Snow prediction for the UK..

Over the past 4 years I have noticed quite a drastic increase in the amount of snow in my area. I live on the south east coast of England in East Sussex. Every year the snow gets higher and higher in my town Hastings, I remember when I was a child/early teenager everyone used to hope and pray every year for even the slightest bit of laying snow.. we usually ended up disappointed with little bits of sleet or an inch of snow which lasted a few hours..

Over the past few years its gotten hectic.. Last year the snow was halfway up my thighs in a lot of places. And I'm sure every year the past four years we've had the 'Highest snowfall for blah blah blah' according to the news....... but I am mostly going by personal observation and experience. Scotland has had HECTIC snow over the past few years as well .. even more than usual. This I am not completely certain on though..

What weather abnormalities have any of you noticed? Especially in the UK. I understand that climate change is a natural thing and that climates have suddenly shifted many times in the past. That being said I am a complete meteorology noob and am only going by personal experience and observation..

Anyone else notice some rapidly changing weather over the past 5 years or so? I did used to have access to some graphs showing a rise in natural disasters but I can't seem to find it.. I am sure it probably links in quite heavily but like I said, Meteorology noob..

Hasn't the gulf stream gotten messed up due to the oil spill? I remember reading an article that showed how the stream that usually brings us mild weather had gotten diverted up into Greenland skipping out the UK.

Yes! This time last year we had a lot of snow..

& I've noticed that we've been getting more snow than normal in recent years.

Hate it when it snows here in the UK though..

The country usually has a complete meltdown & just cannot cope with a tiny bit of snow. You would have thought a country that's generally quite cold, & going to expect snow, would be used to dealing with & handling the situation.

Here on the East of England we're supposed to miss most of the snow due to our position or something. This hasn't been the case for the last few years. In fact its been the opposite, we seem to get hit by it much more than we used to. There has been a definite rise in snow but not in any other type of weather. Its either that or I haven't noticed.

To be honest the Southdowns remind me now more of my youth than at any time in the last 20 years.. Tho I do agree we are facing change.. but I do think it change we have seen before.

Did you know the dealiest avalache recorded in Britian happened here on the southern coast in Lewes (I beleive 1836) and I hope it doesn't get that bad..

A few years ago when these 'scientists' were predicting global warming i was thinking that it actually means cooling for the uk.

Reason being is that the jet stream normally travels to the north of the uk
however, the past three years the jet stream has moved south over the uk in winter time.
Cast your mind back to the flooding in sheffield three years ago or the past two winters where the uk had widespread snow.
Will it happen again this year?
I am not sure. I hope not

i am just mentioning that for the uk if climate change is happening (climate always changes and always has), the uk seems to get colder because of the jet stream moving further south.

I was thinking that this topic was familiar, so I did a search here on "uk ice age" and got back so many results, that I am not even going to bother posting the links to all the threads that talk about the upcoming colder temperatures that the uk will be facing in the next couple decades... If you happen to want to see a ton of background information on where uk is heading temperature/weather wise, do a search here with that search term I mention. More info than you can shake a stick at. How much is true and relevant though, I will leave that for you to decide in your research...

You are absolutely right though, more snow and colder temps on the way...

I'm in Derbyshire UK and we've already had a few hours of very light snow, not enough to stick yet though and it's eased off but I can see it happening very soon

Originally posted by Namaste1001
Hasn't the gulf stream gotten messed up due to the oil spill? I remember reading an article that showed how the stream that usually brings us mild weather had gotten diverted up into Greenland skipping out the UK.

That thought did cross my mind but I can't remember too much about it so I can't really voice an opinion on it. I do remember there being a big hype on the internet about it though. I really can't remember whether there was any valid evidence or not and my brain is too smashed from last night for google..

This year is looking a bust compared to last year. Disappointing really, the jet stream is perched right over the UK, Northern France atm. The sooner it drops down the better. I'm sick of this miserable weather, we had no summer, are getting no rain, it's just stuck at 10° and miserable.
Bring on heavy Janurary and Februrary falls.

Originally posted by pazcat
This year is looking a bust compared to last year. Disappointing really, the jet stream is perched right over the UK, Northern France atm. The sooner it drops down the better. I'm sick of this miserable weather, we had no summer, are getting no rain, it's just stuck at 10° and miserable.
Bring on heavy Janurary and Februrary falls.

I usually pick wild mushrooms around autumn but we just haven't had enough rain this year..
I can almost sense the snow. That tangy crisp cold. Heavy snow has been forecast for a lot of the UK this week but apparently not the south.

Yeah it's been a dry and warm October/November, seems like a late start. Just spoke to a freind in Derby and they have snow right now. I'm in Belgium so I'm not as optimistic, the French news keeps banging on about how there is no snow in the Alps yet.

I am in Kent and yep we have had 2 years of tougher winters. When I was a kid this was quite normal, but the last 25 year winter has been milder and snow rare. To have 3 bad winters in a row is rare, so here is hoping as Personally I would like more snow, lots more snow.

I think its simply cyclical. I remember as a kid in the last 70's / early 80's we had some horrendous winters that make these look like nothing. I remember for example 3 feet of snow falling in a single afternoon....and guess what? until it hit 2 feet the buses were still running lol.

Then we went through alot of mild winters with very little snow and I think its just a case we are back into the heavy snow cycle again. Give it 2 or 3 years adnit'll be back to mild ones again. (Although that ice age thread last year was epically funnny lol)

Wayne...

reply to post by TechUnique


im from Scotland (central) which is in a valley and have the same observations last time i seen the snow fall similar to what has occurred over the last few years was when i was 6 (1988)

As this is a conspiracy forum i will provide one.The gulf stream is shunting off/slowing down or HAARP is running tests

Steve

ps
It is funny watching all the shops/super markets jumping on the band wagon saying don't get caught out buy our products.along with the media sensationalizing it

I'm in Surrey, and similar to Sussex being close, we haven't had much snow in the last 15 years, and then the last few years we've had a few very heavy snowfalls.

I wouldn't say that it's not going to happen again this year because snow had fallen by this time last year. From what i recall, it snowed on the 16th December heavily but didn't set, and then on the 18th of December and was about 6inches, which is unheard of in the South. (and almost ruined my birthday gift of seeing Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds at Wembley).

We're now getting into the freezing zone at night, and it's only going to get colder, so it can still happen again, despite the Jet stream looking okay again. I think i even saw on Facebook that someone i know out in the East has seen some snow.

Well the autumns have become warmer and drier and the summers have become gradually hotter with a cooling off period of a year or two in between and yeah, I haven't seen snow like we'd had the last few years since I was maybe 6 years old (so 1990 then).

They did show the weekly weather report on Countryfile earlier today (two hours after this thread was posted in fact) that said snow should be expected in England on friday.

I live in just outside Aberdeen, Scotland and since i live in the snowiest city in the UK, i'm quite well versed in our winters. My family all come from here and the storys and photos i have seen from days gone by are a far times worse than we've had over the past few years. Threads like this just simply illustrate that the majority of people in the UK have not seen a real winter, nor do they understand why they happen.

My father and other members of teh family all grew up in rural Aberdeenshire. I have seen photos of snow over 8 feet deep, i have seen pictures of my grandfather digging sheep out of the fields, i have seen cars buried in snow and i myself have been fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough) to stand waist deep in snow with temperatues of below -15oC here in Aberdeenshire and i'm only 28.

Yes times are different and the UK as a whole cant really cope very well, but believe me, Scotland can and Scotland does. Today, we have already had a couple of inches of snow, with blizzard conditions at times and themax temp here has been only 2oC but this cold weather will only last til tuesday with the majority of the UK missing out on this "very little" snow event, exception being Scotland and probably parts of NW England and Wales.

To better understand why we have had the ad winters we have over the past few years, you first need to understand how the weather patterns that are occurring case the snow.

In recent years there has been a "blocking" effect that has caused the heavy snow and widespread disruption. This blocking effect is caused by a high pressure system over scandinavia/siberia that stretches over the UK because the Jet Stream has shifted further south than "normal". Prior to teh past 3 years and for about a decade leading up to 3 years ago, the Jet Stream usually sat over the UK or just above it, causing mild warmer Atlantic air to flow in over the Uk, limiting any snow to higher ground. The past few years has seen the Jet move down over southern France and Spain. This has allowed the Scandinavian High to flow over the UK. At this time of the year there is also a usual High over Greenland. This HP is usually blocked from progressing further south because of the Jet, but likewise in recent years, it has been allowed to migrate south to fill the "void" left by the departing Jet.

These Greenland and Scandinavian High Pressure systems have created a blocking effect. This blocking effect has prevented the Jet from returning north to the UK and allowed cold air either from the Pole or Siberia to flow over the UK. As the blocking effect is a strong effect, it can take many months, occasionally an entire winter for the blocking to be dislodged...last year it took nearly 3 months.

This year there hasn't been a blocking effect in winter. There was in October and November, which is why it was mild but it wasnt a blocking effect that braught cold air, it brought mild air. Some models are suggesting a prolonged cold spell in January and February but predicting that far in advance is harder than winning the lottery.

Last years snow events mainly came from the NE. This is because the colder air flows over the warmer North Sea and convection occurs. Just like Thunderstorms in summer. This convection creates an effect known as "lake effect snow", similar to the great lakes in the US. The cold snowy air hits and land and hey presto it snows. A NW wind brings a more limited chance of any prolonged snow event, which is what is occurring at the moment. If the winds turn E or NE with High pressure over he Atlantic, you'll get some good cold weather.

What we are experiencing is wholly explainable and normal. My rudamentary attempt isn't very good, simply because i dont have time to explain it all but if you wish to know more just ask and i'll try my best.

Originally posted by curious7
Well the autumns have become warmer and drier and the summers have become gradually hotter with a cooling off period of a year or two in between and yeah, I haven't seen snow like we'd had the last few years since I was maybe 6 years old (so 1990 then).

They did show the weekly weather report on Countryfile earlier today (two hours after this thread was posted in fact) that said snow should be expected in England on friday.

You can rest assured there will be NO snow in England on Friday. If anything it will be back to wet and windy. You will be lucky to get anything over the next few days any further south than about Manchester.

Even here is Scotland its going to get milder with a Max temp of 0oC tomorrow, 1oC Tues, 2oC Weds 3oC Thurs 6oC Fri

Well, you have a few years with low snowfall along the South coast of the UK, then when it gets back to normal it is seen as some sort of cataclysmic climatic change. The press paint a picture of disaster and that becomes reality because no one bothers to go to work because “the news said it was snowing and someone got trapped”.

The reason why we have a disaster in the UK is not because it snows – because it always has snowed – but because there are more people driving on the roads and most of those people cannot adapt to the conditions and the Councils are forced to grit every road because if they don’t someone will sue them.

Regards