What's strange about the weather?

It's always odd around this time of year. It can be warm, cold and wet or snowy like it is atm. It never starts to settle until after my birthday at the beginning of April. My mum says that it snowed on the day I was born and as far as I can recall it's been cold and rainy far more often than warm and sunny.

I like Rod Liddle's take on this.

Daft! I've just heard the BBC weather presenter say 'there's hope on the horizon!' Looking out of my window, the weather is exactly as I'd expect in late March and I imagine it will warm up in a few weeks

There's nothing strange about the weather IMO.

When the March wind does blow we shall have snow.

We have had a run of poor summers though. Lots of our local cricket was cancelled because of floods last season. That which did take place was mainly watched from the car.

I have photos on my computer of April snow on the garden just a couple of years ago.

Don't usually have snow in March in the S of England. Suspect the statistical verdict will be that down 'ere we have had an exceptionally long, cold winter, starting in early December. We had very few mild days in Feb or March - about half a dozen in total. Small shops are suffering as shoppers avoid high streets (indoor and internet options when there is a wind chill like this) and larger ones like garden centres and DIY stores that sell garden stuff are wringing their hands as Easter is one of the 3 make or break sales weekends.

You were saying how mild it was around xmas new year time, jess. It was too, and then I said that there was a lot of winter still to come. And you agreed. Well, here it is.

It snowed the week before we got married. Wedding day 12th April was warm n sunny.

I got snow blizzarded off Ben Lawers (N of Loch Tay) Easter 1976 (might have been '77).

Yes. They are saying "Coldest March in 50 years". So that means there was another one just as cold or colder fifty years ago. So, what's the fuss about?

I guess it's because there are other things going on as well. Ice caps melting, unusual floods, etc.

Jess snow in April is fairly common in the south. March has, over recent years, tended towards warm and sunny.

A cousin died in the late 1950s and I remember that she was buried at Easter time when it was snowing so that would have been March or April. It was in London.

Wasn't that long ago that we had snow in June. (Didn't settle)

In 1976 there was heavy snow and blossom on the trees at the beginning of May (I was in Germany, but I seem to remember there was similar weather in the UK), two weeks later was the beginning of one of the hottest summers I remember.

There was heavy snow in the Guildford area in April 1973 - DD1 was born then and I remember it well....

Oops, not it wasn't it was 1975 - she's still only ( just) 37

Yes! That will be the one I'm remembering Gally. DD2 was three.

That was my wedding day grannya it poured on the Friday, we got up on the Saturday to the start of that glorious summer 1976.

In 1975 climatologists thought there was too much ice in the arctic and wanted to drop soot on it to speed up melting. Politicians were too sluggish. Nothing has changed except that climatologists have changed their tune to too little ice. I reckon that within a decade they'll be worrying about too much ice again. They seem a bit slow about climate cycles.

The floods aren't unusual either, jings. We've just built more houses on flood plains.

Saw an ancient packhorse bridge recently over the R Livet in Scotland. One of the arches was swept away in a flood in the nineteenth century. The other two are still there.

Gally 1975 the year I got married (see previous post)
I remember the summer of '76 "sigh" still in the honeymoon period

We worked all through that long, hot summer in 1976, then at the beginning of September we went to Devon on holiday, and the weather broke on the Thursday lunchtime, rained all day, and absolutely poured down on the Friday, we were in a very soggy Dawlish with 5 very bored kids.