snow

Snow in Europe 2019

17 January 2019

Parts of Europe have been experiencing the worst snowfall in decades. There has been record-breaking snowfall in January in some parts of the Alps and hazardous conditions have led to dozens of fatalities across the continent.

Red warnings for snowfall have been issued in Austria and southern parts of Germany. Snowfall amounts have been forecasted between 60cm and 1 meter. Several other parts of Europe have been affected by this unprecedented snow event including Bulgaria, Albania, Switzerland, and Montenegro. For more information - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-46875209/more-snow-forecast-as-parts-of-europe-battle-worst-snowfall-in-decades.

Meanwhile, in the UK, although this week we have experienced colder weather across the country it is close to average conditions for January. Meteorological winter in the UK runs from December to February (although November and March often suffer very wintry conditions, too). The season is generally cool, wet, windy and cloudy. Temperatures often get as low as freezing point, but rarely much lower than -10°C. This can lead to frost in the mornings and ice on car windscreens, pavements, and roads. During the daytime, temperatures rarely rise above 15°C, with coastal areas experiencing milder temperatures due to proximity to the warmer sea.

It has been acknowledged that it is more likely to snow in the UK during Easter than it is to snow during Christmas, depending on the month Easter falls of course. The UK gets an average of 23.7 days of snowfall a year, mostly on higher ground. December has on average 3.9 snow days of 3.9 snow days, followed by 5.3 days, 5.6 days and 4.2 days in January, February and March respectively. 

Met Office UK snow and facts - https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/precipitation/snow/snow-in-the-uk.