Coldest place in Britain?

[0000]

Flash is at 800 feet...Alston is over 1,000 feet in height. Been there meself...very nice scenery surrounding it too. Decent market-town.

Ah Alston......just up the road.........definately above 1000ft and a beautiful small town

[Sawel]

[PersianPaladin]

Lol...obviously they don't think that Scotland is in Britain then.

[SP1986]

I would have thought Shap, or Spadeadam?

[disco-barry]

Typical eh?

[Sawel]

I would have thought Shap, or Spadeadam?

Shap is only around 250 M, Spadeadam 285 M, although I think the RAF base in Spadeadam is a bit higher than this

Edited December 31, 2007 by Sawel

[0000]

The Uk foriegn office in Moscow!......it's classed as British soil.

[Jonnie G]

Which is the coldest place in Britain? Is there any place with a January avgtemp below 0'?

I don't think there is an official station at an inhabited place in Britain with a January average below 0. Braemar came pretty close from 1961-90 with February at 0.6C.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/ave...es/braemar.html

Edited December 31, 2007 by Jonnie G

[snowingtequila]

Shap is only around 250 M, Spadeadam 285 M, although I think the RAF base in Spadeadam is a bit higher than this

we are looking for the coldest not the highest though! The highest may well not be the coldest

[❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️]

nenthead? thats pretty high

[Sawel]

we are looking for the coldest not the highest though! The highest may well not be the coldest

Obviously the highest village doesn't mean it's the coldest, but I mistook Stephen Prudence's post and thought he was referring to altitude, hence the reason why I posted the altitudes.

Anyway, Braemar is the coldest (with a weather station)

Edited December 31, 2007 by Sawel

[Stratos Ferric]

Obviously the highest village doesn't mean it's the coldest, but I mistook Stephen Prudence's post and thought he was referring to altitude, hence the reason why I posted the altitudes.

Anyway, Braemar is the coldest (with a weather station)

We're back into definitions of stations here: I'm not convinced that Braemar is colder than Atnaharra, or sone of the other frost hollows (Eskdalemuir is another). Top spot for cold station though will almost certainly be Cairn Gorm summit, where there is (or used to be) an auto station. Altitude alone will mean that it beats anywhere else hands down on annual average.

[Marduk]

The coldest place in Britain is till probably warmer than anywhere is Sweden!

My part of Sweden in the Stockholm area averages from -4' more of the coast to a -2,5' more near the coast in jan-feb and the mildest winters in Sweden you will find in Malmö in the very south, it averages nearly a exact 0' in same period which is nearly at the edge of the winter definition the swedish metrological institute has written! We say that winter begins at the day which is the beginning of 7 days in a row with a avg temp below 0', and spring begins at the first day with avgtemp above 0', 7 days in a row, i believe that Britain has another definition of winter! =P

[❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️]

My part of Sweden in the Stockholm area averages from -4' more of the coast to a -2,5' more near the coast in jan-feb and the mildest winters in Sweden you will find in Malmö in the very south, it averages nearly a exact 0' in same period which is nearly at the edge of the winter definition the swedish metrological institute has written! We say that winter begins at the day which is the beginning of 7 days in a row with a avg temp below 0', and spring begins at the first day with avgtemp above 0', 7 days in a row, i believe that Britain has another definition of winter! =P

If that was the definition here, then we would never have a winter, which could be argued is the reality here anyway

[Norrance]

Braemar is the coldest populated area with a weather station in Winter imo. [Dalwhinnie may have competed in the past but I am not sure if there is still a station there.] Altnaharra often gets into maratime South Westerlies raising its averages though it often has the coldest daily temperature. Eskdalemuir is significantly warmer in winter than the Central Highlands and has fewer than half the snow lying days totals of Braemar.

Over the whole year though the coldest populated place is probably in the Shetlands as unlike the inland mainland areas they do not often benefit from Summer heatwaves.

There are probably colder villages or hamlets than Braemar [maybe Tomintoul for example] without recognised reporting stations.

[lightnin]

altanharra id say is there any members on nw from there?

[Yeti]

Braemar officially. Though the tops of Ben Nevis and the other Scottish mountains over 1000m can see blizzards even in August.

altanharra id say is there any members on nw from there?

Haha internet probably hasn't made it up there yet!

[lightnin]

Braemar officially. Though the tops of Ben Nevis and the other Scottish mountains over 1000m can see blizzards even in August.

Haha internet probably hasn't made it up there yet!

lol

[Snooz]

Average: Shetlands - low altitude, Braemar for midlevel, then unsurprisingly Ben Nevis for high altitude

Average temperatures in UK are warmer at lower latitudes and colder at higher latitudes. They are also warmer at lower altitudes and colder at higher altitudes. Average yearly temperatures at low altitude vary from 7°C in The Shetlands, in northern Scotland, to 11°C on the south-west coast of England. The coldest (and highest) place is Ben Nevis - altitude: 1344m - where the average temperature is less than 0°C.

source

Over Scotland the mean annual air temperature at low altitude ranges from about 7 °C on Shetland, in the far north, to 9 °C on the coasts of Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway in the south-west. Normally temperature decreases by approximately 0.6 °C for each 100 m rise in height so that over the high ground temperatures are generally colder. For example, Braemar (at 339 m above mean sea level) has an annual mean temperature of 6.4 °C, while the corresponding value on Ben Nevis (at an altitude of 1,344 m) is -0.3 °C.

source

in all I would think that if there were stations in some of the smaller villages mentioned, e.g. Tomintoul, and Dalwhinnie both of which could claim the title "The highest village in the Highlands" - that they would likely have a claim

Edited January 1, 2008 by Snooz

[paul tall]

Not in Britain...were you meaning England?

If you were then you'd be incorrect because Alston is the highest settlement in England.

No it isn't.

Flash is the highest settlement in England, and also Britain.

Alston is "only" about 270m, there are plenty of higher towns and villages.

Wanlockhead in the Southern Uplands in Scotland is slightly higher than Flash.

No it isn't.

Flash is at 800 feet...Alston is over 1,000 feet in height. Been there meself...very nice scenery surrounding it too. Decent market-town.

:o

Flash is at 1,500ft.

Alston is 900ft.

[Sawel]

No it isn't.

Um, yes it is.

Flash= 1518 ft ASL

Wanlockhead= 1531 ft ASL

http://travel.independent.co.uk/uk/article64015.ece

And the pictures I posted earlier...

[paul tall]

Wanlockhead is "only" 1,400 odd ft ASL.

The Guiness Book of Records states Flash as the highest in England and Britain and Wanlockead as the highest in Scotland, as the signwriters both know.

They've just got the Wanlockhead altitude wrong on the sign (somehow).

[Sawel]

We'd need to see evidence that Wanlockhead's altitude of 1531 is incorrect.

I've done some googling and haven't come up with anything.

[paul tall]

If The Guiness Book of Records isn't evidence then nothing is. 1983 edition, admittedly.

Further evidence can be provided by going on to Google Earth, zooming in on each location, and finding the highest altitude in metres withing each village. Try it.

[Snooz]

If The Guiness Book of Records isn't evidence then nothing is. 1983 edition, admittedly.

Further evidence can be provided by going on to Google Earth, zooming in on each location, and finding the highest altitude in metres withing each village. Try it.

this was debated on BBC, BBC Link unfortunately I can't play the video to see what the outcome was.. Wikipedia says it's Flash, but I don't always believe the stuff on there.