The October 2008 United Kingdom cold wave was a spell of unseasonable weather that affected the United Kingdom during the final week of October 2008. The event set new low October temperature records across areas in England, Scotland, and Wales and brought the first recorded October snowfall to some areas of the country in more than 70 years. The cold wave caused disruptions to power supplies and transport in southern England, and led to the postponement of several sporting fixtures.

Report

Snowfall

Snowfall was widespread on 28 October, with lying snow also widespread. For parts of south-eastern England it was the first October snowfall for decades, with London having last experienced such early snow in 1934. There was more snow on the 29th. The conditions marked the first time since 1887 that snow had settled on the ground prior to November in Surrey.

Temperatures

The cold front brought lower than average temperatures to many parts of the United Kingdom, with several areas setting new records for October. The United Kingdom as a whole saw its lowest October maximum temperature over 28-29 October with , breaking the previous record set in 1974. On 28 October Scotland observed its lowest ever October maximum temperature with , with Wales and Northern Ireland following suit on 29 October with identical records of . England's maximum temperature of on the same day was the second-lowest recorded in the country in October since 1960. A number of Met Office stations across the United Kingdom additionally set new local temperature records for the month over 28-29 October. Leuchers,

Aberporth Aberporth is a seaside village, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. The population at the 2001 Census, was 2,485, of whom 49 per cent could speak the Welsh language. At the 2011 Census, the population of the community was 2,374 a ...

, Watnall, and

Shawbury Shawbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Shropshire. The village is northeast of the town of Shrewsbury, northwest of Telford and northwest of London. The village straddles the A53 between Shrewsbury and Market Drayt ...

, as well as

Ronaldsway Ronaldsway () is a place in the parish of Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, between the village of Ballasalla and the town of Castletown. Features It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport and historically of RNAS Ronaldsway, to ...

on the Isle of Man, all observed their lowest maximum October temperatures on record, while stations in Coningsby, Lyneham, and Tiree registered their lowest minimum temperatures for October. Overnight on the 28-29 October temperatures dropped to in eastern England, while Manchester registered a daily high of just on 28 October, 5°C lower than normal.

Impact

Cables damaged by the cold conditions left thousands of households across Bedfordshire,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

without power, with engineers unable to undertake repairs due to the inclement weather. There were disruptions at

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...

with twelve departing flights cancelled and seven incoming flights diverted to Birmingham and Stansted in order for the runways to be cleared of snow. Several football matches set to be played on the evening of 28 October in England and Wales were also abandoned or postponed due to the weather.

References

{{Weather events in the United Kingdom 2000s cold waves 2008 meteorology 2008 natural disasters October 2008 events in the United Kingdom Cold waves in the United Kingdom