January 2021 Weather in Durham – Wet and Cold

Durham Cathedral in the snow, January 2021

January 2021 – A cold, wet month at Durham With Storm Christoph a noteable feature Temperature After the warmth of January 2020, this month proved to be the exact opposite. The month proved to be both wet and wintry, with an exceptional snowfall in the North East area on or around the 6th-8th of the … Read more

Some photographs from snowy weather January 6th-8th 2021

Snow on the roof of Durham Cathedral

The Durham area of North East of England was taken a little by surprise on Friday morning, the 8th January 2021. An area of rain had approached from the North West and turned to snow after midnight. Some places received 8-10 hours of continuous snow. Depth increased dramatically with altitude. In Durham City we had only … Read more

Two photos of the frozen River Wear in Durham 1981/82 and 1895.

Two amazing photos of the frozen River Wear in Durham. The first, credited to Matthew Avery and Helen Avery is of the Cathedral across the frozen river. Although Helen originally thought it was from 1983, it’s almost certainly from a year earlier in the winter of 1981/82. December 1981 and the first half of January … Read more

The First Snows of Winter 2019-20 Arrive!

The First Snows Arrive February 2020 (2)

Snowfall, Winter 2019-20 Better late than never Well, after a winter composed almost entirely of wind, rain and relatively mild temperatures, the first snow arrived in Durham five days before the end of February. Amounts aren’t huge (2-3”), but at least it stopped the winter from being thrown on the ‘No snow’ pile. It’s melted … Read more

February 1986 Weather in Durham – Extremely Cold, One of the Coldest Months on Record

February 1986 (who remembers that one then?) was one of the coldest Februaries ever recorded in modern times. Trevor Harley, in his famous weather summaries pages, describes February 1986 thus: “February 1986. Extremely cold (-1.1C CET), with frequent light snowfalls. The second coldest February of the 20th century (after 1947), and fourth coldest month of … Read more