wrote in message
ups.com...
But why is a winter that is only likely to be the coldest in 10 years
classed as "severe"? Surely a "severe" winter would be at the very
least one which matched the cold winters of the mid 80s, in other words
it would have to be the coldest in 20 years to at all be called
"severe". Or does "severe" mean "temperatures below the 1961-90
average"?

Nick

I think severe these days is any weather which might result in snow.