On 17 January 1881,[5] a low pressure system rapidly developed in the English Channel.

The snowfalls began on the 17th in the southwest and as the system deepened as it moved through the Channel, a gale force easterly developed over southern parts with heavy blizzards and drifting snow.

Hundreds of miles of rail track were blocked by drifting snow, dozens of feet high in places.

[citation needed] The severity of the frosts was remarkable and they were probably second only to those that occurred during February 1895 in intensity and length.

[citation needed] Note that, due to non-standard exposures, many of the contemporary reported temperatures are no longer accepted by the Meteorological Office.