A minimum of -49.2C was recorded at Spitsbergen on the 28th March 1917, exceptionally low for that time of the year.

No wonder the start of April 1917 was so cold for the UK, when the polar airmass that flooded the UK came from the Spitsbergen area. That was the lowest minimum recorded that year for stations in the latitude zone of 70N to 80N and the lowest minimum recorded in that latitude range from 1910 to 1918.

Harewood Lodge, Meltham, North Yorkshire readings at 9am on 2nd April

Max: -1.2C

Min: -11.9C

10 inches of snow

Amazing - thanks for those wonderful stats and those charts.

Not just April, but the whole of the winter of 1916-17 was very long and cold, lasting well into the spring as well. The pattern kicked off in the December, and I don't think it was really until late April that things got significantly warmer.

The CETs for that winter/spring are:

December 1916: 1.9C
January 1917: 1.6C
February 1917: 0.9C
March 1917: 3.2C
April 1917: 5.4C

Five remarkably cold months on the trot. April of course was the fifth coldest on record.