In article ,
Dave Wheeler writes:
I'm not sure that I agree with those that suggest that the snow
reported in August might have been hail. Hail (virtually non-existent
here during summer) is extremely common in Shetland during the winter
half of the year. So I'm pretty sure that the 'Whalsay Correspondent'
would have been as aware of the physical difference between hail and
snow as we are in this age. You know about hail (in its various forms)
in these northern latitudes - try facing it in gale force winds and
it's not easy to forget!

But the writer made a point of commenting on the warmth, which seems to
me to rule out sleet or hail. I don't suppose that there's any chance of
finding out what the temperature was? Even in Shetland, snow in
mid-August at anywhere close to sea-level seems very improbable to me.
--
John Hall

"Take the tone of the company you are in."
The Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773)