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weather-uk press pack

Ready-prepared articles on cold snaps and severe winters

• 990626 Midsummer cold snaps Between July 1 and September 10 the temperature in lowland Britain never fails to reach 10ºC (50ºF) on even the coldest days when heavy
• 000122 1979 – The Winter of Discontent Jim Callaghan’s government was dogged by industrial relations problems, strikes were exacerbated by secondary picketing, rubbish
• 011215 December 1981 – the coldest for a century Over 20 years ago Britain endured one of the coldest and snowiest months of the last century. Severe weather is generally
• 020126 The record-breaking cold of Jan 1982 Disruptive snowstorms in the UK in the last ten years can be counted on the fingers of one hand, in marked contrast to the 1980s
• 020504 May cold snaps Spring has inspired poet and playwright down the ages, and May in particular has captured the imagination of the great writers from Shakespeare to
• 021214 The Windchill Factor The concept of windchill is a simple one. But measuring windchill is more complex, involving what physicists call "energy flux". The cold we feel
• 021221 The coldest winter of all The winter of 1962-63 is remembered by all of us who were around at the time; it was easily the coldest winter (not the snowiest – that was
• 031227 Record-breaking cold, Dec ’95 It is almost impossible to change the view, often heard in casual conversation, that they don’t make winters like they used to. Even
• 980712 Britain’s coldest summers To some of us a cool summer is a great disappoint-ment weather-wise, but to others it can be a blessed relief from the heat and humidity
• 981115 The Armistice Day deep-freeze The very first November 11, almost nine decades ago, was dry and sunny and comparatively mild. It was so very different a year
• 000723 The July 2000 cold snap What a difference a week makes. Temperatures returned to the 20s Celsius late in July, but even on the 16th a high of just 12ºC (54ºF)
• 010311 Record-breaking cold snap, March 2001 A week is a long time in meteorology. March 2001 opened with much of the UK in the grip of a remarkable spell of frost which
• 011216 Arctic airstreams A strong north wind swept the country yesterday, delivering very cold air from polar regions. You could almost smell the Arctic pack ice. Such air-
• 030105 Cold snap, Jan 2003 Floods and freezes have been part and parcel of the British climate ever since mankind first walked these islands, but rarely can one have
• 030119 Heavy condensation after a cold snap Heavy condensation is common when cold dry air is replaced by air that is both warmer and moister. If the change occurs
• 030928 Late-September cold snaps It snowed last Tuesday over the Scottish highlands, settling on slopes above the 1000 foot level – the first significant snowfall of
• 031026 Cold weather in late-October 2003 Snow in October may seem a rare enough event to require some special explanation, but last week’s wintry episode has plenty of
• 9801xx The cold winter of 1940 "What if ... ?" There is a fashion these days for "what if?" speculation. We find alternative histories discussed in radio programmes,
• 9605xx The arctic surge of June 1975 As May gave way to June a cold northerly airflow covered the UK, having originated some way within the Arctic Circle, ground frost
• 9612xx The cold winter of 1947 Prepare for a blizzard – a blizzard of retrospectives on the winter of 1947 whose 60th anniversary is just around the corner. It was a truly