The UK see an average of 13 days of lying snow each year. It does snow more regularly than this, but it often doesn’t settle, and the amount we get varies a great deal from place to place, and also from one year to the next.
Scotland sees the highest number of days of snowfall, and the snowiest place in the UK is Cairngorm Chairlift at an elevation of 663m (2,175ft) with 76 days of snow each year. In fact, a patch of snow in the Cairngorms known as ‘The Sphinx’ was considered a permanent year-round feature, although it has melted completely 6 times since 2017.
In England, the snowiest places are generally found further north, and in the highest spots, especially the Lake District, the Pennines, but even the peaks of Exmoor and Dartmoor in the southwest see over 20 day of snow per year. Copley in County Durham sees snow falling on average 53 days each year, and is home to one of only a handful of outdoor ski centres in England.
For Wales, winter sleet and snow is frequent over the mountains of Eryri National park (Snowdonia) and Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). The deepest snow ever recorded in the UK – 1.65m (5ft 5″) was near the town of Ruthin in North Wales back in March 1947.
In Northern Ireland, snowfall varies a lot, with more than 20 days of lying snow per year for the Sperrin Mountains, but less than 5 days for lowland parts of County Down.
