There seems to be a few downbeat threads looking at snow non-events etc.

I thought one were we can reminisce about each of our most memorable cold spells might soften the mood.

I will start...

Mine was in the mid 1980's. I was around 10 years of age and was rather restless in bed about 5:30am, my room was almost pitch black with only a kink in the curtains letting any light in. I opened my eyes and noticed the lighting seemed different, glancing at the window I noticed everything seemed incredibly orange. I had no idea at the time why this was the case and thought it might possibly be smoke from something on fire outside. I jumped out of bed and noticed the orange was even more pronounced than I thought. On closer inspection I noticed very large snow flakes falling and a covering of powdery snow everywhere outside of around 6 inches.

As everyone was asleep I kept quiet but quickly got dressed and went outside to investigate. As it was so early and we lived in a secluded cul-de-sac the snow was unspoilt, not even a footprint in sight apart from my own. It looked like a scene straight from a Christmas card. The snow was falling so heavily that even the snow I had scraped from my fathers windscreen to make a snowball was quickly replenished. Around an hour later and eager to see what it was like in the neighbouring streets I offered to go to the shops and buy the newspaper for my father. Another couple of inches had fallen in this time and the early morning pedestrians had abonded the pavements and were walking up the centre of the roads, this was not an issue as there were almost no cars trying to navigate through the deep snow.

I was exited to walk the mile to school and see what the rest of the area was like. Just before setting out my mother telephoned the school and was told we had the day off! What a start to the day, loads of snow and now no school. It kept snowing the rest of the day and by night-time there was around a foot of level snow. I remember it was around this time I took an interest in the television weather forecasts and can recall the -10 symbol being used frequently during this spell. Every day for a week there seemed to a fresh fall of snow between 3" and 6" and at it's peak there was comfortably over 2 foot of snow. On the hills were I would venture with my sledge the drifts were easily 5 or 6 foot. I built my first igloo and it was around 10 days before I eventually had to return to school.

Looking back I think it captured my imagination the way snow can bring everything to a standstill and make people pull together in a way they often do not when they are consumed by the every day grind of normal life. It also made the landscape lovely and encouraged people to appreciate the basics for a short while at least. I am fairly certain it was this spell of weather which got me interested in the snow and reading these forums each year in the hope of a similar cold spell. I guess the snow envokes these fond memories from my childhood.

Would love to hear other member's memories.

6th Feb 2009 was good but the best coldest and most snowiest spell was from 28th November 2010 and lasted until 27th December 2010.

Over 8" of snow fell in total and 2-3" lasted almost 3 weeks and the fact that there was lying snow on Christmas day made it all that more memorable. Frosty nights and ice days and a low of -11c. This was whilst I lived near Honiton but some parts got as low as -13 or -14c.

End of November 2010: - Just the start.

Nice post, remarkable temperatures for the SW!

Winter of '79

December 1981

December 2010

Proper winter periods...  ☺

As this some would say rather pathetic cold spell comes to an end I wondered what were the best cold spells I have ever known, so I thought I would make a list and break them down into cold spell length as size does matter.

So here are my best ever cold spells, what are yours?

Best Day: January 8th 1982: Birmingham: 33cms of snow strong wind and maximum temperature of -3.4c

Best Week: W/C December 7th 1981: Birmingham: 3 heavy snowfalls in 7 days amounting to 20cms and temps down to -16c

Best Fortnight: Fortnight Commencing 27th November 2010: Penrith: 6 snowfalls amounting to 25cms lowest temp -19c

Best Month: January 1979: Birmingham: Numerous snowfalls amounting to 35cms, 25 days of lying snow and 20 days of falling snow.

The 2cms of snow and -5c frost this week just doesn't cut it!

Andy

Probably 1995  we had about 6 Inches of snow - the most ive ever seen lying at my home address.

Started snowing in the afternoon in school.  Snow got its act together around 5pm.  by 6pm everywhere was white.  We were making snowmen by 9pm.

The next day it was still lightly snowing.  I remember trying to head to school and being amazed at how much snow had fallen.. I hadnt seen that much snow before - even on my trips to the welsh hills for sledging (where we go as kids to get our snow fixes).  Anyway - the train to school froze to the line at our station, so we turned around - went back to my mates house got chanegd and spent the rest of the day playing in the snow.

It snowed again slightly that night again giving a dusting on the snow cleared paths.  This was one of the few ever times ive witnessed snow on snow at my home address.

Snow lasted around 3-4 days.

This kinda things just doesnt happen in our part of the world. 

The end of November 2010 brought several mornings of frosts and Rime (freezing fog) in my village of Offwell:

Temps were down to -4c to -5c for several nights in a row come end of November 2010.

2nd December 2010 brought a covering of powdery snow at -2c to Offwell: - Look at the extend of the snow in Laura Tobin's forecast. WHat a perfect start to the winter.

The result was 2 - 3" of powdery snow during that night and waking up to a crisp but winter wonderland: - This snow froze at night and barely melted though the day:

The snow cover during the first week of December 2010:

The second snowfall on 19th/20th December and then 3" of snow on 20th December brought the total accumulation of up to 8" in some places and 6-7" in Honiton and 6" in Exeter city. - See below photo of snowplough through Honiton high street 20th December 2010: - This lasted right until boxing day into 27th December 2010.

Two candidates for my best cold day ever:

8 February 1991: the only full day I ever had off school due to snow, and the last time I saw 20cm. (I've nearly always lived in various parts of Worcestershire, so 20cm was startling then, too.) And it was a Friday, so it meant a long weekend!

26 December 2010: walking down to Bewdley town centre at 2pm with the temperature -6 °C to see the River Severn frozen from bank to bank for the first time since 1963.

As for actual spells, I don't really remember much about 1979 or 1981-82, though I do just about remember walking to school in the latter spell when it must have been -15 °C or below on several occasions! Feb 1991 is up there, as actually is Mar 2013, which brought very rare double-figure (cm) snow depth to Bewdley.

But I think it has to be Nov-Dec 2010. We didn't get any massive snowfalls (max depth was just 8cm) but there were so many highlights. The frozen river as mentioned, an amazing rime display, 20 mornings with snow cover, 22 air frosts, eleven ice days, my record low max (-4.4 °C) and min (-11.5 °C) -- and perhaps most of all the wonderful knowledge that if anything fell out of the sky, it would definitely be snow, and that it would stick around.

I like these threads. It reminds me of what could happen - one day.

Best winter day - Jan 12th, 1987. A truly incredible depth of cold with -18C uppers and -7C surface max on the South Coast with drifting powder snow and a NE gale.

Best winter spells - Feb 1978 (Channel Low blizzards); Jam 1987 (see above) and Feb 1991 (the Ian MacCaskill 'a grim outlook, wrap up well' forecast).

I was born in 1963 which might go a long way to explaining my fascination for cold and snow but the oldies still talk about it around here.

There's been many memorable cold spells over the years, here's just a few of them:

In terms of sheer cold then it is January 2010 and December 2010, I recorded -17.7C here in January 2010 during over a foot of snow and freezing fog. Felt amazing to feel that cold on your face. Proper continental air. And also January 1987. March 2013 also sticks out from recent years.

In terms of snow then it's the 70's and 80's that have had the best snow since we moved in this house in the early 70's. I remember enormous drifts around here, think one of those times was the late 70's when we had snow to the top of the door on a number of occasions and took days to clear/dig out the lane. Then similar some similar conditions in the early/mid 80's. February 1991 wasn't too far off it either also with a lot of snow. I do wonder if I will ever experience those sorts of conditions again in what I have left of my life.

Definitely Feb 1991 by an absolute mile.

My road was closed by snow for over a week, I remember lying in the snow in the middle of the road, no-one could see me though because it was so deep (apart from the hole obviously), I reckon we had at least 2ft-3ft of snow, never mind the drifting.

Lasted for around 2 weeks IIRC, fantastic time as a kid.

December 2010 was pretty good, mainly for the cold though (broke my weather station), Jan 2010 gets forgotten, decent period of snow then too.

1987, no doubt about it. No power for a week, near enough two weeks off school as we were completely cut off, eventually going back to school in the coach and seeing snow wallls that were taller than the bus itself either side. Icicles that were 2 to 3 feet long (at least until my dad snapped them off!). Two feet of level snow and bread and milk delivered by Chinook helicopter to the field at the top of the road. We were the only ones in our road who had a gas connection, so we ended up making hot meals for the neighbours (I'm guessing we used their supplies, as I don't think we had enough food otherwise!)

That was truly a once in a lifetime thing and I don't expect to see anything even remotely close again.

Without a shadow of a doubt, 1987 for me too....the scenes I saw that week while out with the Army to Sheppey have never been surpassed. So many incredible moments, with one of the biggest being trudging through deep snow, and sinking down...onto the top of a park bench below!

The mile long queue to get a pint of milk on the island.

Getting stuck in a whiteout on the approach to Sheppey bridge...and seeing the Ghurka soldiers I was with getting a little scared! 

Putting out appeals on BBC Radio Kent for anyone with a 4x4 to lend us their vehicles so we could transport Drs/Nurses to A&E.

Coming with seconds of having frostbite on my fingers, after handling bags of snow covered dirty linen from Sheppey General (no longer there) onto the back of an Army lorry....without gloves!

Can't really add any more on Jive Buddy's post - that mid-January 1987 event was "proper" stuff. Odd to think that 10 months later, we went onto experiencing a once in every 200 years windstorm!

In terms of the most recent stuff, the thunder snow of Feb 11th 2010 sprang to mind. And I can use the term properly as it did pack a punch complete with actual lightning and thunder as highly convective snow showers rattled in from the North Sea overnight and into the morning to pepper this end of Kent, I ended up with 23 cm of level soft fresh snow by the middle part of the morning. It was a short lived affair where most of the snow were all gone 48 hours later but it was fun while it lasted. 

Like the other members of the Kent mafia, 1987 without a shadow of doubt.

The coldest day in the South East, over a foot of lying snow, six foot drifts, cut off from the outside world for two days, walking on top of the snow drifts to get to the pub. Short-lived but an absolutely amazing cold spell that I suspect may never be repeated.

As I'm old enough to remember it, I would have to say the winter of 1962-63.

The cold spell started on 26th December with two great snowfalls between Boxing Day and the new year both of a foot or more each in my neck of the woods (Kent at the time)

The snow was on the ground all the way through till early-mid March

I was living here in Richmond in 1987 although my parents still lived in Bromley in Kent and I seriously missed out on the heavy snowfall of 1987 although my parents reckoned in Bromley it was deeper than 1962/3

The heaviest snowfall in my own experience was 19-20 February 1969 when I was living in Whitestone about 8 miles outside Exeter, Devon and because of the elevation this overnight snowfall/blizzard gave a seriously heavy fall and we were cut off for 3 days. It was quite a short lived cold spell though and a couple of days later the temperature was back up to over 10C leading to some serious flooding

Pic is of Feb 1969 in Whitestone just outside Exeter

1987 and 1991. But I was living near Heathrow at the time and having lived in EA since 2006 nothing has come close yet.

You could probably add a couple other 80's winters to that list. I actually moved out this way to improve the chances of decent snowfalls as they seemed to always get it during the snow drought years i experienced (in comparison) after 91. Funny though that as far as i know they got a good few snowfalls after I'd gone whereas i had to watch from the stands with very little. God help the Scots Ski industry if i ever move to cairngorm.

The best snowfall here was during 2012/13 15-20cms from one snowfall that was never topped up and slowly died.

February 1979 around Valentines day. Think it snowed non stop for nearly two days with strong Easterly winds. Ended up with easily a foot on lying snow were it hadn't drifted. Six foot plus drifts cut off our village on five separate roads. Remember the snow lasted for ages on the ground and I'm sure it wasnt till the end of February till I saw the grass on the lawn again.

December 1981 - Sure it was around the 10/11 or 12th when a channel low gave nearly a foot of snow here with again huge drifts shutting several roads in/out of the village. Further snow fell before Xmas and the cold temperatures and snow remained right thro till just before new year. This was the only time I recall seeing snow cover on the ground on Xmas day though it didnt actually snow on the day itself.

Some memorable cold spells here:

February 1991: Very cold with the reservoirs freezing over. Some snow later.

February 1996: It snowed for some 18 hours giving around a foot. A prolonged cold frosty period followed which delivered some impressive minimums and the snow barely thawed.

November 2005: The snowiest November for a long time. An unexpected 4-5 inches overnight and then some cold frosty weather.

February 2007: A generally rubbish winter but two heavy snowfalls in 2 days, the last of which was completely unforecast and gave around 8 inches. Memorable just for that.

December 2008: No snow but one of the most impressive anticyclonic frosty periods I've seen. Streams and lakes froze over.

February 2009: Heavy prolonged snow showers from an easterly... here?! Then we had several battle ground snow events which gave a few inches each time. Great spell. Impressive cold and frosts too.

December 2009 Very cold and 3-4 inches of snow from a northerly late December.

January 2010: 4-5 inches fell overnight early in the month. Then later in the month a battleground snow event that gave 7-8 inches of snow. Impressive cold also.

Mid November-December 2010: Exceptional period of sustained cold. A streamer from a northerly in mid-December gave 8-9 inches overnight which remained essentially unthawed until the last few days of the month.

January 2013: A slider gave arond 8 inches of snow. Two more lesser snow events gave another 4 inches. About a week of ice days resulted in no thaw whatsoever.

Probably the most memorable of all was February 1996 and December 2010. This current spell suffice to say is not to fit lick any of the above's boots.

I vote for this day too. Never experienced anything like this before, or since. Just an incredible day - it was actually painful to be outside.

If I could experience just one more day like that in the UK before I die, I will be happy

Standing on Southsea beach (Portsmouth) in deep snow in January 2010 will never leave my mind. In some ways I never appreciated just how rare that event was until looking back a few years later:

I have often wondered how many years it will be before I have a chance to experience that again. I suppose I could cut that down by moving a long way north... but in some ways that wouldn't be the same - not as extraordinary.