What is the deepest snowfall* ever recorded in Britain?

[P-Kasso2]

Winter this year has been so surprisingly mild that I naturally found myself thinking about snow and snowdrifts.  I remember over-hearing some elderly people nattering about 1963 being the absolute snowiest winter they can remember...with buses getting stuck in snowdrifts etc... but was it really the snowiest?

What was the heaviest snowfall ever recorded in Britain?  And, on a slightly different tack, where and how deep was the deepest snow drift ever recorded in Britain?


* By snowfall, ideally I mean snow falling in an unbroken period ie for the duration of a storm - but if weather records are only kept in 24 hour periods, then the maximum depth of snow ever falling in the UK in a 24 hour period.

[tecspec]

This page shows when it snowed and by how much.
http://www.neforum2.co.uk/ferryhillweather/bonacina.html

Several other sites cite drifts of up 5 metres in various places. I would imagine Scotland would be the snowiest but haven't found anything conclusive.

I remember my Nan talking about the 1947 snow which came up to her bedroom window.  She also said it lasted for a long time!

I remember 1982 snow. Walking to work at 8.15am and the snow had just started and at 11.15 we were sent home. The snow was almost to the top of my knee high boots.
Hubby had tried to go to work at 10am, got the car half out into the road and it stayed there for a week.
The snow came about half way up our back / front doors.

[P-Kasso2]

This page shows when it snowed and by how much.
http://www.neforum2.co.uk/ferryhillweather/bonacina.html

Several other sites cite drifts of up 5 metres in various places. I would imagine Scotland would be the snowiest but haven't found anything conclusive.

I remember my Nan talking about the 1947 snow which came up to her bedroom window.  She also said it lasted for a long time!

I remember 1982 snow. Walking to work at 8.15am and the snow had just started and at 11.15 we were sent home. The snow was almost to the top of my knee high boots.
Hubby had tried to go to work at 10am, got the car half out into the road and it stayed there for a week.
The snow came about half way up our back / front doors.

Interesting stuff! Tec Especially your link. Reading the data in your link shows there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason whatsoever behind when a serious snowfall will occur or not.

I mean, from the data for the winter of 1875-76 there's only a 3 year gap until the next tremendous white-out in winter 1878-79.

Then there's an idyllic 12 year gap until the next hefty snowfalls in 1880-81. Then nothing at all worth talking about for 5 years until 1885-86.

Then a really big pause - a massive 31 year gap until winter of 1916-17 - followed by another 30 year gap until the humungous snowfalls of winter 1946-64.

Then an 18 year gap until 1962-63.

A 12 year gap until 1978-79.

Then another whopping 31 year gap until the dreadful winter of 2009-10.

All of which makes me feel 100% confident in predicting that we are due an astronomically bad winter with 25 foot snowfalls starting on Tuesday afternoon next week. Or maybe not until winter 2048.