After suffering snow, sleet, rain and consistently freezing temperatures, the knowledge that the Met Office has officially recognised winter 2009-10 as the coldest in 31 years brings with it a certain grim satisfaction.

Provisional figures from the forecaster show the UK winter ‑ which in forecasting terms lasts from the start of December until the end of February ‑ has been the harshest, in temperature terms, since 1978-79.

The news may come as little surprise to those affected by snow in December and January, when falls of up to 2ft saw councils’ grit supplies run low, travel chaos and the return of the Guardian’s snow day live blog.

According to the Met Office the mean temperature in the UK was 1.51C this winter, compared to a long-term average winter temperature ‑ calculated from data collected between 1971 and 2000 ‑ of 3.7C. The mean temperature in 1978-79 was 1.17C.

Guardian.co.uk

Share

Related posts:

1. British Pensioners Get Winter Aid From Iceland
2. Birdwatcher makes fruitless journey to Norway only to find snow bunting in her garden
3. British state to ‘spy’ on every phone call, email and web search
4. British support for EU hits rock bottom
5. The new breed of beekeepers taking up traditional ‘old man’s hobby’ – and saving the British bee