Winter of 1894–95 in the United Kingdom
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The winter of 1894–1895 was severe for 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, ...
with a
Central England temperature The Central England Temperature (CET) record is a meteorological dataset originally published by Professor Gordon Manley in 1953 and subsequently extended and updated in 1974, following many decades of painstaking work. The monthly mean surface a ...
(CET) of .Met Office
Seasonal Hadley Centre Mean CET
/ref> Many climatologists have come to view this winter as the end of the Little Ice Age and the culmination of a decade of harsh winters in Britain. Whereas the average CET for the 10 winters from 1885–1886 to 1894–1895 was , no winter with a CET under followed for 22 years and no month as cold as February or January 1895 until 1940.‘The Last Thames Freeze in London, February 1895’ in Nobbs, Patrick; ''The Story of the British and Their Weather: Cloudy with a Chance of Rain'' In contrast, between 1659 and 1894, no spell with every winter CET above had lasted longer than 12 winters. Although this winter, which featured the lowest
North Atlantic oscillation The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a weather phenomenon over the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in the difference of atmospheric pressure at sea level (SLP) between the Icelandic Low and the Azores High. Through fluctuations in the ...
index between 1882 and 1962, with lower values recorded only in 1880/1881, 1962/1963, and 1968/1969 affected most of Europe and North America very severely. The severe winter led to mass unemployment and severe disruptions to shipping on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, which froze over. Most workers were left without sustenance, and in industrial centres, large soup kitchens were widespreadCurrie, Ian; ‘The great frost: The winter of 1894–95’; ''
Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmos ...
''; 50(3) (March 1995); pp. 66–73
to feed these people. Numerous skating festivals also were organised to take advantage of the unusually cold and sunny weather, with up to 50,000 people skating on
the Serpentine The Serpentine (also known as the Serpentine River) is a recreational lake in Hyde Park, London, England, created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline. Although it is common to refer to the entire body of water as the Serpentine, strict ...
in London's Hyde Park and
speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...
races being widely popular and generating money to be used for relief of the poor, and in some cases to provide them with temporary work as vendors for spectators. Coal supplies dwindled as transporting coal by river was impossible, whilst many recently introduced exotic plants were killed by the cold.


December 1894

December 1894 was mild for the most part and the first three weeks were dominated by southwesterly winds, so much so that primroses and daisies were in bloom during the third week. During the last week, though, when the winds veered to the northwest, colder weather arrived with frosts and snow showers to exposed areas. Seven inches (0.18 m) of snow were reported in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
at the end of the month. The average monthly temperature over central England was .


January 1895

Troughs in the flow gave snow showers to most parts and many places had a snow cover, and
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
had by the 6th. High pressure to the west moved across the UK and under the clear skies and with a deep snow cover, very low minima were recorded with in parts of
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and in parts of the
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. Freezing fog formed and was slow to clear, a maximum of was recorded at
Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...
in freezing fog. Milder air tried to push in from the
Atlantic Ocean 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 ...
with a system and a heavy snowfall resulted across the UK, with depths of snow of being widely reported. The Atlantic air finally broke through, and a thaw resulted in flooding in a number of areas, as temperatures rose double figures in the south, Kew recording . The northwesterlies returned on the 21st with a low over the near continent and its active cold front moving across southeast England bringing thunderstorms, snow, and hail. The northerly flow for a few days and conditions were severe over northern Scotland with heavy drifting snow, and snow fell elsewhere exposed to the north wind.
Thundersnow Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thundersnowstorm, is a kind of thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It is considered a rare and unusual phenomenon. It typically falls in regions of s ...
occurred widely on the 23rd with the passage of another strong frontal system.Met Office;
MWR_1895
The average monthly temperature was , which is the 26th-coldest January ever recorded since 1659 and 16th-coldest since 1766 – though only 1940, 1963, and 1979 have been colder since. Met Office
Monthly Ranked Hadley Centre Mean CET
/ref> January 1895 had heavy snowfall produce above-average water-equivalent precipitation – England and Wales averaged , which is more than in any colder month since the EWP series began – except in the west of Scotland, which was in a rain shadow from the prevailing northeasterly winds and received only a quarter of normal rainfall. Despite the heavy snowfall, sunshine duration was above normal throughout except for the east coast and adjacent slopes, with the west and southwest having up to twice their long-term average insolation.


February 1895

A very cold easterly flow controlled the weather over the UK and most of Europe, and severe frosts with minima of occurred at
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...
and was recorded at Chester. Heavy snow showers came with the easterly with
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
and
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
getting the brunt of the showers, South Shields was severely affected by 15 hours of continuous snowfall forcing the closure of the shipyard. Small
polar low A polar low is a mesoscale, short-lived atmospheric low pressure system (depression) that is found over the ocean areas poleward of the main polar front in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as the Sea of Japan. The systems usua ...
s affected the west with snowfalls,
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on the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
recorded of snow. However, away from the east coast, February 1895 was exceptionally dry and very sunny, with some southern areas recording no measurable precipitation and the
England and Wales Precipitation The England and Wales Precipitation (EWP) record is a historical meteorological dataset which was originally published in the journal ''British Rainfall'' in 1931 and updated in a greatly revised form by a number of climatologists including Janice ...
value totaling only of water equivalent – the sixth-driest February and equal 28th-driest any month since the series begin in 1766. Over 150 hours of sunshine were reported from
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...
, over 110 hours from Sussex and
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
, and around 80 hours in the north, figures that in the south rival February 2008 as the sunniest on record. As the high over
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moved over the UK; a phenomenally cold and dry spell with exceptionally low minima followed. Temperatures of or less were regularly recorded, was recorded at Braemar on the 11th, the lowest-ever UK minimum, at
Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Rutland. was the mean average temperature for
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
in Yorkshire between the 5th and the 14th. Canals, rivers, lakes and ponds froze in the severe cold, the Manchester Ship Canal was iced over, ice floes were in the Thames, and the Thames estuary itself was impassable because of ice. ::An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people skated on the Serpentino yesterday. The thickness of the ice averaged 6½ inches.... In
Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...
the ice in places was no less than thick. Many people died of
hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
or respiratory conditions. ::... coroner for East London, held inquests at Poplar on the bodies of four persons whose death was due to the cold weather. At St. Clement Dane’s Vestry-hall, at the Westminster Union, at
Chelsea Town Hall Chelsea Town Hall is a municipal building in King's Road, Chelsea, London. The oldest part is a Grade II* listed building and the later part is Grade II listed. History The building was commissioned to replace a mid-19th-century vestry hall on ...
, and at the old Kensington Town Hall, similar cases were investigated.... Out of eight inquests ... five were stated by the medical witnesses to be due to the severity of the weather. By the end of February, the weekly death rate from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
and related illnesses was 950 per week higher than the average for the period. The lack of snow meant that frost penetrated unusually deep into soils throughout southern England. Gas and water pipes fractured, creating major supply problems: Northampton was blackened out when the worst of these fractures cut out the town's gas supply, whilst heaving from the frost made most major roads and railways impassable. Record minima were set for these dates in February 1895: *7th: *8th: *9th: *10th: *11th: *12th: *13th: *14th: *16th: *17th: *18th: *19th: The average monthly temperature was , the second-coldest February ever recorded, whilst the minimum temperature with the clear skies of is the lowest for any month since records began in 1878.Met Office
Hadley Centre Ranked Central England Minimum Temperature
/ref>


Thaw

As the high began to slip westwards, milder Atlantic air slowly encroached and temperatures crept above freezing for the first time in a few weeks; London had its first frost-free night on the 21st for three weeks. Maxima were finally returning to close to normal by the end of the month. March 1895, however, had another cold snap during the first week with heavier snow showers than observed during the coldest periods four weeks beforehand, but a more permanent thaw took place from the second week without major flooding.


Coldest spells of the winter (CET means)

*Coldest daily CET maximum: 6 February *Coldest daily CET minimum: 8 February *Mildest daily CET maximum: on 13 December


Notes

The longest previous spell of winters above had been from 1716/1717 to 1727/1728.


References


External links


Photographs of the frozen Thames
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter of 1894-1895 in the United Kingdom Cold waves in the United Kingdom 1894 in the United Kingdom 1895 in the United Kingdom 1894 cold waves Winter 1894 UK 1895 cold waves