January 1987

[Dark Horse]

My mum told me she couldn't take me out in my pram for a few days because of this event as she couldn't push the pram in the snow. I was born in June 85 so a shame I wasn't old enough to remember it. I bet the cold was perishing too. Same with Feb 86 but I believe that was much more dry for the vast majority.

Edited January 23 by Dark Horse

[Summer8906]

The forecast of an imminent breakdown on the 8th, just a couple of days before the most intense cold arrived, is interesting.

I distinctly remember Sat 10 as being when the real cold arrived, and I have a particular memory of twilight that day with partly clear skies and fast-moving clouds from the NE, along with, I think, a moon to the east (moonrise was 12.18pm so it would have been a little over 4 hours after moonrise). It felt like something big was imminent.

The week of the 10th-17th was of course the peak of the spell, with thick snow still present on the 17th.

The third full week of the month produced a very, very slow thaw - there was no dramatic mildening, just, I think, a very gradual rise to a little below average by the following weekend and a lot of cloudy, still weather. The final week, if I remember right, remained slightly colder than average.

Edited January 24 by Summer8906

[MattStoke]

 Geordiesnow You weren't far off with this.