From the point of view of my backyard in Taunton, Somerset, the last decade has seen three truly phenomenal episodes of prolonged snow and ice: January 2010, December 2010 and March 2018. Even the more transient event of 31 Jan/1 Feb 2019 was not one to be sneezed at: if you're sledging at 30 metres above sea level in this part of the country at some point during a winter, then it's by definition a good one.
Honestly, have there really been any better decades overall for snow lovers than the current one? Not in the West Country, I'd say.
To me, we seem to have entered a period of weather similar to that described in reports of the Little Ice Age, featuring sporadic heatwaves and occasional record-breaking cold, as a result of high pressure cells becoming more prevalent and enduring.
Will the coming winter be another one where the high pressure sits in just the right place for us? Goodness knows, but at least it's likely to be there somewhere on current form. Particularly as we come out of solar minimum - that period of the next two or three years does seem to be the sweet spot for cold UK winters, rather than the period of solar minimum itself.
Edited by user
18 August 2019 21:56:35
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Reason: rogue comma
2 miles west of Taunton, 32 m asl, where "milder air moving in from the west" becomes SNOWMAGEDDON.
Well, two or three times a decade it does, anyway.