Will this winter break records?
September 1, 2016
What we’re all wondering right now is what kind of winter lies in store for us in the coming months? Will it be freezing cold or warm and wet? Do we need to double our Dawson’s fuel order for our stove pellets and open fire coal, or will we hardly need our heating at all?
Predicting the winter weather is notoriously difficult, as the newspapers proved earlier this year. In early January 2016, the press was predicting the coldest winter ever, with a series of shock-horror headlines about Arctic blasts. Yet by the end of February, they announced that in fact we’d had the warmest winter for 147 years.
Warmest and wettest
According to the Central England Temperature record series, which dates back to 1659, last winter was the second warmest on record, with an average temperature of 6.7°C, just below the record warmest winter at 6.8°C set in 1869.
Not only was it warm last winter, as many of you will know only too well, it was also incredibly wet, with major flooding across the UK, from Cumbria to the South West. Winter 2015/16 was the second wettest winter on record, with a total of 529mm (20.8inches) of rain – just behind the record holder 2013/14 which had 545mm (21.4inches) of rain.
Record lows
It would be easy to assume that our weather is getting warmer, yet many of the record lowest winter temperatures have also been set in recent years. Scotland recorded a UK record low of -27.2°C in 1995, and Northern Ireland’s record low of 18.7°C was set as recently as 2010.
Of course these cold snaps are nothing compared to the long drawn out winters that occurred during the ‘Little Ice Age’ that occurred between the mid 14th century and the mid 19th century. This brought about such prolonged periods of cold that the Thames froze over for months on end, leading to the famous Frost Fair of 1684, when markets were held on the 11” thick ice.
Baby it’s cold outside
If you think it’s cold here, then save a thought for workers at the coldest place on earth. Vostok Station in Antarctica clocked the coldest ever recorded temperature at -89.2°C in 1983, while the coldest permanently inhabited place on earth is Oymyakon in Russia, which has recorded temperatures as low as -71.2°C.
You don’t even have to go to the wastes of Russia to find bitter cold. Rogers Pass in Montana, USA, recorded temperatures as low as -57°C in 1954.
Stock up now
The last thing you want is to run out of fuel just as the snow, floods or frost stops your Dawson’s delivery from reaching your home, so it’s always best to prepare for the worst, especially if you live in a remote or difficult to reach place. Wherever you live, whatever your heating system, you can count on Dawson’s to get you set for a snug winter with a huge range of solid fuels delivered free direct to your door.
So draw the curtains on the storms, gather round the fire and enjoy a warmer winter, whatever the weather holds in store.
