The evening of the 28th of February saw substantial snow for the first time in the Islands since Valentines Day, 1993. It snowed from 10:30 pm until midnight, the shower was so heavy some thought it was rain. The unusually low ground temperatures meant that Islanders woke to a glaze of snow at dawn. The Islands rarely have a covering of snow because of their proximity to the ocean and warm air coming off the Gulf Stream means that the ground temperature is usually above the limit for snow to stick. Much of the rest of the country saw a huge amount of snowfall over this time as the low-pressure system swept across the country. The snow was only about 5cm deep and soon began to melt as the sun rose above the Islands but for a short while, especially the youngsters, were treated to a rare and special occurrence in Scilly. The Isles of Scilly Secondary School’s physical education lessons had changed from football to snowball fights. This continued into break, whereafter the snow had melted away.
