25th-26th February- Blizzards in the north of Scotland
Another northerly
flow gripped the UK during late February. An area of cold (sub 528DM) air had slipped across the
south of England during the weekend of 21st February bringing a few snow flurries and bitter easterly winds, though
temperatures were still hovering above freezing. On the 24th a vigorous depression (below 970mb) over Scandinavia
drove a cold front South across the UK introducing much colder air and the start of a particularly snowy and cold period for
most, if not all of the UK.
The Northern Isles and NE Scotland were hit by some appalling conditions on the
25th. Heavy snowfall and gale force Northerly winds gusting to 60mph
at times made for whiteout conditions throughout the day. Lerwick reported rainfall equivalent 31mm in
the 12 hrs to 18Z, and the snow depth was recorded as immeasurable due to the very strong winds, although was estimated at
15cm. Aberdeen in the NE of Scotland was hit too and had 6cm lying snow by the evening.
BBC
News reports about the event : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3485132.stm
On the 26th a wave on the cold front brought a new line of precipitation towards
Northern Ireland, this readily turned to snow in the morning and gave the usually green provinces a rare but magical snowfall
– in fact the recording of BBC series 'Silent Witness' had to be suspended to ensure continuity(!) The snow moved south
to affect Wales during the mid morning and afternoon period, accumulations of up to 20cm were reported in upland areas but
the winds were lighter and conditions calmer in the frontal snow band and as a result there were fewer problems. Snow even
lay on the usually mild Welsh coast, Aberystwyth had several centimetres the end of the day. The rest of the UK had a mostly
fine, dry, albeit cold day with a few snow showers continuing around the coasts. Nowhere in the UK topped 7C during the day and parts of upland Wales
had subzero maxima. That night temperatures plummeted over the fresh layer of snow. Sennybridge fell to –10.9C, Trawscoed
-10.5C, even Bournemouth on the south coast of England dipped to –7.7C.
The cold spell continued for the next few days, although conditions became much more settled
and less cold for the start of March.
Discussion thread about the cold weather as it unfolded- http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=11030&start=1
