Snow Days in the UK historically?

[Aristotle]

I'm in my late 40s. I grew up in Merseyside/SW Lancs.

I remember the snow and ice of 1981/1982. We went tobogganing on a hill near home and saw some Scottish people skiing!

We lived at low altitude and had a few days of snow per year through the 1980s and 1990s. Winter Hill was the nearest place that would have deep snow and I went up there with my Dad.

Nowadays, even the hills North and East of Manchester don't appear to have snow cover for much of the winter. I did take my son up Winter Hill on the one good snow day a couple of years ago.

Even the Cairngorms and Lakeland mountains don't get much snow now.

I know that The Pennines could be quite snowy during "The Little Ice Age", but what about between then and now?

How long ago was it that "the hills" (of various altitudes) in the UK consistently had snow cover for a significant period over the course of a winter?

Some animals still have a white winter coat, so it must have been common for quite some time.

 

[Toddy]

I mind that time too.
I am becoming old, and I have a kind of mental tally that every fifteen years or so we get really, really heavy hard cold snow weather.
I was talking to my Dad about it when I was a teenager, by then I'd only seen that twice....and he said that he had seen it too, so that took us back to 1918 when he was seven, and he said that his grandpa had talked about it too, and that he minded the hard snows of of 1820 and that his parents had talked about earlier ones.

It seems to cycle.

I went looking and I have found this brilliant read of a site....

The History of British Winters - Netweather.tv

Explore the history of UK winters, from famous blizzards to record-breaking mild spells. Discover the stories behind the seasons.

www.netweather.tv

 

[FerlasDave]

2012 for me was the last great snow we had. I remember a bunch of us signed out one of the vehicles and went off building snow holes in the nearby hills. A few days later we were up in the mountains enjoying some gully’s and there were talks of frozen waterfalls ready to climb.

It all seemed to last for months, I’m sure it was probably a week or so but I don’t think we’ve had a good dump of snow like that since.

 

[HillBill]

Solar cycles fluctuate over time (warmer and colder) Then there are the longer term cycles (the Bray and Eddy cycles) which influence global temps. Right now, the are both in the ascendancy, after the little ice age. That and the magnetic N pole is moving towards Siberia at an increasing rate, leaving us behind. ( they even had to re calibrate GPS systems several years ago to account for it.) It used to be colder by default, but now the entire arctic circle is drifting away from us, with it goes the colder weather.

The Earth wobbles on its axis over a 26k year period (the axial precession) Which causes changes to local climates.

Polar drift - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

F1wwJ7DX0AEg7oi by Mark Hill, on Flickr

 

[Jared]

I remember the 82 snow storm, 2 days of constant snow, woke up one morning and the snow drift against the house was above the backdoor.

The 1982 blizzard when it snowed for 36 hours

The snow storm caused massive disruption, shutting schools and cutting off remote villages.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Hammock_man]

My Mum left for India when She was 8 years old. Returned some 20 years later. Point being She also insisted that nearly every Christmas was a white Christmas. Top wack she could recall 5 Christmases but she swore they had snow . Mind plays funny tricks.

 

[haptalaon]

How long ago was it that "the hills" (of various altitudes) in the UK consistently had snow cover for a significant period over the course of a winter?

Some animals still have a white winter coat, so it must have been common for quite some time.

My driving instructor in the Welsh valleys said in the 1970s,the mountain roads would be shut all winter. Doesn't happen now, there's often one day but nowhere near the same.

The impact of man-made climate change and ecological destruction is a disturbing thing to contemplate. And especially the loss of memory as every new generation grows up with a new ecological normal. The one that bothers me is the lack of wasps and bees ruining your afternoon if you have a fizzy drink outside in a summer beer garden.

 

[John59]

I remember in the mid 1970s having to dig myself and pushbike into our back yard because the snow was so deep.
It was great!
We got sent home from senior school every time it snowed

 

[Toddy]

It was deep here in the 1980's too.....my brother wandered up to the primary school with his big alsation and the sledge to bring the boys home.
It's one of those stuck in the mind things for two wee boys aged five and seven

 

[Aristotle]

So was there ever a time (post ice age...) when inhabitated areas in the UK routinely had long periods of snow cover during the winter, rather than rare/sporadic?

Hill and mountain areas?

Scottish Highlands?
Northumbria?
Wales?

 

[Pattree]

I spent my childhood in South Manchester and we always expected weeks of snow that you could sledge in every winter.

The seventeenth century mini ice age is well documented. Thames freezing etc.

Every year there would be a snow fort in the school field at some point. First snow was usually mid November. It often got deep in the new year.

White Christmases were rare. I have no idea whether the old Beaumont Periods have any validity but a mild end to the year did seem common.

 

[Aristotle]

I spent my childhood in South Manchester and we always expected weeks of snow that you could sledge in every winter.

The seventeenth century mini ice age is well documented. Thames freezing etc.

Every year there would be a snow fort in the school field at some point. First snow was usually mid November. It often got deep in the new year.

White Christmases were rare. I have no idea whether the old Beaumont Periods have any validity but a mild end to the year did seem common.

What era were you at school? Do you mean "a week of snow every winter", rather than "many weeks of snow every winter"?

 

[Pattree]

50’s to 60’s

It varied. There were winters where the snow lasted for months. The link is East Anglia but Manchester had it just as long. I used to go to the shops with my sledge.

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-02-28/60-years-on-from-the-big-freeze-of-1963-when-winters-were-real-winters

When it snowed you could usually be confident that you had a couple of weekends to go sledging.

Edited to add:
Winter of 82 the snow lasted for months. It was the last deep snow we’ve had here in the Midlands.

 

[Aristotle]

As above, I remember 1981 & 1982? being snowy, although I was only 4-5 at the time.

My Dad also remembers the winter of 1963, although that is because it was an outlier.

The winter in 1945 or 1946 was apparently very cold too, from what I have read.

I wonder if snow was as common as it was remembered?

 

[Pattree]

Oh yes, it most certainly was!
Cold winters and snow faded out in the seventies and eighties There was no snow at all one year (in the NW) but that, at the time, was remarkable.
Just look at the Ealing Studios films of the times. That’s real snow, usually in the Home Counties.

We didn’t have “snow day” off school. We were sent home early in particularly thick fogs to be home before dark.

 

[Glow_worm]

This page -alright, I know, wikipedia- gives an interesting overview and links to further pages detailing cold spells...

 

[Aristotle]

This page -alright, I know, wikipedia- gives an interesting overview and links to further pages detailing cold spells...

"The Beast from the East" gets a mention, but that was very short-lived and wasn't even particularly beastly in NW England.

 

[Glow_worm]

Fantastic drifts in the West Country though, not seen for a long time. The good thing about that list is that includes freak weather

 

[jcr71]

i recall two white Christmases in my lifetime. one in the 70's and one in the early 80's.