There is an element of 'in my back yard' to December 2010, despite the widespread nature of the cold and snow.
IMBY the snow amounts were really not that much, half a foot at most, and that peak depth only survived one afternoon before some sleety rain compacted it into ice. If anything, January 2010 delivered better on that front, as did February 2009.
The cold itself was impressive though, with numerous minimums of -5 to -10*C, which had not been experienced before and hasn't been repeated since.
The main issue was that the precipitation mostly came from Channel lows that pulled in just a bit too much milder low-level air from the Channel without enough cold air to combat it. I was surprised in a bad way by this, given that Channel lows have been responsible for some of the South's most legendary snowstorms. I think the problem was that the main thrust of the cold arrived from the north, with no long-fetch flow of cold air from the continent - instead cold air was dragged in from the North Sea, where it had been sitting for a day or two, and had therefore seen a fair bit of moderation, particularly at the low levels. It wasn't enough to counter the Channel air and keep the snow falling.
So for residents in the far South, en epic snowstorm is still a long time coming - the last arguably being in early 1991 based on various accounts I've read over the years.
Originally Posted by: Rob K