Weird weather in Britain

Some uneducated people I know of will see this as a sign of an Ice Age – they've presumably never heard of the Conveyor Belt!

It's the middle of May! Two inches of snow, one month's rainfall in a day and 65mph winds hit Britain

• Up to 2in snow reported in Princetown, Devon, and Rhayader, Powys
• And 3in snow fell on high ground in Shropshire near Welsh border
• Month's rain in 24 hours to 7am today in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire
• Slates come off roofs and trees block roads in Devon and Cornwall
• Today and tomorrow will see mixture of sunshine and showers in UK
• England and Wales will be mainly dry on Saturday but wet on Sunday

Daily Mail,

15 May, 2013

When the country basked in temperatures warmer than the Mediterranean  earlier this month, it seemed spring had finally sprung.

But just two weeks later, the weather is not so much balmy as barmy.

Villagers woke yesterday to discover two inches of snow in rural  Shropshire, while blizzards caught walkers and cyclists by surprise on the Cumbrian Pennines.

Active: Skiers were out at Cairngorm in the Scottish Highlands, where there is still a good covering of snow

Christmas scenes: Unseasonal snowy scenes greeted people waking up in Newcastle-on-Clun, Shrospshire

Covered: Residents in the Shropshire village of Newcastle-on-Clun couldn't believe their eyes when they awoke

Picturesque: The scene near the village of Newcastle-on-Clun, Shropshire, which greeted shocked resident Polly Smith as she awoke to about 2in of snow

Flurries: Mark Shackleton works at the Dartmoor Brewery in Princetown, Devon - the highest brewery in the British Isles, which is around 1,450ft above sea level, and took some photos of the snow falling last night

Unusual scene: Mr Shackleton said he had only previously seen snow in Princetown, Devon, in the 1990

And in Devon – where businesses are turning their thoughts to the summer tourist trade – snow  flurries gave villages a winter  wonderland theme.

The scenes prompted Ladbrokes to slash the odds of snow falling over the bank holiday weekend.

Elsewhere, Devon and Cornwall were lashed by 65mph gales which caused power cuts, ripped slates from roofs and felled trees and telephone lines, while parts of Carmarthenshire were soaked with three inches of rain – a month’s worth in just one day.

Blizzards also fell over Wales as the unseasonal conditions swept north east towards the Pennines and Newcastle upon Tyne. 

The miserable weather was a far cry from the May Day weekend, when temperatures peaked at 22C (71.6F) at Heathrow and Doncaster – a degree higher than parts of the Mediterranean.