Your worst winters

[North-Easterly Blast]

This one by a country mile. Never known a winter like it!! Even my work colleagues, some of them knocking on retirement age say they've never known such a winter! 

All I can say is that the next one will be better! This one surely equates to a 1 in 100 event i.e. at the other end of the scale to 62-63.

In the last 25 years we have had more mild and complete write off winters than at any other time previously.  Winters 1988-89 and 1989-90 were such winters like this year.  Winter 1997-98 was also a disaster. Winter 2001-02 after early January saw non stop very mild SW'lies.  Winter 2006-07 was another very mild one, albeit one or two short cold snaps unlike how this year has brought nothing.  Winter 2007-08 was as poor too, that didn't see any more cold weather than 06-07. 

[phil nw.]

Yes it's not often that a weather forum almost universally condemns a season as being one of the worst like Winter 13/14 has been.

 

Certainly for lovers of cold and snow then probably no one can recall one so void of interest.

I would imagine even lovers of wild weather have had more than they needed with the constant gloom and flooding problems taking the headlines.

 

Another minus has been the negative effect on Model Discussion where we have seen week after week of the same Atlantic dominated outputs with no sign of any other pattern other than the week long tease of an easterly in mid-January.

 

I think i can safely say from a cold lovers pov i have lived through the best (62/63) and the worst (13/14) Winters in 65years.

Edited February 23, 2014 by phil nw.

[Costa Del Fal]

Thing is this winter is only 'terrible' to those purely after snow, which is a shame to an extent when the British weather can throw so much else as it has done this weekend. Whilst I feel very sorry for those flooded, injured etc from the recent storms, its thrown a hell of a lot of Interesting weather.

 

From storm surges, gales, torrential rain, hail, sleet, snow showers, thunder and lightning we have had the whole kitchen sink this winter here and interest wise its been fantastic overall. Its only poor for those who are directly after snow. Might be good for those to take an interest in what else can be thrown at us!

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Thing is this winter is only 'terrible' to those purely after snow, which is a shame to an extent when the British weather can throw so much else as it has done this weekend. Whilst I feel very sorry for those flooded, injured etc from the recent storms, its thrown a hell of a lot of Interesting weather.

 

From storm surges, gales, torrential rain, hail, sleet, snow showers, thunder and lightning we have had the whole kitchen sink this winter here and interest wise its been fantastic overall. Its only poor for those who are directly after snow. Might be good for those to take an interest in what else can be thrown at us!

 

Disagree, majority of people generally like dry and sunny in winter even if cold, not many like dark, wind, storms and flooding, gale damage

[Nick L]

Thing is this winter is only 'terrible' to those purely after snow, which is a shame to an extent when the British weather can throw so much else as it has done this weekend. Whilst I feel very sorry for those flooded, injured etc from the recent storms, its thrown a hell of a lot of Interesting weather.

 

From storm surges, gales, torrential rain, hail, sleet, snow showers, thunder and lightning we have had the whole kitchen sink this winter here and interest wise its been fantastic overall. Its only poor for those who are directly after snow. Might be good for those to take an interest in what else can be thrown at us!

 

It's been poor for the vast majority of the population. I'm all for the occasional storm and wet and wild weather, but day-after-day getting soaked to the bone from the rain - absolutely sick of it. Farmers in the south will be ruined after this winter as well. You'll be hard-pressed to find many people who have genuinely enjoyed this winter.

 

In fact, it's the monotony of the weather that has annoyed me most about this winter. Constant rain, wind and average temperatures. Dull dull dull!

[Costa Del Fal]

True it has been very monotonous and I have missed the sun and warmth and cant wait for Summer to kick in. Perhaps I have been lucky down here right at the bottom end of the country and very exposed to much of the weather thrown at us so I have seen a bit of everything. but yes I am all for dry, sunny and warm now!

Disagree, majority of people generally like dry and sunny in winter even if cold, not many like dark, wind, storms and flooding, gale damage

You seem to prefer it in Summer though...

 

:lol:

[March Blizzard]

To be honest I have found a bit of interest in this winter; I may even rank it slightly higher than the one before it! (Don't shoot!)

The reason is that I like hard frosts and low minima, and although this winter hasn't delivered that at all the storms and rain have provided something of a distraction from the shocking reality in regards to temperatures.

For me, last winter was very disappointing, with very few cold nights (here at least). The difference is that the lack of low minima was more noticeable because no other weather at the time was sparking any interest for me. As a result, I was more aware and conscious of the lack of my preferred winter weather type than I have been this winter.

[Terminal Moraine]

As someone who likes rain and gales almost as much as cold and snow this winter started badly, improved markedly from the second half of December through to mid-February and then fizzled away pitifully.

The worst possible winters are a combination of mild and dry and for that reason 1988/89 is the worst, just edging it over 1997/98 and 2007/08. 1963/64 was up there too although it was a bit colder than the aforementioned three.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I find Blizzards's stance very understandable- I remember numerous occasions when I was radar watching and seeing dramatic squalls, hail showers and thunderstorms hitting large areas of Cornwall and the region also often got the strongest winds.  We've had very little of those weather types up here though- regional variation is often a significant factor behind differing opinions on how interesting or not the weather is.

[sundog]

This winter has to be up there with the worst winters and probably would get  my vote as worst winter,its been a winter to forget for cold lovers,i dont mind the odd storm and a bit of rain now and again but im just sick to death of this weather pattern thats wiped out our winter this year. 3 slight air frosts and a dusting of snow was my lot for this winter,dire. Coldest temp -0.4c,shocking!!

When we first got into this pattern i thought it would last for perhaps 3 wks ,maybe 5 or 6 wks at worst but certainly not the rest of the bloody winter!!

I just want spring to arrive now ,i suppose i would not mind seeing some spring cold snaps if they were to happen but i dont really care at this stage.

In recent yrs 2006/07 was terrible,2007/08 a little better but still terrible. I really hated  winter 2011/12 which was a dire winter for my location,had 2 slight dusting during the first half of Dec that winter but that was as much snow as i got and very few air frosts although more then this yr which would not be difficult.

[spindrift1980]

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this winter.  The weather on low ground has been hellish for obvious reasons, but the sheer amount of snowfall at altitude in the Scottish Highlands has been incredible, easily surpassing the much colder but drier recent winters, and has offered some memorable winter hillwalks on the (admittedly rare) occasions when the wind hasn't been howling.  There will almost certainly be more snow surviving far into the summer than for many years, so this will continue to provide snow-related interest. The regular Atlantic storms when combined with the narrow temperature range, with temperatures at Munro level constantly a couple of degrees either side of freezing (mostly below), have really delivered the snow for the West Highlands in particular.

 

There has been a notable lack this winter of the very mild south-westerly sourced air which brought rain and 6-8C temperatures even to the highest mountains for long periods during many winters in the mid 2000s so this winter has had much more interest than many 90s/2000s winters from this point of view. 

 

I thought I would contribute this as a bit of an alternative perspective on this winter.  Hopefully all of this doesn't come across as insensitive to those who have suffered horribly with the flooding in areas which are going to struggle to get back on their feet.  However, far from being snowless, a large section of the UK's landmass (if not population) has in fact experienced copious snowfall this winter.

Edited February 24, 2014 by spindrift1980

[AderynCoch]

I'm going to go for 97/98 or 06/07, or maybe even 07/08.

 

I would never call this current abomination of a season a "winter".

[syed2878]

worst winter for me 88-89 97-98 and of course this excuse of a winter. This winter no lieing snow and only 2days of snow falling. This winter at time tested my paytiont can't waight to c the back of this jaffa cakes take of a winter.

[Summer of 95]

This winter here hasn't been good for anyone. Even ducks are sick of it.The majority of us are of course "coldies" and a winter with only one max below 5C isn't going to excite us.

But additionally its been a poor winter for "mildies": long stretches of days in double figures have been absent too. Its just been 6-9C and raining virtually every day. Nobody likes that!

[Lettucing Gutted]

Without a doubt winter 2013/2014 has to the worst winter in my life for its horrible combination of miserable weather, mildness, wind and rain and the complete lack of anything even remotely wintry.  Even my TV aerial has been wrecked by this wretched weather!  However all of these other winters listed below are almost as bad:-

-1987/1988, 1988/1989 (second worst winter)

-1989/1990, 1991/1992, 1992/1993, 1994/1995, 1997/1998, 1998/1999

-1999/2000, 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2006/2007 (third worst winter), 2007/2008

-2011/2012

 

Rest In Pieces winter 2013/2014!

Edited February 24, 2014 by Craig Evans

[MP-R]

This winter will definitely go down as my worst experienced, more so than 2006-2007 (which had one cold spell per month and two snowfalls), 2007-2008 (which had a cold spell in December and in February), and 1999-2000 (which had a cold spell around Christmas but was a lot drier throughout). The things that have really got me this winter are the monotonous temperatures, neither mild nor cold. There have been very few days above 10C but also very few below 5C and air frosts have been a stranger this winter, a fundamental requirement of winter. This weather pattern was fun while it lasted in December but by New Year it had already reared its ugly head on certain communities with wind damage and floods. I was really hoping for a more traditional pattern change to something colder in January but it just didn't happen.

 

Perhaps this year was our year off and we'll actually have a winter next time round.

[Carl46Wrexham]

Thing is this winter is only 'terrible' to those purely after snow, which is a shame to an extent when the British weather can throw so much else as it has done this weekend. Whilst I feel very sorry for those flooded, injured etc from the recent storms, its thrown a hell of a lot of Interesting weather.

 

From storm surges, gales, torrential rain, hail, sleet, snow showers, thunder and lightning we have had the whole kitchen sink this winter here and interest wise its been fantastic overall. Its only poor for those who are directly after snow. Might be good for those to take an interest in what else can be thrown at us!

 

Disagree....It has been terrible for those who were and still are desperately in need of a sustained period of dry weather. I stopped looking for snow in January, the novelty of destructive storm surges, damaging winds and relentless flooding rains had well and truly worn off by then. Such weather has no "interest" to the vast majority whatsoever!

Edited February 24, 2014 by Carl46Wrexham

[Terminal Moraine]

But additionally its been a poor winter for "mildies": long stretches of days in double figures have been absent too. Its just been 6-9C and raining virtually every day. Nobody likes that!

 

A sweeping generalisation which excludes the minority of people, some may say 'tiny minority', of whom I am the self proclaimed Chief Executive, who are just as happy if it rains every day as if it snows every day; and if there are severe gales thrown in for good measure then all the better.

Despite the lack of cold, once the anticyclonic spell in early December was out of the way, I have found this winter's weather entirely fascinating.  My biggest disappointment lies in the failure of the jet stream to maintain its vigour until the end of February and give us ( here ) a shot at the wettest winter on record.

Obviously I sympathise with those unfortunate people who have suffered weeks of serious flooding but my love of exceptional rainfall is no more a wish to see people flooded than my love of exceptional gales is a wish to have my own roof blown off; it just happens occasionally.

I like my weather to come with challenging behaviour and,  meteorologically, I'd rather be getting battered in the moshpit than sipping tea at the vicar's garden party.    

[95 Degrees]

The late 90s were very mild around here and with no snow in 1998 or 1999, however this might just be the mildest and least snowiest since at least 99/00, with very few frosts and hasn't gotten below -1C, 07/08 was also very mild but March and April made up for it.

[SP1986]

I'm not going to use the term worst winter because that's a subjective term that most weather enthusiasts as a whole won't necessarily agree with,though people who only like one type of weather will of course.

For me the mildest winter was 2006-07 as we had no air frost that winter, with a low of 0.2C although we did get snow I think. This winter comes in as the second most un-wintry season with 1 air frost all winter of -0.7C back in December. A very short snowfall which did not settle...

2013-14 winter has been interesting though little inconvenient for some.

Edited February 24, 2014 by SP1986

[cheeky_monkey]

ummm probably 1988-89..in fact the three winters 87-88,88-89,89-90 were all woeful...the winters from 97 onwards to 08 were all relatively mild and wet (apart from 05-06) 94-95 was a shocker too wet and mild....obviously i have not been in then UK for this winter but sounds like it would have not been enjoyable...still just to rub salt into the wounds..its -30c here in Calgary right now.

[DELETED]

This winter by far, caused so much disruption and damage

[NeilN]

I'm not a fan of winter, but this has to be the worst one ever. So much rain and wind, just depressing. 2006/07 and 2007/08 follow this along with 2011/12 - that was a stinker of a winter. I was shocked how very mild it was in late December! I'm hoping summer doesn't go the same way as those years.

[Nick L]

I'm not going to use the term worst winter because that's a subjective term that most weather enthusiasts as a whole won't necessarily agree with,though people who only like one type of weather will of course.For me the mildest winter was 2006-07 as we had no air frost that winter, with a low of 0.2C although we did get snow I think. This winter comes in as the second most un-wintry season with 1 air frost all winter of -0.7C back in December. A very short snowfall which did not settle...2013-14 winter has been interesting though little inconvenient for some.

 

Well, that's why I said *your* worst winter, based on your personal preferences. So for a "mildy", some of the recent cold winters would be amongst their worst ones.

 

Indeed, there are a minority who have enjoyed this winter, but they are very much in the minority.

[Jax]

I think our wants and likes change as time moves on, a really snowy winter or a wet one like this can be a real bugger if your a farmer for instance, but when your younger and heavy snow present a day off school and fun can seem nice but there is a good chance your parents are not happy.

 

 

This winter has been bad for me as it has stopped the visits to the local wetlands areas as they are "too bloody wet", think many will be glad to get this one over and done with.