The recent cold snap saw level depths of snow in central London of 7-8 cm from the late morning of the 28th until the thaw on the 3rd. When I wonder did snow last lie in central London in March ? Does one have to go back to 1947?!

wrote:

The recent cold snap saw level depths of snow in central London of
7-8 cm from the late morning of the 28th until the thaw on the 3rd.
When I wonder did snow last lie in central London in March ? Does one
have to go back to 1947?!

I can remember a substantial amount lying in Central London one evening
in April. It was in the 1970s, most probably the late 1970s. I think it
was quite late in April, the 21st comes to mind but that may be
incorrect. It was quite a widespread event across SE England

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
https://peakdistrictweather.org
Twitter: @TideswellWeathr

Ah yes. I remember that event very well. It was a Good Friday in about 1975.. I think it was a polar low. It produced a good 3� of snow in south herts where we then lived. The next day was a glorious cold sunny day and ordinarily I would have been sledging in the local hill after breakfast.

But instead I had to travel with my school to sing St Matthews Passion in the Festival hall. When we finally got back home in the evening the snow was all gone. I was bitterly resentful and have not listened to the Passion since.

Not of course March but a fortiori :-)

Some googling suggests it was the 28 March 1975. So that seems to be the answer. Thanks Norman. I too recalled it as April. Memory getting hazy.

On Monday, March 5, 2018 at 6:47:49 PM UTC, wrote:
Some googling suggests it was the 28 March 1975. So that seems to be the answer. Thanks Norman. I too recalled it as April. Memory getting hazy.

I have a vivid memory (and indeed photos to show) that there was a significant snowfall at least in south London on Good Friday 1978 - there was about 4 to 6 inches lying in Wallington (where we lived) and Coulsdon (where we stopped for photos) Surrey, on that day (I am sure that Ian Currie could confirm!). I am not sure if this was the same event or not. Peter Nockles

In message ,
Peter Nockles writes
On Monday, March 5, 2018 at 6:47:49 PM UTC, wrote:
Some googling suggests it was the 28 March 1975. So that seems to be
the answer. Thanks Norman. I too recalled it as April. Memory getting
hazy.

I have a vivid memory (and indeed photos to show) that there was a
significant snowfall at least in south London on Good Friday 1978 -
there was about 4 to 6 inches lying in Wallington (where we lived) and
Coulsdon (where we stopped for photos) Surrey, on that day (I am sure
that Ian Currie could confirm!). I am not sure if this was the same
event or not. Peter Nockles

Living in Cranleigh, I remember the snow on Good Friday, 1975. We had
about two inches, the only lying snow we had during what was a very mild
winter, but it all melted within two or three hours. I don't remember
any snow here on Good Friday, 1978.

Of the 1975 event, Trevor Harley's excellent website says:

"Famous snowy Easter. There was 15 cm of snowfall in Birmingham on
Maundy Thursday, and the whole holiday saw snow cover."

Of 1978, he says of March:

"An unexciting month: slightly milder than average (6.7). Easter was
windy and thundery." He does say of April that "Snow fell in places on
the night of the 10-11th", and I wonder if it could be that event that
you are thinking of.
--
John Hall
"Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history
that man can never learn anything from history."
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

wrote:

Some googling suggests it was the 28 March 1975. So that seems to be
the answer. Thanks Norman. I too recalled it as April. Memory getting
hazy.

I'm pretty sure the event that I recall was in April and was unlikely
to be 1975 as I wasn't in London then. It seems that we're probably
talking about different events.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
https://peakdistrictweather.org
Twitter: @TideswellWeathr

I'm pretty sure the event that I recall was in April and was unlikely
to be 1975 as I wasn't in London then. It seems that we're probably
talking about different events.

I could have sworn it was Good Friday 1975 but checking my diaries I
recorded 15 to 20 cms falling on the 27th March 1975, which was a Thursday.
Now my mind is playing tricks on me. To make matters worse I have a photo
from the local sentinel newspaper attached to the weather page which clearly
shows deep snow with the headline 'Easter 1975 in Hanley (our City centre)
after snowstorm'
My diary does go on to report snow showers, some heavy following well into
April (up to the 10th). More famously of course was the snow event on June
2nd 1975 when we also had snow.
Didn't London have snow lying in 2013? There must have been a fair bit then,
we had a blizzard on the 22nd March, We had around 25 to 30 cms lying at
09.00 on Saturday 23rd with deep drifts blocking a number of roads!


Graham (North Staffordshire)

In message , Norman Lynagh
writes
wrote:

The recent cold snap saw level depths of snow in central London of
7-8 cm from the late morning of the 28th until the thaw on the 3rd.
When I wonder did snow last lie in central London in March ? Does one
have to go back to 1947?!

I can remember a substantial amount lying in Central London one evening
in April. It was in the 1970s, most probably the late 1970s. I think it
was quite late in April, the 21st comes to mind but that may be
incorrect. It was quite a widespread event across SE England


Could it be 1981 that you're thinking of? Though perhaps not, as that
affected a lot of the country but I think the SE largely escaped.

I see that in 1975, the same year that had snow on Good Friday, there
was a fair amount of snow around in April too, although in the first
half of the month rather than late on.

1973 is another possibility. Trevor Harley says: "Cold from the 19th
with NE winds and snow at times."

The 1970s seems to have been a decade when there was a lot of cold and
inclement spring weather.
--
John Hall
"Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history
that man can never learn anything from history."
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

On 05/03/18 20:07, John Hall wrote:
The 1970s seems to have been a decade when there was a lot of cold and
inclement spring weather.

That was predicted by N E Davis using a hundred-year cycle. In late 69,
he said we were in for fifty years of cold springs. Started out OK in
the 70s but Global Warming soon threw a spanner in the works.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. Web-site: http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
"There is nothing more frustrating than playing hide and seek with a
deaf wolf." [Benton Fraser]
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