Does anyone think that we will ever have a winter like those in 1947, 1963, 1979 in the UK??

Question

I would like to know what your experiences are of these winters, or others if cold. and does anyone know yet of any indications of the winter of 2008 coming, any snow forecast???

Answer 1

The chances of winters like those happening are getting more and more remote - they may do, you never know. Can't tell you any personal experiences of 1947 and 1963 as I wasn't born but I remember my Grandad telling me how they had to dig trenches and tunnels through snow that reached the upstairs windows.

As for 1979, I was 14 then and we lived on a hill, I remember making a slide that went down the hill, under some railings (had to lie flat to go under them), across a road and then down another road, it was about 500 metres long and kids from all around came to slide on it. It was there for days but we had to keep repairing it as the thoughtless council kept gritting the road it went across.

I love playing in the snow and a few years ago we built a 'death sledge' - about the size of a large table top and big enough for 3 people to sit in, complete with steering, braking, lights and so on. It came apart in sections and was easy to carry, we took it to mountain summits in the Lake District and ended up black and blue after hurtling down the hills in this thing.

But the best snow has to be in Scotland, sadly these last few winters have been nothing like they used to be. I think the best winter for me was the back end of 1995 when new record low temperatures were recorded. There had been several days of intense snowfall and for a time the whole of northern Scotland was at a standstill, the harbours froze and the only transport was by helicopter. We spent a week in the mountains building snow holes, igloos, snowmen and a 'snow city'.

As for the coming winter, I live in hope but if recent winters have been anything to go by it will be another cool and wet one devoid of any real snow.