Winter 80/81

[Sunny76]

Like 79/80, winter 80/81 seems to be another forgotten one. Another snowless one for down south if memory serves me well. I was only young at the time, but don’t recall any snow for London, and this was the second year in a row during this point.

Anyone else have any memories of this winter? Apart from ABBA having their last number 1, and Ultravox appearing on the music scene.

[hillbilly]

Here in the pennines we always get snow but yes apart from a few coverings it was very little in these parts.There was however a price to pay for this mild winter ,it would not come in March but the last week of April ,the craziest weather event in my lifetime!

[hillbilly]

1981 It was quite sunny in the first half, particularly in the north. In some places it was the warmest first half of April for twenty years, but the second half as the coldest of the century; hence temperatures overall were not too far off average. It was cloudier at times in the south, with some rain. Thunderstorms gave 83.6 mm of rain at Horsham on the 14th, leading to severe flooding. 86 mm of rain fell at Horsham (Sussex) on the 14th. Around Easter most of the country was cloudless. Cold weather came south from the Arctic on Easter Monday, the 20th, as northerly winds set in. Then very cold air swept south on the 22nd, interacting with a complex low moving east across the Midlands to bring snow. It was -11C at Dalwhinnie (Highland) on the night of the 23rd. There was a maximum of only 1C at Leeming (Yorks.) and Nottingham on the 24th. From Birmingham to Nottingham the afternoon maxima did not exceed 3C from the 24-26th. In hilly districts the temperature remained permanently subzero. There was a great blizzard with thunder on the 24th and 26th; particularly affecting the Pennines, the west, southwest, and even Salisbury Plain and the Cotswolds. Thunder and northerly winds of 40 mph. There was 20 cm of snow on the night of the 25th across southern and western England and Wales: 66 cm was reported in Gloucestershire. Level snow of 60 cm around the Peak District with 20' drifts reported. The snow was wet and drifted in very strong winds: 20' high drifts were recorded in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The Snake Pass in Derbyshire was closed because of the risk of an avalanche. There was widespread disruption to power supplies, farming (particularly on Dartmoor), particularly livestock, and traffic. The thaw led to serious flooding in the east Midlands, in some places the worst since 1947. Hence this month just shaves it as  An extract from Britweather for April 1981