April 1981 United Kingdom snow storm
weather event in the United Kingdom
An exceptionally late snow storm affected Great Britain between 23 and 26 April 1981. The snow event was of particular note for its lateness in the season and its intensity. Also associated with the pressure system was low temperatures. On the night of the 23rd, the temperature at Dalwhinnie fell to −11.0 °C (12.2 °F).
Snowfall totals
Totals across southern England, Wales, the Midlands and the North West widely exceeded 30 cm (12 in). On the 25th alone, 20 cm (7.9 in) were reported to have fallen across southern and western England and Wales. In total, 66 cm (26 in) was reported to have fallen in Gloucestershire. Also, there was level snow of 60 cm (24 in) around the Peak District with 20 ft (6.1 m) drifts reported in strong winds. Also 20 ft (6.1 m) high drifts were recorded in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
Temperatures
Along with a snow, temperatures were exceptionally below normal for this stage in April.
“April 1981 United Kingdom snow storm” enters the record as weather event in the United Kingdom. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what April, United and Kingdom can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“April 1981 United Kingdom snow storm” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, April, United and Kingdom provides the most credible route into that argument.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q48816626. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1981.
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This entry incorporates text from “April 1981 United Kingdom snow storm” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.