Winter of 1990–1991 in Western Europe

Winter of 1990–1991 in Western Europe

Snow in Ware, Hertfordshire, February 1991
Date	December 1990 – February 1991
Location	United Kingdom, Ireland and Western Europe
Deaths	at least 42

The winter of 1990–1991 was a particularly cold winter in Western Europe, noted especially for its effect on the United Kingdom, and for two significantly heavy falls of snow which occurred in December 1990 and February 1991. Sandwiched in between was a period of high winds and heavy rain which caused widespread damage. The winter was the coldest since January 1987, and the snowfall experienced in many parts of the United Kingdom would not be seen again until the snowfall of February 2009.

The snowfall of early December 1990 was particularly disruptive to large parts of the United Kingdom, although heavy snow was also reported across much of Western Europe.

In the United Kingdom snow began to fall over the Midlands, Wales and the Pennines on the night of 7–8 December 1990 and continued for much of the following day. The rate of snowfall was quite heavy, around 6 centimetres (2.4 in) an hour, and as a result many areas were covered within half an hour of the snow starting to fall. Coupled with this were high winds which reached gale force in many areas leading to blizzard conditions. Many parts of the Midlands reported at least 20 centimetres (7.9 in) of snow while depths reached 60 centimetres (24 in) in the Derby area. On the Welsh Mountains there were drifts of up to 4 metres (13 ft). Snow fell in Western Europe the following day, 9 December.

Transport was severely disrupted with many people trapped in their cars and all rail services in the Midlands cancelled, while elsewhere in western Europe, roads and airports were closed. In northern Spain traffic officials were forced to shut mountain passes due to heavy snow while rail services in Tessin, southern Switzerland were also severely disrupted. The state's Lugano Airport was also closed. In France the main highway between Lyon and Grenoble was blocked and traffic had to be rerouted, while the Mont Blanc tunnel linking France and Italy through the Alps was also inaccessible. Many roads in parts of Austria's East Tyrol and western Carinthia were closed due to avalanche fears. Snow also fell in Italy where Turin saw its first pre-Christmas snow since 1964. At the same time much of southern Europe experienced high winds and heavy rain, with ferry services suspended in Venice following floods.