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George BoothEpping, Essex

This article provides an account of the win-ter of 1947. Emphasis is placed on the suc-cession of snowstorms that affected mostparts of the British Isles on several occasionsthrough the winter. Further informationincluding daily synoptic charts of the MetOffice’s Daily Weather Report (DWR) and linksto many other resources can be found onthe author’s website www.winter1947. co.uk

Sixty years ago this month the UK wasfacing considerable hardship. In order tounderstand the impact of the severeweather on people, it may be helpful to startby considering the economic state of the UKat the time. The severe winter and subse-quent floods of early 1947 came at a timewhen the UK was still dependent ondomestic food production and the coalindustry was adjusting to nationalizationhaving suffered years of underinvestment.The UK was a single-fuel economy. In 1946warnings had been given over a potentialshortage of coal in the event of a severewinter. Despite early assurances from theGovernment it was clear even before theend of 1946 that a reduction in coal usewould be required. When the severeweather arrived in late January energydemand rose but the snow-bound railways(Figure 1) faced difficulties in distributingwhat coal stocks there were. The PrimeMinister Clement Atlee announced on radio‘an emergency of the utmost gravity’. Bymid-February two million factory workerswere unemployed as factories closed owingto fuel shortages. Electricity was limited toessential services only, with domestic supplylimited to two hours during the workingday.

The ensuing thaw and floods that beganin mid-March 1947 led to 690 000 acres ofagricultural land being covered by flood-water. Lack of investment during the waryears meant that river flood defences couldnot cope with the large volumes of water.However, the floods acted as a catalyst toflood defence improvement with the RiverGreat Ouse Flood Prevention Scheme alone

costing £6.5 million (in 1947 terms)although urban flood defence was still thenconsidered a secondary issue (Tunstall et al.,2004).

Early 1947 was a memorable period inBritain particularly in terms of snowfall andlow temperatures. By 26 January coldeasterly winds were blowing over Englandand Wales with widespread snowfall inmany areas. During February high pressurepersisted to the north and north-east of theBritish Isles, at times in a belt fromScandinavia to Greenland. During March thehigh pressure to the north-east declined butthat to the north-west did not yield. It wasthe persistence of this high pressure overGreenland and Iceland that maintained thewintry conditions well into March,particularly in northern areas of Britain, suchthat the extreme cold of the month was a

key feature for Scotland (Douglas, 1947).In essence the snowfalls, particularly in

southern Britain, were the result of succes-sive attempts by warmer conditions to movein from the south-west. On occasions thisled to a temporary thaw clearing much ofthe snow from lowland areas of southernEngland. Further north the cold easterlywinds had a long maritime track crossingthe North Sea, and on occasions the Baltic aswell, bringing heavy and persistent snowshowers to north-east England and easternScotland. Frost was continuous from 11 to23 February over a large area of England.Over the thick snow cover, night-time mini-mum temperatures were very low with–20.6 °C recorded at Writtle (Essex) at0900 GMT on the morning of 29 January and–21.3 °C at Elmstone (Kent) on the followingmorning, 30 January. The night of the 24/25

Winter 1947 in the British Isles

Figure 1. Derwent jet snow plough on display to railway managers at Carlisle Station, 16 March, 1947. It wasused in an attempt to clear snow from cross-Pennine routes linking the Durham coalfield to the iron and steelworks at Barrow and Millom (Cumbria) as well as the main line from Scotland to West Yorkshire. Both routeshad been closed for several weeks (Source: The Cumbrian Railways Association Powell Collection).

February saw –20.6 °C at Woburn (Bedford-shire). Some very low temperatures wererecorded in March with –21.1 °C beingrecorded at Houghall (Durham), Peebles(Borders) and Braemar (Aberdeenshire) onthe night of 3/4 March and Braemarrecording –21.1 °C on the night of 7/8March. However, for this winter it was thelow daytime temperatures resulting fromthe overcast conditions that were theoutstanding feature, particularly inFebruary. Kew Observatory recorded nosunshine from 2 to 22 February. In contrastto the generally dull and very cold con-

ditions Skye and the Outer Hebridesenjoyed sunshine, drought and very littlesnow.

The prolonged cold spell resulted in thesea freezing in places, particularly insheltered harbours and in the shallowcreeks of low-lying coasts (Figures 2 and 3).

Snow cover and snow depth Although the low temperatures were notquite as persistent as they were in theexceptional winter of 1962–63, winter 1947brought more persistent and deeper snow

cover to much of the UK. Table I provides asummary of the snow cover and snow depthacross the country. Places in Table I areshown on the location map (Figure 4).

The earliest reported snow cover of theprolonged cold spell was at Lympne,Manston and West Raynham at 0900 GMTon 23 January. West Raynham subsequentlymaintained a complete snow cover until 17 March, a total of 54 days, with a maxi-mum depth of 51 cm on 8 March. Otherplaces to record a continuous and completesnow cover in excess of 50 days wereWaddington 53 days, Cranfield 51 days, alsowith a maximum depth of 51 cm on 6 March,Little Rissington 51 days, Finningley 51 daysand Aberdeen 51 days. If one includespartial snow cover, the longest period ofcontinuous snow cover was 63 days atAcklington from 26 January to 29 March.Waddington, Dalwhinnie and Lerwick allmerited 57 days, with the snow finallyclearing from Lerwick by 31 March. In the farwest of Scotland and Ireland the situationwas quite different with Tiree, Rineanna andValentia each having only two morningswith a complete cover of snow. Portland Billon the south coast of England reported nosnow lying. At Kew Observatory the longest period with complete snow cover was only seven days from 5 to 11 February with a con-tinuous snow cover of some form from 5 February to 13 March (37 days). A short-lived thaw on 3 and 4 February led to areduction in snow cover in many southernareas of Britain.

Throughout the winter in south-westEngland coastal areas saw only intermittentsnow cover reflecting incursions of milderair from the south-west, although uplandareas such as Dartmoor and Exmoorretained theirs.

Roberts (2003) discusses the importanceof the care required when measuring snowdepths under circumstances of frequentheavy snowfall and deep drifting. Currie(2004) describes the influences of topo-graphy on local snowfall amounts and theeffect of the North York Moors creating a‘snow shadow’ effect in the Vale of Yorkunder easterly wind conditions. This localeffect seems to be demonstrated by thesnow depth figures for Leeming in Table I.These points need to be borne in mindwhen interpolating snow depths from therather coarse distribution of stations asshown on the Daily Weather Report.

Snowstorms of the 1946/47winter

Late JanuaryOn 26 January a trough moved westwardsacross the British Isles introducing very coldair with occasional snow over most ofEngland and Wales, being heaviest in

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Figure 3. The frozen harbour at Watchet, Somerset, winter 1947 (Source: Kevin Roscoe).

Figure 2. The frozen River Roach, Paglesham, Essex, winter 1947 (Source: Clive King).

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eastern coastal areas of England. By 27January a very cold easterly airstream cov-ered most areas with periods of snow inmany districts, prolonged and moderate inthe Midlands, eastern and south-eastEngland. On the morning of 28 January atrough of low pressure associated with ashallow depression over France gave furtherperiods of snow and by 1800 GMT on 28January snow cover was widespread anddeep in parts of the Midlands, eastern andsouth-east England with up to 23 cm incoastal areas. On 29 January a depression inthe western English Channel gave snow inSouth Wales, south and south-west Englandspreading slowly north eastwards. At0600 GMT on 29 January, Tangmere, nearChichester, reported blowing snow, a levelsnow depth of 23 cm, air temperature–7.2 °C and wind NE F6. Plymouth, Guernseyand the Scilly Isles all had in excess of 15 cm

of level snow by 1800 GMT on 29 January,with greater depths on the moors of south-west England.

In the following days high pressurepersisted to the north-east of the BritishIsles with an area of low pressure in thewestern English Channel moving slowlyeast, maintaining a very cold easterly flow.By 1 February frontal troughs were ap-proaching the south west of Britain herald-ing the arrival of further snowfall for manyareas.

2–5 FebruaryOn the morning of 2 February a trough oversouth-western districts of England andIreland was moving slowly north-eastwards.Ahead of the front was a broad band ofsnow, forecast to give heavy falls especiallyin North Wales, the southern Pennines and

Northern Ireland. By 1800 GMT there was inexcess of 15 cm of level snow in the EnglishMidlands. In southern areas of England andWales less cold air had led to a temporarythaw at lower levels. Over the next 24 hoursthe depression in the English Channelcontinued to move slowly eastwards givingheavy falls of snow over high ground in theMidlands, northern England and southernScotland. As the depression continued onthis eastward track, colder north-easterlywinds returned with the precipitationturning more widely to snow. Waddingtonreported 28 cm of level snow at 0600 GMTon 5 February.

Level snow depths in northern England bythis time included 38 cm at Ushaw (Co.Durham) and 50 cm at Huddersfield (WestYorkshire), both on 5 February, and aremarkable level depth of 112 cm at Forrest-in-Teesdale (Co. Durham) on 6 February.

By 6 February a very cold east to south-easterly flow was re-established over theBritish Isles with further, mainly light, snow-fall over eastern areas. On 7 February anoccluded front, associated with a depres-sion to the northwest of Spain, wasapproaching the British Isles from the south.

8–9 FebruaryA depression to the south-west of the BritishIsles was almost stationary and associatedfronts moved only very slowly north-east-wards. Snow was forecast to spread to southWales, southern and south-east Englandand the south Midlands. Overnight on 8/9February there were heavy falls of snow inmany southern and eastern areas ofEngland with accumulations in the order of15 cm.

By midday on 10 February an occludedfront lay from the Solway Firth to Norfolkmarking the north-eastwards limit of ratherless cold air with a temporary thaw at lowlevels over many parts of England andWales. However by the evening of 11February the cold easterlies had returned tomost areas as the front retreated south-wards. With high pressure persisting to thenorth and east of the British Isles and lowpressure in the English Channel area, a verycold east to north-easterly feed broughtgenerally very cold and cloudy conditionsespecially in the east where little sunshinewas recorded, Kew recording none from 2 to22 February. On 19 and 20 February adepression moved east-north-eastwardsinto the Bay of Biscay and by the early hoursof 21 February fronts were moving into thewestern English Channel.

21 February The early morning forecast stated ‘acomplex depression over Britain and theWestern Channel is moving slowly east-

Winter 1947 in the British Isles

Figure 4. Locations of Daily Weather Report stations mentioned in the text and named in Table I with loca-tions of photographs shown in red.

� Stations listed in Table 1

� Locations of photographs

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)

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23rd

Jan

24th

Jan

25th

Jan

26th

Jan

27th

Jan

28th

Jan

29th

Jan

30th

Jan

31st

Jan

1st F

eb

2nd

Feb

3rd

Feb

4th

Feb

5th

Feb

6th

Feb

7th

Feb

8th

Feb

9th

Feb

10th

Feb

11th

Feb

12th

Feb

13th

Feb

Dist

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Table 1

Snow depth (cms) at 0900 GMT

Key

Complete cover of snow at 0900

Partial cover of snow at 0900

Confirmed depth of snow in cm at 0900

Snow depth from other information e.g. 2100 reading

8

8

1 Kew 5 24 13 1 1 1 3 3 3 5 4 1 3 3 3 13 1 12 Croydon 66 37 15 3 3 8 8 8 10 10 13 10 10 3 3 8 8 8 15 5 3 3 33 Farnborough 69 35 15 1 1 3 5 5 5 8 10 3 1 3 5 5 5 15 5 5 5 34 Boscombe Down 127 35 15 1 1 5 13 13 15 15 8 3 5 13 3 3 15 10 5 5 5

1 5 Calshot 2 17 20 3 3 1 3 15 20 8 8 3 3 36 Tangmere 16 19 25 3 3 5 5 5 23 23 23 25 15 10 3 10 37 Lympne 104 25 13 3 3 3 5 3 10 13 13 10 10 13 8 3 8 8 8 138 Manston 43 25 25 3 3 3 5 3 8 15 8 13 8 8 3 3 3 3 8 39 Boxted 50 29 25 5 3 8 10 13 23 23 23 25 18 8 3 3 5 5 10 310 Felixstowe 3 43 23 5 8 15 20 23 23 23 23 13 13 8 3 5 8 8 8 3 3 3 311 Gorleston 2 32 18 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 3 3 3 3

2 12 Mildenhall 5 37 18 3 3 3 8 8 8 5 3 3 3 3 3 5 8 3 3 3 313 West Raynham 76 54 51 3 3 3 3 3 8 13 13 13 13 13 6 13 13 15 15 15 15 13 5 20 2014 Waddington 72 53 38 3 8 8 8 8 15 15 10 10 8 10 15 28 28 30 30 30 30 30 36 36

3 15 Cranfield 104 51 51 3 3 3 3 10 10 10 13 8 8 5 8 13 13 13 23 15 15 13 1316 Honiley 130 46 36 5 3 8 13 15 13 13 13 13 15 13 20 18 15 15 20 8 15 15 15

4 17 Little Rissington 223 51 30 3 5 3 3 8 5 13 8 8 8 20 15 18 20 20 28 25 15 15 1518 Defford 18 27 20 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 319 Bristol 64 32 20 3 8 8 10 10 8 3 3 3 20 13 10 10 1020 Hartland Point 91 11 15 15 15 13 5 121 Yeovilton 15 11 15 1 3 15 13 5 1 122 Portland Bill 10 0 0

5 23 Exeter 30 9 20 1 1 20 20 8 1 3 124 Plymouth 26 8 23 13 23 15 3 125 St.Eval 105 13 5 1 1 3 5 5 3 1 126 Lizard 73 7 18 1 13 18 1827 Guernsey 104 9 15 5 15 15 15 15 15 15 828 Scilly 50 5 18 3 18 8 529 Fairwood 82 24 13 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 3 3 3 1

6 30 Pembroke 43 11 3 3 1 1 1 1 131 Aberporth 130 21 25 3 1 1 3 3 5 5 3 5

7 32 (Holyhead) Valley 10 15 3 1 1 3 3 3 3 1 133 Hawarden 5 39 15 3 3 3 3 8 8 8 5 8 8 3 5 334 Manchester 70 20 5 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 3

8 35 Squires Gate (Blackpool) 10 16 18 1 1 3 3 5 536 Carlisle 30 12 10 3 3 3 3 3

9 37 Finningley 9 51 30 5 3 5 8 13 10 10 10 10 8 18 20 23 23 23 23 23 30 28 2838 Spurn Head 9 43 36 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 20 15 10 25 18 10 25 25 25

10 39 Leeming 32 52 25 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 340 Tynemouth 33 16 15 3 5 5 5 8 15 1041 Acklington 42 50 43 3 8 8 5 5 8 13 30 30 30 36 20 23 23

11 42 St. Abb's Head 85 20 13 3 1 10 5 3 5 13 10 1043 Leuchars 9 48 23 3 1 3 1 1 3 8 13 10 5 3 3 8 844 Renfrew 11 27 23 5 5 5 8 3 5 3 3 345 Prestwick 9 18 25 1

12 46 West Freugh 16 16 23 1 1 147 Eskdalemuir 242 51 23 1 3 3 3 3 3 5 8 8 8 8 8 13 5 8 848 Point of Ayre 9 9 3 1 1 1 1

13a 49 Tiree 13 2 1050 Benbecula 8 8 3 1

13b 51 Stornoway 4 13 5 3 352 Cape Wrath 112 18 153 Dalwhinnie 358 46

15 54 Aberdeen 24 51 33 3 3 5 3 3 1 1 5 5 8 8 8 8 10 10 1055 Rattray 14 42 30 3 3 3 3 30 30 3056 Wick 35 34 16 3 3 5 8 10 13 8 5 3 3

16 57 Hatston 14 32 20 8 13 13 8 5 3 5 858 Lerwick 82 43 43 5 8 8 5 8 859 Malin Head 26 7 1 1

18 60 Aldergrove 90 26 15 3 3 1 5 3 3 1 161 Castle Archdale 69 18 23 1 3

19 62 Birr Castle 53 7 3 1 163 Collinstown 37 21 23 1 3 3 3 1 23 10 5 8 8 164 Rineanna 4 2 1 1

20 65 Valentia 9 2 1 166 Roches Point 7 14 15 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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Winter 1947 in the British Isles

Table 114

th F

eb15

th F

eb16

th F

eb17

th F

eb18

th F

eb19

th F

eb20

th F

eb21

st F

eb

22nd

Feb

23rd

Feb

24th

Feb

25th

Feb

26th

Feb

27th

Feb

28th

Feb

1st M

ar

2nd

Mar

3rd

Mar

4th

Mar

5th

Mar

6th

Mar

7th

Mar

8th

Mar

9th

Mar

10th

Mar

11th

Mar

12th

Mar

13th

Mar

14th

Mar

15th

Mar

16th

Mar

17th

Mar

18th

Mar

19th

Mar

20th

Mar

21st

Mar

22nd

Mar

23rd

Mar

24th

Mar

25th

Mar

26th

Mar

27th

Mar

28th

Mar

29th

Mar

30th

Mar

31st

Mar

Districts1 SE England2 E England3 E Midlands4 W Midlands

5 SW England6 S Wales7 N Wales8 NW England9 E Midlands

10 NE England11 SE Scotland12 SW Scotland and I of Man13a W Scotland13b NW Scotland

15 NE Scotland16 Shetland and Orkney18 Ireland NE19 Ireland SE20 Ireland SW

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566

Map

Ref

1 2 3 1 1 5 1 8 8 32 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 8 10 10 10 3 3 5 5 5 55 3 5 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 8 5 3 3 3 3 1 8 8 8 33 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1

3 3 5 3 1 13 8 8 5 1

3 8 13 5 3 1 1 13 15 15 10 3 8 3 25

3 8 8 5 3 3 5 5 3 15 13 33 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 8 8 3 3 3 3 8 23 23 23 3 3 1 310 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 13 18 15 15 5 8 8 3 8 8 10 153 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 13 8 8 8 8 10 18 18 10 10 520 20 20 20 20 20 20 23 30 36 36 36 36 33 36 38 36 36 25 41 46 48 51 40 36 25 25 8 5 8 5 133 33 33 33 33 30 30 33 10 38 38 36 36 33 23 23 20 20 15 18 23 23 28 23 15 13 13 13 13 13 15 1313 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 36 41 38 38 28 15 8 8 5 5 5 28 51 46 38 23 18 13 10 5 3 3 310 10 15 15 15 15 13 18 18 15 18 15 8 13 5 5 5 3 20 25 25 36 18 18 3 115 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 18 20 18 15 15 5 3 3 3 1 1 8 15 30 25 15 15 15 15 3 3 3 1

1 3 3 3 3 1 8 15 15 20 15 510 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 15 15 15 10 3 8 18 15 10 5

1 3 15 20 10 51 1 1 1

15 3 3 1

1 5 3 3 15 3 3

13

1 3 5 5 5 5 3 10 13 13 13 101 1 3 3 3

10 5 3 8 5 3 20 25 15 15 20 51 1 1 1 1 1 3

3 3 3 5 8 8 8 5 5 5 5 5 15 15 5 1 1 1 8 13 10 8 3 1 1 13 3 3 3 5 1 3 3 1 1 1

1 18 8 3 1 1 1 3 5 53 5 10 8 3 10 8

28 28 18 18 23 18 18 18 20 23 18 15 30 28 28 28 28 20 20 23 23 23 23 8 15 15 15 20 20 20 823 23 20 20 20 20 25 33 36 30 25 25 28 13 5 5 10 8 8 8 8 5 5 5 1 33 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 13 10 10 10 8 10 10 10 10 18 15 18 13 13 25 25 23 20 8 5 3 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 123 23 20 18 13 5 5 5 8 8 8 8 15 18 15 23 23 20 13 13 10 10 8 10 5 3 3 18 43 38 36 15 10 10 3 3

3 3 10 8 10 10 5 3 3 5 1010 10 10 8 5 3 1 5 8 8 5 3 20 15 20 23 23 15 15 20 15 15 13 10 5 3 3 15 10 20 8 3 1 11 3 5 5 5 20 20 15 10 8 5 8 3 8 10 23 5 10

1 13 15 13 10 5 1 1 15 15 10 10 25 15 15 8 113 5 5 3 15 10 5 3 13 23 23 18 10

8 10 10 10 10 10 8 8 8 8 8 8 13 13 13 13 10 10 10 10 8 10 10 10 13 10 15 20 20 23 18 18 10 13 101 1 1 1 1 3

10 53 3 3 3 3 3 3

5 3 1 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 3 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

10 10 8 10 8 5 8 5 8 8 8 8 8 18 23 20 33 30 30 28 23 33 28 25 23 23 20 18 18 18 15 10 10 8 330 15 25 15 15 10 10 8 8 15 10 10 8 13 15 15 15 20 20 23 23 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 18 30 25 10 8 5 11 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 8 10 10 8 5 5 8 5 3 3 18 15 10 35 3 3 5 15 10 10 13 8 10 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 15 15 18 20 15 5 18 3 10 3 5 8 5 8 13 30 41 41 36 33 36 38 43 38 30 38 41 41 41 38 38 41 43 36 38 33 38 33 33 33 30 30 20

1 3 1 1 1 11 13 15 8 8 5 3 1 1 5 3 5 5 3 8 3 1 1

13 15 23 20 15 13 10 8 13 10 8 5 8 3 5 101 3 1 3 11 1 1 5 4 1 1 1 1 1

11

1 1 1 13 15 5 1

north-east. Wintry weather will continueover the British Isles with appreciable snow-fall in the South, the Midlands, East England,and also in North-east England and EastScotland. There will be fresh to strong north-east winds in many areas reaching gale forceat times in the south and east. Frost willcontinue day and night in most districts.’(Source: The Daily Weather Report of theMeteorological Office.)

By 1800 GMT on 21 February many south-ern areas of England and Wales had a further5–10 cm of snow added to that already onthe ground. Other reported snow depthsincluded Huddersfield (West Yorkshire) with38 cm on 21 February and Waddington with38 cm on 22 February and 23 February.

As the low pressure and associated frontsmoved away eastwards into France, a ridgeof high pressure built across the British Islesbringing clearer skies and much lowerovernight minimum temperatures. Cranfieldrecorded a minimum of –17.8 °C on thenight of 23/24 February. The exception tothese conditions was Shetland, where asmall low pressure system brought anaccumulation of 41 cm of snow at Lerwickby 23 February. The morning of 25 Februarysaw a vigorous low just west of Irelandpoised to take a more northerly track thanthe previous lows with the threat of heavysnowfall in north-western areas of theBritish Isles.

26 FebruaryA depression moved north-eastwards fromIreland to the Scottish Borders (Figure 5).The forecast was for moderate snow withsome heavy falls in northern England, thenorth Midlands, southern and centralScotland spreading to the rest of Scotlandlater. By the evening of 26 February parts ofcentral Scotland had 20 cm of snow at lowlevels. In northern England on 28 February,Ushaw (Co. Durham) reported 71 cm of levelsnow with 43 cm at Huddersfield (WestYorkshire). In Co. Mayo, Ireland, gale-forceeasterly winds formed drifts 5 metres high(Sweeney, 1994).

By the evening of 28 February the low hadmoved away eastwards into the North Sea.A northerly flow brought further snowshowers to north- and east-facing coasts ofEngland and Scotland with clearer skiesleading to severe overnight frosts. On thenight of 3/4 March Acklington recorded–17.8 °C, Dalwhinnie –17.2 °C and Leeming–16.1 °C. By 4 March a depression wasmoving into the western English Channelwith an occluded front lying along the southcoast of England on the morning of 5 March.

4–5 MarchEarly March 1947 saw the worst snowstormof the winter in Wales and southern and

central areas of England. On the morning of4 March an occluded front was forecast tomove up from the south bringing milderconditions and a thaw with snow eventuallyturning to rain. In the event the milder airfailed to make significant progress beyondthe south coast of England (Figure 6) andthere were heavy falls of snow in theMidlands, Wales (Figure 7) and easternEngland with freezing rain in parts of south-ern England. At low levels the greatestdepth reported by the Daily Weather Reportwas 51 cm at Cranfield in lowlandBedfordshire on the morning of 6 March.Elsewhere, Lake Vyrnwy (Powys) reported91 cm of level snow, Crickhowell (Powys)56 cm, Wrexham 53 cm and Birmingham

41 cm. On the same day drifts of 5 metresdepth were reported from the Crickhowellarea on the eastern flank of the BreconBeacons in South Wales and of 3 metresdepth at Whipsnade (Bedfordshire) at analtitude of 220 metres in the Chiltern Hills.

Manley (1952) stated ‘an almost exactworking model of the conditions of the IceAge can be seen in the events of February1947, in south and south-west England. Inthe events that culminated in the greatMidland snowstorms of 5 March (Figure 6 ),in place of the expected thaw whose north-ward travel did not extend beyond theThames, we can see why the limit of the ice-sheet in one glaciation almost reached theThames. For thousands of years the battle

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Figure 5. Chart for 0600 GMT on 26 February 1947 (Source: The Daily Weather Report of the MeteorologicalOffice).

Figure 6. Chart for 0600 GMT on 5 March 1947 (Source: The Daily Weather Report of the MeteorologicalOffice).

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between tropical and polar air was re-peatedly fought out over Southern England.’

The low and its associated front movedaway eastwards along the English Channelleaving a light easterly flow initially, be-coming westerly or even cyclonic associatedwith a shallow depression in the Irish Sea.Importantly the supply of extremely cold airfrom the east had been broken, for the timebeing at least. Daytime maximum tempera-tures were generally several degrees abovefreezing in most areas. On 10–11 March adepression moved eastwards over southernEngland bringing very wet conditions, e.g.Tangmere 41 mm with overnight tempera-tures remaining just above freezing in thesouth. By now successive depressions weretaking slightly more northwards tracks andon 13 March a depression was forecast tomove across northern England.

13–14 MarchAt 0600 GMT on 13 March (Figure 8) a warmfront lay from Northern Ireland to EastAnglia. Ahead of the front, temperatureswere below freezing with snow falling overnorthern England and the southern half ofScotland. Freezing rain was reported fromEast Yorkshire. To the south of the front, con-ditions were milder with rain in many areas.Southern and central Scotland and north-east England saw fresh falls of snow in theorder of 25 cm with even greater falls inupland areas. Drifts of up to 7.5 metres werereported from east, central and southernScotland. By the morning of 14 March thefront was returning southwards bringingcolder air with snow showers back to mostareas.

On 15 March colder conditions prevailedagain in most areas and there were further

snowfalls as fronts returned north-east-wards over the British Isles. On 16 March thefronts continued their progress northwardsintroducing milder air that reached all butthe far north-east of England and easternScotland. Overnight on 16/17 Marchanother deep depression crossed the BritishIsles, tracking over Wales and northernEngland, bringing gales to many southernareas of England including a gust of 98 mphat Mildenhall. By now the combination ofhigher temperatures and heavy rainfall wascausing a rapid thaw of lying snow.Combined with limited infiltration due tothe still-frozen soil this led to seriousflooding. Depressions and associated frontscontinued to move across the British Islesduring March to add to the floodingproblems. The floods had begun on 10March in the south and became severe in

many areas by the middle of the month. AtKew the monthly rainfall total was 118 mm,the wettest March since 1856.

Comparison with 1962–63 Table II shows the Central England tempera-tures (CET) for the 1947 and 1963 winters.(CET is representative of a roughly triangulararea of the United Kingdom enclosed byMalvern, Lancashire and London. Themonthly series begins in 1659.)

In both winters the Midlands was thecoldest district followed by Eastern andSouth-East England. Temperatures over thecountry as a whole were lower during thewinter of 1963 than during that of 1947 as aresult of the more prolonged easterlyregime (51 days in 1963 and 32 days in1947). If snowfall is compared, much ofDartmoor and Exmoor were snow coveredfor 60 days in 1963 and 33 days in 1947.Snow depths in the Princetown (Devon)area were similar with level accumulationsof 50 cm and drifts to 5 metres. Althoughboth winters were characterized by severalsnowstorms there were differences in theirnature. In 1947 the snowstorms tended tobe followed by a brief thaw, particularly insouthern areas, leading to a reduction of thesnow cover at low levels notably on 4/5 and10 February. 1963 was characterized bymore uniform cold with only a slight day-time thaw during the second week ofFebruary (Booth, 1968).

In the Midlands and East Anglia in par-ticular the winter of 1947 was snowier than1963 with snow depths and persistence farexceeding anything in recent decades.

ConclusionThere is no doubt that winter 1947 wasexceptional. Although it is only thethirteenth coldest in the CET ranking, the

Winter 1947 in the British Isles

Figure 7. The author’s family home at Bassaleg, near Newport, South Wales in early March 1947.

Figure 8. Chart for 0600 GMT on 13 March 1947 (Source: The Daily Weather Report of the MeteorologicalOffice).

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frequent, heavy snowfalls and persistence ofsnow cover from late January to mid Marchidentify this as one of the most significantwinters of the twentieth century. Manley(1947) ranked the winter about tenth in theorder of severity in the 200 years to 1947.‘For such a combination of low maxima,with very widespread and deep snowfalls,not only in the north-east but also in theextreme south-west, we have to go back toJanuary 1814. In other cold months therehas usually been much less snow with moreclear nights e.g. January 1940.’

In this article it has been shown that thepersistence of high pressure to the northand east of the British Isles provided a blockto the usual movement of depressions.Under these circumstances the British arearemained in cold air and much of the preci-pitation was in the form of snow, oftenaccompanied by high winds. The table ofsnow depth and snow cover (Table I)suggests a gradual northwards movementof the deepest snow cover from late Januaryto mid-March indicating the rather morenortherly track of successive depressions. Bythe second week of March this process hadled to a widespread and rapid thaw insouthern areas as less cold conditionsarrived from the south.

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank the Met Office for giv-ing permission to reproduce the maps fromthe Daily Weather Report.

My thanks to the following staff at theUKMO Library and Archive for their help inproviding further information: Steve Jebsonand Ian MacGregor (Exeter) and HazelClement (Edinburgh).

My thanks also to the following who haveallowed me to use their photographs of the1947 winter: Clive King (Paglesham), KevinRoscoe (Watchet) and Peter Robinson(Cumbrian Railways Association).

ReferencesBooth RE. 1968. The severe winter of 1963compared with other cold winters,particularly that of 1947. Weather 23:477–479.

Currie G. 2004. Topographic influences onthe snowfalls of winter 1947 at GreatSmeaton, North Yorkshire. Weather 59:351–352.

Douglas CKM. 1947. The severe winter of1946 to 1947. Meteorol. Mag. 76: 51–56.

Manley G. 1947. February 1947: its placein meteorological history. Weather 2:267–272.

Manley G. 1952. Climate and the BritishScene. Fontana New Naturalist Series(Fourth Impression, 1971): 270.

Roberts C. 2003. The winter of 1947 inHalesowen, West Midlands. Weather 58:113–119.

Sweeney M. 1994. The great Irish blizzardof 1947. J. Meteorol. UK 187: 93–94.

Tunstall SM, Johnson CL, Penning-Rowsell EC. 2004. Flood hazardmanagement in England and Wales: fromland drainage to flood risk management.World Congress on Natural DisasterMitigation. 19–21 February 2004, NewDelhi.

Correspondence to: Mr George Boothe-mail: george.j.booth@ntlworld.com

© Royal Meteorological Society, 2007

doi: 10.1002/wea.66

Table 2

Central England temperatures (°C) for the winters of 1947 and 1963 and the rankings of eachwinter on the CET record (1659–2005).

Year/Month December January February Winter Mean Winter CET Rank

1946–1947 3.1 2.2 –1.9** 1.1 13th coldest1962–1963 1.8 –2.1* –0.7 –0.3 3rd coldest***

* Fifth coldest January on record, ** Coldest February on record, ***after 1740 (–0.4°C) and 1684 (–1.2°C)

Ice on vegetation, 22 November 2005, Brecon, Powys (© Andres Davis).