What Is The Snowiest Place In The Different Parts Of The Uk?

[A Winter's Tale]

Like my thread "which types of snow events suits your area best", I want to find out which settlement is the best in the following areas:

Orkney & Shetland

Highlands & Eilean Siar

Grampian

Strathclyde

Central, Tayside & Fife

SW Scotland, Lothians Borders

Northern Ireland

Wales

NW England

NE England

Yorkshire & the Humber

West Midlands

East Midlands

East of England

SW England

London & the SE

For the Highlands I would imagine that the area around Aviemore is the snowiest. But I think I'll go for Dalwhinnhe.

Grampian would probably have to be Tomintoul

Strathclyde would probably be Bridge of Orchy

Central, Tayside & Fife would have to be either Tyndrum, Crianlarich, Aberfeldy, Blair Atholl

Anywhere else, well I'm unsure of where is the snowiest place to live?

[recklessabandon]

For NE England - in terms of towns Consett for sure, I would have also said Alston but it is Cumbria so I'll give that to the North-west.

For villages - I'd go for one of the upland Durham villages, maybe like Lanehead, Wearhead etc, though Waskeley might end up being an unlikely winner due to its susceptibility to picking up heavy snow from a nor'easterly wind too.....

I also think one or two of the Northumbrian villages in the Cheviot area might also get messy.....

Edited December 3, 2011 by recklessabandon

[Alex95]

For NE England - in terms of towns Consett for sure, I would have also said Alston but it is Cumbria so I'll give that to the North-west.

For villages - I'd go for one of the upland Durham villages, maybe like Lanehead, Wearhead etc, though Waskeley might end up being an unlikely winner due to its susceptibility to picking up heavy snow from a nor'easterly wind too.....

I also think one or two of the Northumbrian villages in the Cheviot area might also get messy.....

The area around Wooler often seems snowier than Consett/Stanley - it is further north with a similar elevation, and slightly better placed for snow from a straight northerly. Alston is definitely the snowiest town in England as it often gets heavy snow when even consett is getting rain.

I reckon Braemar is the snowiest place in the highlands.

Edited December 3, 2011 by alza

[Isolated Frost]

I agree with the above two- Consett can get to 300+m and does so well in ne and e airstreams and can get some snow when I don't in nw/w airflows but Wooler can do well off n airstreams aswell. For villages somewhere in upper teesdale or perhaps weardale must do very well, maybe the odd cheviot village aswell.

This is for the north east only though, for Scotland Tomintoul or Dalwhinnie must win.

[A Winter's Tale]

The area around Wooler often seems snowier than Consett/Stanley - it is further north with a similar elevation, and slightly better placed for snow from a straight northerly. Alston is definitely the snowiest town in England as it often gets heavy snow when even consett is getting rain.

I reckon Braemar is the snowiest place in the highlands.

Braemar is in Aberdeenshire aswell as the Highlands. The Highlands the met office refer to is the council area. But really the Highlands actually involve Argyll, W Dunbartonshire, Stirlng, Perthshire and Angus.

[Aaron]

For Yorkshire, it's probably somewhere like Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.

[Gorath]

Anecdotally, I'd have to say that the best place in Wales is the village of Betws y Coed, in Snowdonia.

It's actually a very low altitude village, at only 30m or so, but is surrounded on all sides by tall hills, meaning it gets very little direct sunshine. Due to this, the place has a strange microclimate all of it's own.

It almost always seems to get lying snow first, and holds on to it the longest.

I've been trying to find records which would confirm or deny my suspicions about this, but I just draw up a blank.

If anyone has any evidence that supports or contradicts this, I'd be fascinated either way.

[TonyH]

http://www.metoffice.../ukmapavge.html

Edited December 3, 2011 by TonyH

[Wynn D Woo]

The Forest of Dean without a doubt gets the most snow in Gloucestershire, many is the times the vale has nothing whilst the FOD gets several cm or more, the Cotswolds do quite well but not as well as the forest for some reason.....

[casparjack]

For NE England - in terms of towns Consett for sure, I would have also said Alston but it is Cumbria so I'll give that to the North-west.

For villages - I'd go for one of the upland Durham villages, maybe like Lanehead, Wearhead etc, though Waskeley might end up being an unlikely winner due to its susceptibility to picking up heavy snow from a nor'easterly wind too.....

I also think one or two of the Northumbrian villages in the Cheviot area might also get messy.....

To add to those in Durham, Blanchland gets cut off regularly as does Muggleswick - drifting in an Easterly being the most likely cause...

[NorthYorksWeather]

In North Yorkshire the North York Moors is defiantly the best place to be, high elevation and very exposed to both Northerly and Easterly winds. After that the Yorkshire wolds can receive massive accumulations of snow whereas the vale of York can sometimes have 50% less. Last December we had 13 inches in York, whereas Thixendale in the wolds 18 miles east had 24 inches. Last winter Westerdale in the North York moors received 44 inches during November and December which is just mind blowing.

[Gorath]

http://www.metoffice.../ukmapavge.html

That does seem to support my theory about Betws y Coed somewhat, but is a little generalised.

Several times, there's been not a hint of snow a mere 2 or 3 miles away, but Betws is still white!

[recklessabandon]

To add to those in Durham, Blanchland gets cut off regularly as does Muggleswick - drifting in an Easterly being the most likely cause...

yeah they are in areas will very little tree or topographic shelter which means a nor'easterly or easterly has a pretty unrestricted run at the roads, compounded by DCC's woeful road management programme (but that's for another discussion!)

Also to alza - yeah I agree Wooler area is a good reference point and gets hammered, be interesting to see some proper numbers from that area, though under the right conditions (Dec 2009 for example) Consett can be hard to beat once the wind funnels up the Derwent Valley.....

[Static Prevails]

Somewhere like Buxton for the East Midlands.

[Jane Louise]

I'd say the Cotswolds does well for snow every year! I'm living not far off from the Forest Of Dean, so I have my fingers crossed. My landlord has been chopping up loads of logs daily and only mentioned today that when it snows here it certainly snows! and told me to be prepared with plenty of wood for the log fire.

[Costa Del Fal]

In The West Midlands region, in terms of Hills then surely Malvern or Shropshire hills are the best but in terms of populated settlements then Dudley is very good thanks to higher elevation. Its quite known for surrounding areas to have less snow whilst in Dudley there is considerably more.

[Gord]

In The West Midlands region, in terms of Hills then surely Malvern or Shropshire hills are the best but in terms of populated settlements then Dudley is very good thanks to higher elevation. Its quite known for surrounding areas to have less snow whilst in Dudley there is considerably more.

I can concur with this. There are some very local variations around here. It has been known to be raining here while a mile up the road in Brierley Hill there is an inch or 2 of snow on the ground. The Rowley Regis and Blackheath area can get more snow. There's a road here called Brettel Lane. It's a fairly long main road that goes from the northern part of Stourbridge uphill to Brierley Hill, I use it to get to my local Sainsburys. I've known to set off in heavy rain from my home, watch it turn to snow going up Brettel Lane...then back to rain again as I head back down towards home.

However, of course, some cold spells are so cold that we all end up with just plain snow!

Edited December 3, 2011 by Gord

[Costa Del Fal]

I can concur with this. There are some very local variations around here. It has been known to be raining here while a mile up the road in Brierley Hill there is an inch or 2 of snow on the ground. The Rowley Regis and Blackheath area can get more snow. There's a road here called Brettel Lane. It's a fairly long main road that goes from the northern part of Stourbridge uphill to Brierley Hill, I use it to get to my local Sainsburys. I've known to set off in heavy rain from my home, watch it turn to snow going up Brettel Lane...then back to rain again as I head back down towards home.

However, of course, some cold spells are so cold that we all end up with just plain snow!

Indeed, that road is a steady climb from Audnam to Brierley Hill. I remember a couple of years ago in February when it was quite snowy here yet when we got to Mill Race Lane in the Middle of Stourbridge that evening it was just a sleety mix with very little if any laying snow at all. The same happened on January 7th this year when here again had quickly laying snow, this time it was snowy in Stourbridge yet in Hagley there was none at all!

[AderynCoch]

For London & the SE, perhaps Whipsnade or High Wycombe.

[Aaron]

The North Downs are best for snow in the South East

Tomintoul is the snowiest settlement in the UK apparently

Edited December 3, 2011 by Aaron

[Terminal Moraine]

With regard to the East Midlands, where I live takes some beating if the wind is between SE and NE but overall the snowiest area would have to be Buxton and the surrounding villages. Being further north west that area benefits from frequent snow showers in cold W/NW air streams and these tend to occur more frequently than air flows from the E/NE.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Terminal Moraine

[80sWeather]

Fascinating thread this,Cambridgeshire and the fens are truly awful for snow,the sheer lack of any elevation means any easterly is just dry,northerlys miss us and end up in norfolk , suffolk and essex,many times have watched the echos on the radar have a hole in them over cambs ! Its good to hear all the places on here that get good amounts of snow,shall be re locating in the next few years !Lived in essex years ago and found that during easterlys,it can do very well for snow.

[damianslaw]

For NE England - in terms of towns Consett for sure, I would have also said Alston but it is Cumbria so I'll give that to the North-west.

For villages - I'd go for one of the upland Durham villages, maybe like Lanehead, Wearhead etc, though Waskeley might end up being an unlikely winner due to its susceptibility to picking up heavy snow from a nor'easterly wind too.....

I also think one or two of the Northumbrian villages in the Cheviot area might also get messy.....

For the NE England the Weardale valley is probably snowiest district - exposed to NE/E airstreams and can do very well out of frontal attacks from the west. I think I read Middleton in Teesdale is the snowiest largest village in NE England. Nenthead is the snowiest settlement in Cumbria with Alston just behind.

Shap often sees alot of snow as well but is slightly lower than Alston and much less exposed to NE/E blasts but it does better than Alston when NW winds or fronts move in from the west hitting cold air.

The top of Cross Fell is the snowiest location in England as a whole - beating Helvellyn.

[spindrift1980]

The North Downs are best for snow in the South East

Tomintoul is the snowiest settlement in the UK apparently

Yes, pretty sure Tomintoul has more snow-lying days on average than Braemar as it sits on the north-east side of the Cairngorms massif and is exposed to snowfall from almost all snow-bearing directions. Braemar is much more sheltered from snowfalls originating from the west through to northerly directions by a great swathe of 3000-4000+ foot mountains. Braemar at 337m asl has a long-term average of ~60 lying snow days per year but there are ~100 lying snow days to its west at Derry Lodge at 460m asl. and this rises to ~150 above 600m at the Derry (these are late 20th C figures so there might have been a slight decline since).

[phil b]

Looking at the snow map posted by TonyH birmingham appears to be snowiest large city not counting the Scottish cities of course, the extra altitude certainly does help

edit whoops looking again northampton, nottingham and leicester get about the same

Edited December 3, 2011 by phil b