Tales of The Riverbank in Durham (and more)

Christmas Tree and Architecture in Durham Cathedral

We managed to haul ourselves out of the house today – 12th December 2022. It was bleak, about -1 degC and there had been another dusting overnight. Starting in town, we headed south, passing the Fulling Mill and the Wear, and then over Prebends Bridge to the Cathedral. The walk took us past the huge … Read more

September 1919 – Heatwave then snow

Just after the end of WW1, September 1919 was an unusual month as it went from a late summer heatwave to early winter snowfall in the space of just a few days. A hot southerly flow had allowed temperatures to climb as high as 32.2C at Raunds on the 11th September 1919. However by the … Read more

February 2021 Weather in Durham – Huge Contrasts

The racecourse fields, covered in frost

February 2021 was a month of great contrasts. The second half of January 2021 in Durham was cold and had frequent frosts. This set the underlying theme for early Feb. The first week of the month was very wet, with more than 10mm rainfall on 2nd, 3rd and 6th. We then experienced an intense cold … Read more

Some Incredible Ice Formations on Potters Bank, Durham February 2021

Close up of Ice on grass at the side of Potters Bank, Durham Feb 11th 2021

I spotted these photos on Facebook and contacted the owner Zanna Clay, who kindly gave me permission to use them. These photos show fantastic ice formations on the grass and hedges by the side of the road on Potters Bank in Durham. It was caused by passing cars spraying water from the road onto the … Read more

Some historical record low temps from around the region

The North East region of the UK still holds a few daily low temperature records. Most are held by Scottish border stations, but these are the UK records for the dates below set in North East England. January 5th (1941) Houghall -21.1 degC (Durham University Observatory -13.3 degC) February 26th (1963) Kielder -18.3 degC March … Read more

What is ‘The Beast from The East’?

Deep snow in Durham, December 2010

The upcoming cold weather is expected to hit us hard in Durham next week. It will come from the continent and traditionally, this is where our coldest weather comes from. Over here on the East Coast, we have no protection from any Easterly or North Easterly, so we tend to bear the brunt of this … Read more

Early snowfall in Durham on February 2nd 2021

I awoke to the following snowfall on the morning of 2nd February 2021 in Durham. There are big hints of a potential ‘Beast From The East‘ scheduled after the weekend and next week. I will of course keep you posted and separate the fact from fiction. Enjoy this little slow-motion video.