleasant enough for a game of tennis.

Then a couple of days later winter returned. Heavy snow meaning no transport and a very long walk to school!

I have a recollection that it was actually forecast but perhaps not as severe as it turned out!

[Memories of 1986]

 I have really strong memories of the month as I was living in the Midlands doing a lot of commuting. The weather was such a disappointment if you like snow.

Lots of frost in the ground which lasted through the day. This caused the postponement of a lot of horse racing and football.

Hardly any snow. If you look at the record books you would think " wow what a winter that would have been". Unfortunately it was pretty drab really despite the endless frost in my back yard!!

[February 2022 C.E.T. and EWP forecast contests]

For me it is 6.6c and 54mm.

Many thanks

[January 2022 C.E.T. and EWP forecast contests]

6.0c and 84mm for me please.

[Midlands Regional Weather Discussion]

A slight covering of snow here in sunny Prestbury. Oddly enough there is no snow cover on nearby Cleeve Hill. 

The snow shower must have been not far east enough in the northerly wind.

[December 2021 C.E.T. and EWP forecast contests -- start of the new contest year for 2021-2022]

I think we will hit 5.9 this time around.

82mm of rain.

[November 2021 C.E.T. and EWP contests -- final month of the 2020-21 competitions]

8.0 and 98mm for me!

[October 2021 C.E.T. and EWP forecast contests]

This is my first attempt at using my crystal ball. But I'm officially an OAP from tomorrow!

10.9c and 81mm please.

 

 

 

 

 

[May 2021 C.E.T. and EWP forecast contests]

Interesting to note the predominance of low temperatures for much of the spring. How might 2021 CET for March-May compare to other cold springs?

 

[Unexpected Snow]

I kept a detailed weather diary in the late 60's and early 70's living in Coventry. In this diary I used to summarise the weather forecast from the previous evening on the BBC. I will dig it out at the weekend as I can recall so many spectacular snow events that were not forecast. 

The downside is that there were so many occasions when snow was forecast but it never materalised!

If anyone is interested I will take a look and summarise some of the events.

 

[Model discussion - Warm spell ending as Spring begins]

The Cheltenham festival gets underway at 1.30pm on Tuesday of next week. Surely the weather gods are not going to be unkind this year - not after the Equine flu outbreak in Feb which was bad enough!

[Favourite unexpected snowfall?]

As this winter appears to have slipped away, is anybody interested in re-vising this interesting topic?

I kept weather diaries from mid 1967 (I was 11 at the time). I also tried to indicate what the BBC weather forecast was for the coming day if an "interesting" weather day appeared to be just around the corner.

We were in Coventry at the time. If anyone is interested, I will check back but I am sure there were unexpected snowfalls in lowland southern England in 1968, 1969 & 1970. I certainly have a very clear memory of the very first time our school was closed due to heavy snow - 4th March 1970.

[March 1970]

I agree. At the time I thought all winters were going to be like that.

I was sadly disappointed. Much like the demise of the Sky Blues!

[March 1970]

I remember the day really well. At school, living in Coventry. I had been to see the Super Sky Blues (as they were then) lose 2-3 at home to Liverpool the previous evening, 3rd March.

I am sure snow was not forecast that evening. The next day we woke to really heavy, driving snow. I would say it was the heaviest I had seen. I was 14 at the time.

At the time my estimate was 30cm of snow and a max temperature close to -1c. The snow lasted until mid-afternoon.

The cause of the snow was a depression moving from the north west. Some parts of western England were in the warm sector for some hours and saw heavy snow followed by rain followed by back edge heavy snow.

It was the first - and only time - that our school closed because of snow!

[Model Discussion - 16th January]

Model watching here with even more than the usual level of interest.

We have been staying in Nice, France for a few days but have to drive to Villars Sur Ollon nr Lake Geneva by the end of the week 1800m asl. We were planning to leave on Thursday morning to beat the snow and were looking forward to the weather there at the end of the week. However, we have been completely thrown by the pesky ECM run. It better be an extreme outliner!

[Winter Snow Events]

Very interesting, I do remember the long run of almost snowless winters in the 70's. Everyone seems to have forgotten those miserable winters from 71/72 to 75/76.

I don't like to quibble, but I think you may have overated the snow event of 14th & 15th February 1973. I feel this missed most of the country. Significant in Cornwall, Northern Ireland & the west of Scotland, but nothing more.

Category 3 more appropriate?

[Carinthians Latest Arctic Ice Reports]

Just a quick comment triggered by postings above regarding the icecap extending to Iceland form Greenland.

Going back half a century or so,when i was at school,i remember an old weather book showed a map with a dotted line across the North coast of Iceland,labelled "limit of Ice in Spring"

Regretably i can`t think of the title and there are no records,i guess,to illustrate those maps now.

It does remind me of how the ice has retreated since those days.

Phil, I think you may be referring to the "Oxford School Atlas". I have a third edition from 1960. The "limit of pack ice" does get remarkably close to the coast of North Iceland!

[Carinthians Latest Arctic Ice Reports]

Interesting discussion above regarding Polar Low developments in late 1960`s Winters.

I remember a Friday in February 1969 when a forecasted such development hit the Midlands at Lunchtime.

It started raining/sleeting then quickly turned to powder snow as the wind got up.

Chaos ensued within 2 hrs. as it quickly settled and by the time it peterd out around 7pm the Coventry/Warks area was virtually at a standstill.

I myself didn`t get home from work that night as many people were stranded in the nearest hotels workplaces or anywhere they could shelter.

Looking at the archives i have copied and posted the sypnotic chart for that day which shows a bitter Northerly flow right across the UK.

Something like this event would be unusual today but i too remember a number of these incidents in that era.

Phil

I know this is a bit off topic.

I remember Friday, 7th February 1969 very well. I was at school in Coventry and a morning of sleet showers tunred into an afternoon of a terrific snowstorm. The northerly winds picked up and the snow was whipped into substantial drifts.

Our school closed early as buses were being taken off the road. It was easy for me, living just 100 yards from school.

I kept (albeit inaccurate) weather records at the time and I recorded -5'c at 6pm as the snow began to abate. The next morning under wonderful blue arctic skies I recorded a minimum of -12'c.

My log for the day read "Dull sleet and snow showers. Heavy snow in the afternoon with drifitng. Gales".

Those were the days, definately my favourite weather day!

[Wettest 12 Months on record?]

Looking through the records, just to refine the criteria somehat; the period May-July 2007 is the wettest for these three consecutive months since when?

[Wettest 12 Months on record?]

Or, rather there's no future for humans living on Britain. I'm sure the earth will spin without us!

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/ser...tics/ukrain.txt

Rainfall records back to 1914 enclosed.

Steve

[Wettest 12 Months on record?]

As the run of unsettled weather continues, the question is, will the 12 months from 1st August 2006 to 31st July 2007 be the wettest 12 month period ever recorded in the UK? More specifically I feel that this may be the case for England.

We have experienced a number of really wet months over the past year, such as October, November, December, January, May, June and July. Will this soaking set a new record for the 12 month period?