Snow in Manchester

I’ve not gone to work today.  There’s quite a bit of snow out there.  But why?

Well, the main reason why it’s cold here is because it is winter.  This sounds obvious but it’s worth remembering why it gets cold in winter.  Earth rotates with a tilt so, throughout the year, different parts of the planet get more sunlight.  At the moment, the UK is getting less sunlight so it’s colder.

However, the reason why it is just so cold and snowy right now is a bit more complicated.  If you look at the pressure chart below then you can see that the isobars are almost parallel  from the Arctic all the way to the north of the UK.  This means that very cold air is flowing right to our doorstep.  Brrr!  Watch out further south as the front (the region where the cold air meets slightly warmer air, which produces the precipitation) moves southwards and takes the snow with it.

Tags: meteorology, science, Snow, UK weather, winter