The Gordon Manley Lecture-Looking back 70 years to the UK’s winter of 1947: was it really so severe?
LOCATION
Durham
Gorrig Road
Pentrellwyn
Llandysul
Sir Ceredigion
SA44 4LQ
United Kingdom
SPEAKER | Dr. Michael Kendon, UK Met Office.
ABSTRACT | Seventy years ago the UK experienced its snowiest winter since at least the mid-nineteenth century, when reliable records began. The result was six weeks of continuous snow cover across most of the UK, with level depths of up to 50cm even in lowland area, while temperatures at times fell to -15 to -20 °C. February 1947 remains the UK’s coldest calendar month for at least 100 years. The snowfalls prevented movement of coal, on which the UK was almost entirely dependent for heating and electricity, leading to significant impacts and disruption at a time of austerity when the country was still recovering from the Second World War.
This talk will compare the climatological features of the winter against other severe UK winters of the last 100 years, in the context of annual variability and long term trends. It will provide an overview of the work of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre and how we monitor the UK’s climate.
SPEAKER | Dr. Michael Kendon, UK Met Office.
ABSTRACT | Seventy years ago the UK experienced its snowiest winter since at least the mid-nineteenth century, when reliable records began. The result was six weeks of continuous snow cover across most of the UK, with level depths of up to 50cm even in lowland area, while temperatures at times fell to -15 to -20 °C. February 1947 remains the UK’s coldest calendar month for at least 100 years. The snowfalls prevented movement of coal, on which the UK was almost entirely dependent for heating and electricity, leading to significant impacts and disruption at a time of austerity when the country was still recovering from the Second World War.
This talk will compare the climatological features of the winter against other severe UK winters of the last 100 years, in the context of annual variability and long term trends. It will provide an overview of the work of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre and how we monitor the UK’s climate.