The March 2013 United Kingdom winter storm was an exceptional weather event that took place in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the night of 22–23 March 2013. Described as 'the worst snowfall for 30 years', the event brought chaos to many parts of Northern England, Northern Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The worst places affected were North West England, North East Wales and Northern Ireland. Also accompanying the snow were very strong winds and very cold weather. At least two deaths were reported.

Meteorological History

The storm formed late on 15 March just off the coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

as a result of the what happeed effect. It remained intertwined with another area of low pressure that sat over the far north of Canada until the 18th, when the low dissipated. The cyclone split into two, also on the 18th, with the cyclone to the north dissipating only hours after forming. The storm then underwent explosive cyclogenesis, falling from at 18:00 on 18 March to by 12:00 the next day. The storm then gathered momentum and moved into the central

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

by 18:00 on the 20th, as well as rapidly increasing in size. The low continued to move westward on the 21st, being about off the south west coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

by 18:00. It also further increased in size, extending its influence from southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to just south of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. The weather fronts produced heavy rain over the far south west of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, but heavy snow to places further north over the 22nd and 23rd. However, it ultimately was weakened by the intense anticyclone block to the north. The storm weakened further on the 25th and was incorporated into a stronger area of low pressure, centred off the coast of

Impacts

Snowfall, strong winds and low temperatures were main features during the event.

Snowfall

Up to of snow was reported to have fallen in some places with up to drifts. drifts were reported in Lancashire. of snow fell even to low levels in parts of North East Wales.

Temperature

For many, the lowest daily maximum temperature of the month occurred on 24 March, just after the passing of the storm. At Cairngorm, the maximum temperature on 24 March was only . However, this was not the coldest day of the month.

Wind

Winds were very strong during the event; average wind speeds of up to 60 mph were recorded in the worst-hit areas of north-west England, south-west Scotland and Northern Ireland. This led to widespread disruption.

References

{{Heat waves in the United Kingdom Blizzards 2013 in the United Kingdom