15 May 2013

Snow falls during ‘unusual’ May weather

Weather Presenter

Unusually stormy weather for May brought heavy rain, damaging gusts of wind and even snow to the mountains and moors of England and Wales.

Snow in May on Dartmoor - credit Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

A rapidly deepening area of low pressure drifted northwards through yesterday, bringing soaking rain and gusts of wind in excess of 70mph over parts of south west England.

The Met Office reported that Pembrey Sands, Carmarthenshire has seen 74.4mm in 24 hours – more than what would normally be expected for the whole month.

Devon and Cornwall saw the worst of the stormy weather, with reports of homes without power and telephone lines blown down.

Inspector Tom Cunningham from Devon and Cornwall Police said: “A number of trees came down during the night, as well as slates coming off roofs and trees blocking roads.”

As temperatures fell overnight, it even became cold enough for snow across the higher parts of England and Wales – above around 400 metres.

Gavin Fabiani-Laymond who lives on Dartmoor took a picture (above) of the snow falling heavily late on Tuesday evening, settling on the cars as it was blown sideways by the wind.

Whilst the worst of the weather is over for the time being, the next week is looking generally unsettled and cool, with further rain at times.

Image credit: Gavin Fabiani-Laymond