Implications Of A Severe Cold Winter.

[egret]

Other things that have changed since:

Roofs now highly insulated - ok if water tanks also well insulated.

Less waste pipework outside, less risk of freezing

Some haven't - overflow pipes still prone to icing if allowed to drip

Some have got worse:

condensate drain pipes on modern condensing boilers can freeze up, stopping the boilers working. Last year was the first real test of this detail and some didn't pass the test!

many houses have no chimneys, so wholly dependant upon electricity (electric heating or electric boiler controls/pumps) Watch out if power fails! (worst case scenario if we get widespread freezing rain on power lines like France experienced a few years back)

[Norrance]

I'm left wondering how Scotland dealt with the severity of the 2009/10 winter because in northern Scotland it was a record-breaker. But one of the ironies of UK winters is that southern England is more prone to prolonged severe cold than lowland Scotland despite, on average, seeing milder winters and considerably less snow, due to scenarios of persistent continental air like 1947 and 1963, whereas Arctic-dominated winters like last year tend to have cold spells separated by less cold interludes. It sounds to me as if Scotland's most disruptive winter was probably the 1954/55 one which was similarly cold in January and February and had some particularly heavy snowfalls.

[spindrift1980]

one of the ironies of UK winters is that southern England is more prone to prolonged severe cold than lowland Scotland despite, on average, seeing milder winters and considerably less snow, due to scenarios of persistent continental air like 1947 and 1963, whereas Arctic-dominated winters like last year tend to have cold spells separated by less cold interludes. It sounds to me as if Scotland's most disruptive winter was probably the 1954/55 one which was similarly cold in January and February and had some particularly heavy snowfalls.

Out of curiosity, would the highlighted words hold true of inland parts of the north-east lowlands of Scotland as against the south of England? My perception has always been of inland parts of north-east Scotland lowlands (eg, the areas surrounding the Inverurie-Huntly-Keith corridor on the A96) as being probably the area of lowland UK most prone to prolonged severe cold spells but I can appreciate that continental air masses are not rhe same factor here as they are in SE England.

[Thundery wintry showers]

The answer is probably "yes and no".

South-east England's severest weather comes from "easterly" setups with high pressure extending from Greenland to Scandinavia and a sustained flow from the continent, and on rare occasions (e.g. January 1963, February 1947) those setups can persist without a break and result in mean monthly temperatures of -3C or lower. Scotland's severest weather comes from "northerly" setups which are usually characterised by sharp cold spells separated by less cold interludes, and thus mean monthly temperatures in months dominated by this setup tend not to be as low, even in inland parts of the northeast. So in that sense, the highlighted words hold true.

On the other hand, there's little doubt that inland parts of northeast Scotland experience relatively short-lived spells of severely cold and snowy weather (say 1-2 weeks long) with much greater frequency than south-east England, and while the severest months aren't as cold as those in SE England they are often a lot snowier and, again, occur more frequently, so on that basis there's a strong case for dismissing what I said earlier.

[spindrift1980]

The answer is probably "yes and no".

South-east England's severest weather comes from "easterly" setups with high pressure extending from Greenland to Scandinavia and a sustained flow from the continent, and on rare occasions (e.g. January 1963, February 1947) those setups can persist without a break and result in mean monthly temperatures of -3C or lower. Scotland's severest weather comes from "northerly" setups which are usually characterised by sharp cold spells separated by less cold interludes, and thus mean monthly temperatures in months dominated by this setup tend not to be as low, even in inland parts of the northeast. So in that sense, the highlighted words hold true.

On the other hand, there's little doubt that inland parts of northeast Scotland experience relatively short-lived spells of severely cold and snowy weather (say 1-2 weeks long) with much greater frequency than south-east England, and while the severest months aren't as cold as those in SE England they are often a lot snowier and, again, occur more frequently, so on that basis there's a strong case for dismissing what I said earlier.

Thanks for your answer - makes sense to me. I think that would correspond with my general impressions, anyway. Maybe more a qualification of what you said earlier rather than an outright dismissal!

[Norrance]

Thanks for your answer - makes sense to me. I think that would correspond with my general impressions, anyway. Maybe more a qualification of what you said earlier rather than an outright dismissal!

Inland Aberdeenshire, down through inland Angus to North Perthshire are probably the snowiest lowland areas in the UK along with Shetland. These Eastern parts have the bonus of getting snow from established Easterlies as well as Northerlies and breakdowns. Though there is some modification of the temps from the North sea you don't have to go far inland to get snow. In 1947 for example some of the worst conditions anywhere were found in Fife and especially Angus. Airdrops were needed to supply towns as well as rural glens and even RAF Edzell had to get supplies dropped in by aircraft from Leuchars.

Pitlochry in Perthshire at under 100 mtrs asl has a similar snow lying record to Eskdalemuir and Buxton despite being at a much lower altitude.