<Tr> <Th> Maximum snowfall or ice accretion </Th> <Td> Total: 5 feet (1.5 m) (settled on ground) in Sheffield, Peak District, and Scottish Highlands </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Areas affected </Th> <Td> Britain and Ireland </Td> </Tr> <P> The winter of 2010--2011 was a weather event that brought heavy snowfalls, record low temperatures, travel chaos and school disruption to the islands of Britain and Ireland . It included the UK's coldest December since Met Office records began in 1910, with a mean temperature of - 1 ° C, breaking the previous record of 0.1 ° C in December 1981 . Also it was the second - coldest December in the narrower Central England Temperature (CET) record series which began in 1659, falling 0.1 ° C short of the all - time record set in 1890 . </P> <P> The winter of 2010 in England saw the earliest widespread winter snowfall since 1993 with snow falling as early as 24 November across Northumberland and North Yorkshire . A maximum snow depth of 30 inches (76 cm) was recorded on 1 December in the Peak District, Sheffield, the Cotswold Hills and the Forest of Dean . In this event Scotland and Northern England were most severely affected . On 9 December temperatures recovered across much of the UK, causing a partial thaw . </P>

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