David WE Roberts wrote:

wrote in message
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In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:

"K" wrote in message
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.. so - is it that this winter is a good deal colder than normal down
south, and therefore things have been hit quite badly? Whereas up here,
it's only marginally colder than normal, and we already plant for this
sort of weather, so we haven't been hit quite so badly?

So far (since the middle of December) the winter has been far harder
here
than usual.
Most years we don't see any snow, at least any settled snow.
Hard frosts are unusual as well.

Not really. That's true only on a 10-15 year timescale. Even the
hardest winters of the past 10 years have been milder than average
for many of the decades before.

I am reporting going back to 1984 :-)

We do have a very mild microclimate in this part of coastal Suffolk.
Even 10 miles inland has been very different.

This reminds me more of the winters in Essex in the 1960s, although they
were much more extreme.
I remember four foot and more snowdrifts in 1963/64.

In South Norfolk 198? I was walking *ON* the hedgerows 'cos the drifts
were so deep. I had to get from parents' house to mine to feed the goats.

The night before I didn't try to drive over as the snow drifted over the
road minutes after the snowploug had passed. And a lot of the way was
country lanes...

Still had to park a mile away and walk (mainly) on hedges.

--
Rusty