Unseasonal snow and exceptional cold hit parts of UK following frostiest April

Parts of the UK saw unseasonal snow and exceptional cold beginning Tuesday, May 5, 2021. The wintry weather conditions came following the frostiest April on record, in which the country also saw the lowest average minimum temperatures since 1922.

Snow began falling Tuesday as an unusually cold air for May moved across the country. 

In Scotland, travel has been disrupted as thick snow engulfed roads. A snow warning was issued by the Met Office across the Grampians and much of the central region.

An area near Tomintoul in Moray was shut after a tanker was trapped in the snow. Authorities opened alternate routes while the road was closed.

"Some parts of Scotland are waking up to a scene more like winter than May this morning," it wrote. Snow and rain traveled southwards, from the Highlands and Grampians to the Central Belt.

"We've seen snow showers and more general periods of rain and snow affecting much of Scotland. There's been a covering of snow in places with some significant and disruptive falls of snow in parts of northern Scotland– quite unusual for May."

Meanwhile, in England, locals enjoyed the unseasonal weather as skiers headed to the slopes of Lake District, witnessing snow for the first time in several months. 

"I haven't seen snow at this time of year before, but I was speaking to some other members who said there was snow in June in 1963, although that was a very unusual year for weather," said club president Mike Sweeney.

Former club president and assistant hut warden Gerald Unthank, 80, added, "Up here we rely on drifts and have snow fences because we don't get a great depth of snow, but some of the drifts today are as high as the fences."

According to BBC weather presenter Simon King, while the snow was uncommon for the country in May, it was also 'not out of the question.' The conditions were caused by a northerly wind, which dominated the weather pattern across the country.

"As the air is cold enough, those showers have been wintry with snow falling to relatively low levels," said King.

As of Thursday morning May 7, snow and cold persisted in some parts of the country, with sharp frost in some rural areas.

The unseasonal cold and snow came after the UK experienced the frostiest April since records began in 1960, as well as the lowest average minimum temperatures since 1922.

Julie Celestial

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