In my experience of living in northern England, the Sheffield/Doncaster region seems to do OK for snow but Manchester, forget it. Living there was like home from home weather wise with a climate similar to here in the west of Ireland, if on a more modified scale.

Yes indeed. Easterlies usually disappoint here as the snow breaks up over the Pennines. However not always, see my snow videos regarding the 22.3.13 event, 14 cm snow in my back garden the next morning. A remarkable event, but then March 2013 was a truely exceptional month.

People say that about Manchester and I don't agree. 

It's rare to see a winter completely snowless here and if you get a cold WNW'ly a streamer sets up and we usually get some fairly heavy snow. Don't get me wrong, it's not a snowy city, but I'd argue marginally more so than Liverpool, probably similar to Leeds, maybe slightly less. 

Sheffield is well known for being a snowy city.

For me, that is all the more reason to be even more frustrated by the lack of easterly winds at this time of year in more recent times because it seems to be that it is on those occasions where I would rather not see them, that we tend to end up getting them these days.

Manchester has very similar winters to here I think. I have yet to experience a winter where there hasn't been some heavy snow showers from time to time here too from the W or NW, but usually does not stick around for long. I suppose one advantage Sheffield has over Manchester is that is it far hillier.

I used to know somebody who played at the Werneth Low Golf Club, just on the eastern outskirts of Manchester, max alt 243m. He said he could only afford the sub which was less than other local clubs, because the course was under snow for 3 months of the year.

I lived in York for as few years in the early 00's and there was quite a bit of snow from northerlies and then an easterly in 2005, probably on par with what we had here giving me the impression it was snowy given its low altitude. However recent years there has been a lack of deep cold northerly's and as a result 12/13 14/15 and 15/16 have seen many magnitudes more snow here than York.

Get a few winter's with a cold NW outbreaks and Manchester will do very well with many other areas missing out but even those have been lacking recently. We have had some WNW and W outbreaks in the last three winters inc this November which are better for here but more marginal.

Depends where abouts in Manchester. The Medlock chap seems to do well (east of the city centre), but other areas struggle a bit - my boss lives in Urmston and he's always moaning about missing out on snowfall.

The City Centre itself is poor for lying snow, but I suspect this is more to do with the UHI than geography.

Think the adage of the higher the better rings very true in most set-ups - but not always.

In his excellent book 'Climate and the British Scene' Gordon Manley states "the hillier parts of Sheffield to the east of the City are perhaps the snowiest urban areas of Britain".

Having been stuck in a blizzard on Ranmoor in February 1979 I tend to agree.

Andy

The amount of snow in the Manchester area increases rapidly from the City Centre east to Glossop even though the increase in altitude is modest.

The close proximity to the Pennines seems to be the defining factor although the effect of going west from the City towards Bolton seems to have a similar if not as marked effect.

Andy

Strange. I read this book years ago, and I have a clear memory that the accolade of "snowiest urban community in Britain" went to Consett in County Durham.

Apologies, you are correct Rob although Gordon does refer to the Hillier parts of Sheffield as being snowy in the same section of the book.

Andy

I remember 1962/3 for all the wrong reasons. Living in Macclesfield and working on a partially completed block of flats with no windows or doors fitted was no fun.

The saving grace was that we had very little snow, but the wind and the icy temperatures were something to be reckoned with.

I wouldn`t like to experience another winter like that.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/archive/ra/1979/Rrea00119790215.gif 

I would be quite happy to never see another easterly in either winter or summer A northerly would be more than welcome though

After a relatively cold start to December ....a milder interlude over Christmas,,,,,then this delivered ....

And note the deep freeze over the US as well, so much for the cold US/warm Europe theory.

Andy

It was mentioned in passing on Countryfile weather that the average temp of the North Sea at this time of year is 1.5C up on what it was in the early 1980s. So to deliver, it's not merely an easterly that we want but the even more restrictive condition of a short sea track easterly.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread Darren. Fascinating.

Do we not count late Nov/early Dec 2010 as a proper easterly? Living in Edinburgh at the time that was sure as hell a proper easterly http://old.wetterzentrale.de/pics/archive/ra/2010/Rrea00120101201.gif 

Blizzards, drifting snow, icicles, the lot. 

Much less severe in Kent? 

Edit - I've dug out some old photos.