Jump to content
Snow?
Local
Radar
Cold?
IGNORED

What If? It was the coldest winter in history?


Recommended Posts

Posted
  • Location: Outside Limavady.
  • Location: Outside Limavady.

Just had a quick shifty at this thread..and find it more than comical esp when comparing the UK to Canada...having lived the vast majority of my life in the UK and the last 5 years in Canada..i can tell you the UK would cope fine..Canadians dont do anything different except just go about their daily lives because it is the norm...my lifestyle in a Canadian winter is exactly the same as it was in a UK winter. After the first dump of snow chaos enuses here just like the UK for a few hours or a day..then people remember its winter and just revert their mind set for the next 4-6 months no big deal.

Thats exactly what happened in 2010.

I reckon we'd run out of grit thus making it much more difficult to get about, for deliveries of food, etc. Those on low incomes would struggle to keep their homes warm, the elderly would be particularly at risk of hypothermia. Perhaps the government would have an 'adopt an elderly person' policy so that those of us with warmer homes and a spare room could take in people for the winter!

 

Winter woolly sales would skyrocket, as would thermal underwear! If you could get out to buy them or get them delivered, that is! I think the economy would take a big hit from transport disruption. I think the majority of us would adapt, we'd have to, and we'd complain just as much as ever!

They didn't even use the salt in 2010 anyway! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Hot and Thundery, Cold and Snowy
  • Location: King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
Posted · Hidden by East_England_Stormchaser91, October 15, 2013 - No reason given
Hidden by East_England_Stormchaser91, October 15, 2013 - No reason given

 

Would this be too much to ask for!!Posted Image Posted Image

Link to comment
Posted
  • Location: Alresford, Near Colchester, Essex
  • Weather Preferences: As long as it's not North Sea muck, I'll cope.
  • Location: Alresford, Near Colchester, Essex

Looks phenomenal. The depth of the snow on the houses looks fairly similar to what it was like here, maybe a tad less, which surprises me (or perhaps I'm completely misjudging it!). Loving the icycles hanging off of the houses by the way!I realise my location isn't the best for cold and snow, but I've read and heard reports of very decent snow depths and drifts. I haven't witnessed it though! My parents talk of deep drifts in this area when they were younger, it just doesn't happen now though. Maybe one year it will happen.

My memories go back to the mid 70's.

 

From personal experience, I'd say that Feb '79 provided the biggest drifts in our area since then - a very large snowfall with major drifts.

 

There was big drifting over the New Year of '79 too - in my location not a huge amount on open ground - but around obstacles, like hedgerows, the drifts were very impressive . The fabled January '87 easterly provided huge snowfalls here, but I don't remember it blowing about as much as in Feb '79, however there was certainly some drifting. Feb '91 delivered another very large snowfall here. We've certainly had nothing to compare since, in my area - I guess parts of South London and other locations did very well in Feb '09 though, which might have been similar to Feb '91.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)
  • Weather Preferences: Unseasonably cold weather (at all times of year), wind, and thunderstorms.
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)

My memories go back to the mid 70's.From personal experience, I'd say that Feb '79 provided the biggest drifts in our area since then - a very large snowfall with major drifts.There was big drifting over the New Year of '79 too - in my location not a huge amount on open ground - but around obstacles, like hedgerows, the drifts were very impressive . The fabled January '87 easterly provided huge snowfalls here, but I don't remember it blowing about as much as in Feb '79, however there was certainly some drifting. Feb '91 delivered another very large snowfall here. We've certainly had nothing to compare since, in my area - I guess parts of South London and other locations did very well in Feb '09 though, which might have been similar to Feb '91.

Thanks, very interesting. Perhaps we are overdue...?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Droylsden, Manchester, 94 metres/308 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Dry/mild/warm/sunny/high pressure/no snow/no rain
  • Location: Droylsden, Manchester, 94 metres/308 feet ASL

My memories go back to the mid 70's.

 

From personal experience, I'd say that Feb '79 provided the biggest drifts in our area since then - a very large snowfall with major drifts.

 

There was big drifting over the New Year of '79 too - in my location not a huge amount on open ground - but around obstacles, like hedgerows, the drifts were very impressive . The fabled January '87 easterly provided huge snowfalls here, but I don't remember it blowing about as much as in Feb '79, however there was certainly some drifting. Feb '91 delivered another very large snowfall here. We've certainly had nothing to compare since, in my area - I guess parts of South London and other locations did very well in Feb '09 though, which might have been similar to Feb '91.

 

In December 2010 we had a couple of falls of about 8 inches I think but not a foot, last time we had a foot (30cm) or more of snow here was January 2010, before then it was Feb 1991, so 19 years to wait, not sure what we got in January 1987 or February 1986 as I was only a wee lad back then so don't remember.

Edited by Gaz1985
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Bedworth, North Warwickshire 404ft above sea level
  • Location: Bedworth, North Warwickshire 404ft above sea level

Here in Warwickshire in March, we had some pretty epic (for the area) snowdrifts, with some almost 6' deep in some spots.

 

Here's one taken in late March, which had melted a bit by then.

 

 

Posted Image

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

I haven't seen proper snowdrifts since February 1996. In fact my recollection of the level depths is probably distorted by the presence of drifts (though they were still significant).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Just had a quick shifty at this thread..and find it more than comical esp when comparing the UK to Canada...having lived the vast majority of my life in the UK and the last 5 years in Canada..i can tell you the UK would cope fine..Canadians dont do anything different except just go about their daily lives because it is the norm...my lifestyle in a Canadian winter is exactly the same as it was in a UK winter. After the first dump of snow chaos enuses here just like the UK for a few hours or a day..then people remember its winter and just revert their mind set for the next 4-6 months no big deal.

 

The difference here is that in the UK we are used to much milder winters and so there is no guarantee that our infrastructure would cope throughout a severe winter- hence the concerns over, for example, the possibility of the National Grid freezing over if a severe cold spell goes on for much longer than 4 weeks.  In Canada they will have safeguards against that, but do we?

 

There's also the question, do we mean, "If the UK has the coldest winter on record, will most people survive and come through the other end largely unscathed", or is the question more, "Will we survive through it without eventually enduring a level of hardship that will test even the most ardent cold/snow fans?"  I think the answer to the first question is probably yes, but even just judging by the reports that I've seen from Canadian snow lovers, the odds re. the second question are somewhat less favourable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Manchester Deansgate.
  • Weather Preferences: Heavy disruptive snowfall.
  • Location: Manchester Deansgate.

The difference here is that in the UK we are used to much milder winters and so there is no guarantee that our infrastructure would cope throughout a severe winter- hence the concerns over, for example, the possibility of the National Grid freezing over if a severe cold spell goes on for much longer than 4 weeks.  In Canada they will have safeguards against that, but do we?

 

There's also the question, do we mean, "If the UK has the coldest winter on record, will most people survive and come through the other end largely unscathed", or is the question more, "Will we survive through it without eventually enduring a level of hardship that will test even the most ardent cold/snow fans?"  I think the answer to the first question is probably yes, but even just judging by the reports that I've seen from Canadian snow lovers, the odds re. the second question are somewhat less favourable.

 

This maybe down to personal circumstances but I almost would say, risk it for a biscuit, I appreciate everyone has different circumstances, particularly around here where the average age is a lot higher than other locations, but, from just a selfish point of view, as long as I had other food like crisps and biscuits in, then I would take a weeks blackout for feet of snow piling up and a complete record smasher of a winter spell, I remember Jan 2010 in Salford, even close to Manchester city centre, in the sainsburys the shelves were starting to be completely blank around the 7th Jan, there is just some gene in me that addicts me to snow, if my freezer packed in it could finish me financially and im not joking, it could be the end but I would still take the risk for an absolute belter, I would hate it if everything went belly up but we only got an inch, that would be a real kick in the nuts, an insult.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

At a personal level it really boils down to whether or not the exciting weather event is sufficient to offset the associated hardship.  I could see myself accepting a week of blackouts for the sake of getting a really memorable spell like that- indeed, I remember being stuck down in the "dry corridor of doom" in Norwich on 30 November-2 December 2010, and being jealous of the weather that Cleadon in South Tyneside was getting, and hearing that some of their supplies were cut off for a few days but thinking that I'd have happily taken that for the sake of experiencing their weather.

My concern would be whether I would feel as positively about it if the same conditions re. blackouts and limited supplies then went on for another few weeks.

 

Another thought is that if we were to get the coldest winter on record, that doesn't tell us how the cold weather is arrived at.  I can imagine many (myself included, as above!) on the forum being prepared to put up with significant hardship if we get a lot of bright snowy weather, but we could also get dull dry south-easterlies blowing off a frozen continent:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/archive/ra/1890/Rrea00118901212.gif

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/archive/ra/1947/Rrea00119470214.gif

Another potential issue could be a snowy spell followed by a temporary milder interlude with rain/sleet, and then a refreeze, leaving everywhere like an ice rink.  I've seen reports from the winters of both 1947 and 1963 which are consistent with this scenario, especially in the south of Britain in association with southerly tracking lows which briefly brought milder air up from the south.

 

Everybody's an individual and I don't believe in speaking for everybody in these situations- I just think that for most of us, while a "coldest winter on record" scenario would be influenced by our infrastructure's ability to cope, snow amounts and sunshine amounts and some other factors, the odds wouldn't be in our favour.

Edited by Thundery wintry showers
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Manchester Deansgate.
  • Weather Preferences: Heavy disruptive snowfall.
  • Location: Manchester Deansgate.

The ice rink scenario wouldn't bother me nor would the cold South Easterlies, and im certainly never bothered by lack of sunshine, even in summer, but I would stipulate that to give me a real buzz, it would all have to be preceded by an absolute belting first, I agree neither of those scenarios would be worthwhile if they had been preceeded by a quarter of an inch that frozen, that said, I would never massively complain of any cold snap, I would prefer it over mild any day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Isle of Skye, 14m/49ft above sea level
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, wild! wild! wild! Frost, a wee bit o' sun....
  • Location: Isle of Skye, 14m/49ft above sea level

I guess if we have plenty of warning we could take any necessary precautions, stockpiling dried and tinned foods, make sure there's plenty of coal in, chop more wood etc. I personally would not like a long, snowy, b*llock freezing winter. A few days, even a week is fine. Months on end....no ta! The thought of the power grid shutting down......EEEEEEEKKK! Having experienced four days without power following the storm of January 2005, I can't recommend it.I have found that even with central heating and double glazing I can still have ice on the inside of my windows. Hasn't happened often, right enough, and I'm thankful for that. The worst thing for me, as in 2010 was the empty supermarket shelves. When we finally got to town there wasn't much to be had in the way of fresh fruit and veg or dairy produce. I have two freezers and I try and keep them as well stocked as possible. I suppose if it did happen we would just deal with it as best we could. Some would be happy, some would not. Take it as it comes and hope for the best...or some may hope for the worst! Posted Image

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

I'll eat all of Jethro's (or should that be Noggin's?) hats!Posted Image

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

Here in Warwickshire in March, we had some pretty epic (for the area) snowdrifts, with some almost 6' deep in some spots.

 

Here's one taken in late March, which had melted a bit by then.

 

 

Posted Image

This is what they had in parts of Leeds in March this year..

 

Posted Image

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stripeyanne/8589910108/

 

And these were the scenes at Leeds Bradford Airport: http://www.multiflight.com/about/news/view/Its-snow-joke/

Edited by cheese
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: Atherstone on Stour: 160ft asl
  • Location: Atherstone on Stour: 160ft asl

Winter woolly sales would skyrocket, as would thermal underwear! If you could get out to buy them or get them delivered, that is! I think the economy would take a big hit from transport disruption. I think the majority of us would adapt, we'd have to, and we'd complain just as much as ever!

 Yes, the run up to Xmas 2010 was 'challenging' if you'd done all your prezzie shopping online !! I ended up driving to a distribution centre to pick up my 'home delivery' stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted
  • Location: HANDSWORTH BIRMINGHAM B21. 130MASL. 427FT.
  • Weather Preferences: WINTERS WITH HEAVY DISRUPTIVE SNOWFALL AVRAGE SPRING HOT SUMMERS.
  • Location: HANDSWORTH BIRMINGHAM B21. 130MASL. 427FT.

the most snow i've seen here in brum was. Jan87,dec90 and feb 91. Dec 2010 was cold but the snow was nothing to sing and dance about. As for the coldest winter on record i will be waighting a long time for that it won't be 2013-2014.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...