1891: (March)
9-13th March 1891, easterly BLIZZARD**. Heavy, fine powdery SNOW and STRONG EASTERLY WINDS raged across SW England, southern England and Wales, with over half a million trees being blown down, as well as a number of telegraph poles.
On the 9th (and later?), GREAT SNOWSTORM in the west of England, trains buried for days: E-NE GALE, shipwrecks, many lives lost. ( 220 people dead; 65 ships foundered in the English Channel; 6000 sheep perished; countless trees uprooted; 14 trains stranded in Devon alone.) Although the West Country was the worst affected, southern England, the Midlands, and south Wales also suffered. SNOWDRIFTS were 'huge' around some houses in the London - would be accounted a most remarkable sight nowadays! A man was reported found dead at Dorking, Surrey, while SNOWDRIFTS of 3.5 metres were recorded at Dulwich, London and Dartmouth, Devon. At Torquay and Sidmouth, Devon over 30 cm of snow fell.
WHY DID WE GET SO MUCH SNOW?
March started mild but on the 6th, a depression moved into Norway dragging down colder air across the UK. High pressure was intensifying in the Atlantic and the winds turned into the NE bringing very cold air. On the 9th, a depression moved into the Brest area of France and this engaged the colder air over the UK. Dry powdery snow fell across many parts of the West Country and this spread across other southern counties of England. On the 10th, the depression deepened and a severe easterly gale blew in the Channel and there was continous heavy snow and blizzards across southern counties of England. As the first Channel depression moved away, another one entered the Brest region and the snow and gales returned to the West Country again but this system moved into France rather than along the Channel and counties bordering the eastern part of the Channel missed the blizzards this time. By this stage, Cornwall and Devon were virtually cut off by enormous drifts and deep snow cover. It was estimated that Dartmoor had between 1 to 1 and a half metres of snow and snow depths of 15cm+ was reported south west of a line from Kent to Gwynedd.
**This may be the first time in the UK that the word 'blizzard' was used. Thought to derive from a German expression: " Der sturm kommt blitzartig", which translates as "The storm comes/came lightning-like".
9-13th March 1891, easterly BLIZZARD**. Heavy, fine powdery SNOW and STRONG EASTERLY WINDS raged across SW England, southern England and Wales, with over half a million trees being blown down, as well as a number of telegraph poles.
On the 9th (and later?), GREAT SNOWSTORM in the west of England, trains buried for days: E-NE GALE, shipwrecks, many lives lost. ( 220 people dead; 65 ships foundered in the English Channel; 6000 sheep perished; countless trees uprooted; 14 trains stranded in Devon alone.) Although the West Country was the worst affected, southern England, the Midlands, and south Wales also suffered. SNOWDRIFTS were 'huge' around some houses in the London - would be accounted a most remarkable sight nowadays! A man was reported found dead at Dorking, Surrey, while SNOWDRIFTS of 3.5 metres were recorded at Dulwich, London and Dartmouth, Devon. At Torquay and Sidmouth, Devon over 30 cm of snow fell.
WHY DID WE GET SO MUCH SNOW?
March started mild but on the 6th, a depression moved into Norway dragging down colder air across the UK. High pressure was intensifying in the Atlantic and the winds turned into the NE bringing very cold air. On the 9th, a depression moved into the Brest area of France and this engaged the colder air over the UK. Dry powdery snow fell across many parts of the West Country and this spread across other southern counties of England. On the 10th, the depression deepened and a severe easterly gale blew in the Channel and there was continous heavy snow and blizzards across southern counties of England. As the first Channel depression moved away, another one entered the Brest region and the snow and gales returned to the West Country again but this system moved into France rather than along the Channel and counties bordering the eastern part of the Channel missed the blizzards this time. By this stage, Cornwall and Devon were virtually cut off by enormous drifts and deep snow cover. It was estimated that Dartmoor had between 1 to 1 and a half metres of snow and snow depths of 15cm+ was reported south west of a line from Kent to Gwynedd.
**This may be the first time in the UK that the word 'blizzard' was used. Thought to derive from a German expression: " Der sturm kommt blitzartig", which translates as "The storm comes/came lightning-like".
