2018 British Isles cold wave
Anticyclone Hartmut (dubbed the Beast from the East (Irish: An Torathar ón Oirthear)) was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a cold wave to Great Britain and Ireland. Anticyclone Hartmut also brought widespread unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfall to large areas. The cold wave combined with Storm Emma, part of the 2017–18 European windstorm season, which made landfall in southwest England and the south of Ireland on 2 March.
Satellite view showing Europe, including Great Britain and Ireland partially covered in snow under the lines of the strong cold wave on 27 February 2018 | |
| Type | Winter storm, anticyclonic storm, polar vortex |
|---|---|
| Formed | 22 February 2018 |
| Dissipated | 5 March 2018 |
| Highest winds |
|
| Highest pressure | 1056 hPa (31.2 inHg) |
| Lowest temperature | −14.2 °C (6.4 °F) Faversham, Kent |
| Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 57 cm (22 in), Gloucestershire, England |
| Fatalities | 95 total; 17 in UK |
| Damage | £1.2 billion (2018) |
| Areas affected | Great Britain and Ireland; much of continental Europe |
In contrast to usual winter storms, Hartmut was not formed as a normal low pressure area along the jetstream. The initial event was an Arctic outbreak caused by a disordered polar vortex into Central Europe, transporting not only cold air from Siberia to Europe but also - due to the lake effect - sending heavy snowfall into Great Britain and Ireland.
This weather situation repeated itself on the weekend of 17 and 18 March, but was less severe than on the previous occasion, due to the onset of spring. This briefer cold snap was given the name "Mini Beast from the East".