Much of southern England had one of the heaviest late March snowfalls of the
20th century on this day. The cold spell had been well predicted; on Tuesday
25th the BBC radio weather forecast mentioned the threat of very cold
weather later in the week due to ' rising pressure to the north of Britain'
and the arctic air arrived on the afternoon of the 27th with snow showers.
There were more snow showers the next day but these died away in the
afternoon when I noticed high clouds spreading across the sky from the
south.
Low pressure spread into Biscay overnight, the easterly wind increased and
it was already snowing and the ground covered when I awoke on the morning
of the 20th. I arrived at my office at 0900, a single storey building, and
the snow was blowing in clouds off the road and rooftops. The force of the
wind blew the snow under the eaves of the building where it melted and
dripped through the ceiling onto our desks. The snow fell continously
throughout Saturday ( accompanied by the gale) and continued until late on
Sunday afternoon when it ceased; I measured its depth as 6 inches on the
lawn.
There was widespread disruption to events on that Saturday; football matches
were postponed, including the FA Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Chelsea
at White Hart Lane ( which was played the following Saturday - a 1-1 draw
and Arsenal won the replay 3 - 0 before losing to Newcastle Utd in the Final
on 3 May). The Boat Race was rowed in a blizzard which Oxford won by a
canvas.
Many years later I worked with an office colleague who, I discovered, was
married on that day. He told me that the wedding photographer and some of
the guests didn't get to the church because of the snow and the guests
reassembled a few weeks later for the official photos to be taken.
Kew Observatory registered a max of 0.5c on the 29th - the coldest late
March day of the century there. There were more snow showers on the 31 March
and on the first 2 days of April, and I noted 6 days of snow lying from 28
March to 2 April inclusive.
Peter Clarke
Ewell, Epsom 55m ( but living in Hampton, Middx in 1952).