Shropshire weather: Heading for a white Easter – in parts
Shropshire could be set for a white Easter – but not like the ones we used to know.
The Met Office says there is a good chance of snowfall over parts of the county over the holiday weekend. But anybody dreaming of a repeat of previous years, when much of the county was under a thick covering of snow, is likely to be in for a disappointment.
Meteorologist Martin Bowles said while parts of Britain could expect snow towards the end of the week, Shropshire is likely to escape the heaviest snowfall.
"We will get colder weather from Wednesday onwards, continuing over the Easter weekend," he said.
"In terms of snow, we expect there will be some in parts of the UK, but it will be mainly in the high ground of Scotland and northern England.
"There is a chance of some snow showers over the Shropshire Hills, but it is unlikely to stick, particularly as we have had some milder weather over the past few days and the ground is quite warm.
"It is unlikely there will be any snow in the towns like Shrewsbury."
Interestingly, Easter snow appears to come at five-or 10-year intervals, with white Eastertides recorded in 1998, 2008, and 2013.
Mr Bowles said there was no meteorological reason while Easter snow happened in cycles. He said the most likely reason was that it would happen when Easter came earlier in the year.
"Snow at the end of March or the start of April is not particularly unusual, but it is much less likely towards the end of April," he added.
The coldest Easter on record came in 2013, when Easter Sunday fell on March 31. Temperatures plunged to minus 12.5C (9F), and the snow caused Easter events across the county to be cancelled.
In 2008, Shropshire escaped the worst of the snow, but high areas were nevertheless covered in several inches.
Clee Hill, Stiperstones and Church Stretton all had moderate snowfall, while rural areas such as Clun, Bishop's Castle and Cleobury Mortimer were also affected. Telford largely escaped, but there were flurries over The Wrekin.
Ludlow was also covered with a light dusting of snow. Other parts of the country suffered from extreme flooding, with West Mercia police being called to 1,000 incidents between 2pm and 10pm on the day before Good Friday.
Val Newton, of The Three Pigeons pub in Nesscliffe, took the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach, putting up Christmas decorations.
She decked the pub out with a tree, fairy lights and streamers.
"We have gone the full monty," said Val.
"Two Belgian tourists came in yesterday, after we had put them up, and they couldn't quite believe it."
