Winter 2010:

by Roy Bowen | Extreme Weather Events, Memories

The Big Freeze of 2010:

Another extreme weather event that has gone down in history occurred at the end of 2010 when a prolonged cold spell hit the UK. Called by the media “The Big Freeze” it would go down in the MET Office records as the coldest December since records began with a mean temperature of -1°C (30°F) and breaking the previous record of – 0.1°C (32.2°F) in December 1981. It was the coldest spell for over 100 years and it brought widespread snow, record low temperatures and significant disruption and is thought to be the coldest December since 1659.

The lead up to to prolonged cold spell:

From late November to Boxing Day 2010 the UK experienced two spells of severe winter weather with very low temperatures and significant snowfalls.

The weather pattern in late November saw a blocking cold vortex over Greenland which resulted in the Jet Stream moving south which then allowed cold air to flow in from Northern Europe and Siberia. The cold spell started on the 22nd November and by the 24th November snow fell over Scotland and the North East of England.

The following days saw the snow fall over most parts of the country and the MET Office confirmed it was the most widespread snowfall since 1993.

The Big Freeze 2010:

In order to understand the prolonged cold spell and heavy snow showers, I have listed the events chronologically below. So let’s start at the beginning.

22nd November: As mentioned above, this was the start of a prolonged cold spell in the country.

24th November: Snow fell in Northumberland and North Yorkshire to a depth of 76 cm (30 inches), with Scotland, Northern England and Yorkshire being the most severely affected. See photographs below for pictures of the snow that fell in Cwmgwrach in the last week of November.

28th November: Night time temperature across Wales had fallen below 0 °C and on the 28th the temperatures dropped to -17 °C at Lysdinam near Llandrindod Wells which was colder then Greenland.

4th December: There was a brief respite on Saturday the 4th of December when coastal area temperatures crept up to
4 C (39 °F), although inland temperatures remained at freezing. The freezing conditions led to severe icy problems on the roads.

6th December: Snowfall in Scotland caused the M8 motorway to close for 2 days, leaving hundreds of motorist stranded overnight.

9th December: A partial thaw occurred with temperatures recovering across the UK.

16th December: A further cold front brought further snow and ice back to the UK, with Southern England, Ireland and Wales being mostly affected by the wintery conditions. Severe disruption and closures were caused at Heathrow and other airports.

20th December: The all-time record low temperature since records began at Capel Curig, Wales was -17.5 °C (0.5 °F).

23rd December: A new record cold temperature was recorded at Castlederg in Northern Ireland, where the temperature fell to -18.7 °C (-1.7 °F).

25th December: Christmas Day was the coldest Christmas Day since 1830, but a thaw at the end of December saw many homes in Wales and Northern Ireland without water as the melting snow and ice revealed many burst pipes.

7th January: January was colder than average across the UK, with snow returning to the West Midlands and parts of Wales on the 7th leaving the whole of the UK covered in snow as can be seen below. Also see photographs below from Huw Watkins of the falls frozen over in January in Pontneathvaughan.

This image of a snow-enshrouded UK was snapped by NASA’s Terra satellite on January 7, at around noon local time.
Source: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/80464810@N00/4254627068/ NASA satellite shot of UK snow] |Date=2010-01-07

The effect of the prolonged cold spell:

There were over a dozen deaths up and down the country due to the extreme weather, with car crashes killing the most people. Two people died in Wales, one on the 30th November in Newport where a man was found dead in the street after he froze to death after a heart attack, and another man died of hypothermia after sleeping overnight in the Bible Gardens behind the cathedral in Bangor, North Wales.

Due to the cold spell in the run up to Christmas, shops and pubs across the UK suffered from lost sales. It was estimated that the economy lost £1.2 billion a day with a total loss of £13 billion over this period.

The transport system on the country was severely effected by the cold snap, with roads being closed due to icy and heavy snowfall up and down the country along with major disruption to airports and rail services.

School were also effected, with 7,000 schools being closed on the 2nd of December.

Photographs of the snow by Billy Bowen:

November 2010, the start of the cold spell.
A view from the bedroom window.
Looking out towards the village and the River Neath.
My father Billy Bowen feeding the birds.
A close up from the bedroom window of my mothers handywork, the face in the bush.
Looking out into Craig Nedd street.
Directly outside our front garden.