Remembering the Beast from the East

As this winter draws near to a close, it's hard to believe that this time last year much of the nation was gripped by a severe spell of snow and low temperatures dubbed the Beast from the East.

Much of winter 2018 was generally mild but things changed dramatically during the last week of February as the UK experienced a prolonged cold snap, with widespread heavy snow. It lasted for 10 days, and was compounded by the arrival of Storm Emma.

The cold started to set in on 22 February and in the days that followed, temperatures steadily dropped with sharp overnight frosts. Then the snow showers started to push in from the east.

By 27 February, the mercury dropped to -11.7C overnight and many areas stayed below freezing all day. As lying snow covered much of the country many schools had to close for several days.

Then the Met Office issued a rare red snow warning across central Scotland. Glasgow Airport was closed and there was widespread travel disruption. Power cuts hits thousands of homes and military assistance was deployed.

As March arrived so did Storm Emma, bringing with it a second red warning, this time for parts of south-west England and south Wales.

The severe weather continued over the next couple of days, as more snow fell and the wind picked up. Many roads across southern Britain became treacherous after overnight freezing rain.

By 4 March, temperatures slowly started to rise, but this brought a new hazard. Snow melt combined with high tides and flooding became a major issue. Frozen pipes burst as they thawed, leading to water supply problems. The clean up was costly and the severe weather was responsible for a total of 10 deaths in the UK.

This year, winter has been much more typical, with short-lived colder blasts, but nothing as dramatic as what unfolded during the 2018 Beast from the East.