Snow is on the way! Well, for some of us, anyway – and only maybe. But that’s enough for us lot down south in the UK to get excited. After all, it’s no given that it’ll snow in the southerly parts of England and Wales every winter.
For some places in the UK, the fluffy white stuff isn’t so rare. In fact, rather a lot of the country sees snow for lengthy periods every year. But where in the UK is the snowiest? There are few people better equipped to answer that question than the Met Office, this country’s national weather service.
The Met Office has revealed the UK’s snowiest locations by totting up the average number of days each year that snow falls. The data set covered a thirty-odd-year period from 1981 to 2010.
Top of the pile came Scotland’s Cairngorms, specifically the Cairngorm Chairlift. Sitting 663 metres above sea level, the chairlift apparently sees snow on a whopping 76.2 days every year.
Next up was Baltasound in Shetland, with 64.7 days of snowfall, followed by Fair Isle – also in Shetland – which apparently gets an average of 62.8 days of snow.
Unsurprisingly, Scotland dominated the Met Office’s list. In the top ten snowiest places, eight were north of Hadrian’s Wall.
These are the top ten snowiest places in the UK, according to the Met Office, along with the average number of days of yearly snowfall.
- Cairngorm Chairlift (Scotland), 76.2 days
- Baltasound (Scotland), 64.7
- Fair Isle (Scotland), 62.8
- Loch of Hundland (Scotland), 59
- Copley (England), 52.7
- Leadhills (Scotland), 51.6
- Widdybank Fell (England), 50.2
- Eskdalemuir (Scotland), 49.8
- Kinbrace (Scotland), 49.2
- Knockan (Scotland), 48.5
Interested in finding out more? You can read the Met Office’s full research here.
Time Out, snow-style
Like everyone, we love a bit of snow here at Time Out. Not only do we have a guide to the best things to do in London when it snows and another for brilliant winter day trips from London, we’ve even got a list of the finest songs about snow.
Did you see that this English road has been named one of the most dangerous in the world?
Plus: this national park has been named the most beautiful in the UK.
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