Southport Nostalgia: The great Southport snowfall of 2010 in pictures and memories

Thick snow covered Southport and the rest of the UK for weeks 10 years ago. 

December 2010 saw the start of one of the worst winters in living memory as roads were blocked, lakes froze over and pavements and pedestrian areas such as Chapel Street resembled ice rinks, with the big freeze continuing into January and February 2011. 

The pitch at Southport FC was covered in snow, the Botanic Gardens lake and Marine Lake froze and Southport Beach turned white. 

It created many beautiful and unusual sights, and hundreds of Stand Up For Southport readers have posted some amazing pictures and shared some great memories of this unbelievable time. 

A thick blanket of snow came down on 17 December 2010, just as many people were out enjoying Christmas nights out in Southport and villages such as Birkdale, Ainsdale and Churchtown. 

Snow on Formby Beach in 2010. Photo by Beryl Prescott

Getting home suddenly became a nightmare as cars including taxis struggled to drive on the icy roads and trains froze up. 

Kathleen Murphy said: “Oh I remember it well we were so cut off but everyone was walking, slipping and smiling.”

Liz Smith said: “I remember it… it was our first winter here and loads of people told me it rarely snowed in Southport……..”

Kevin Rimmer said: “I was there at the park when it started to snow, within an hour I had built a snowman with my son.”

Jennifer Juniper said: “Hahaha I remember taking the kids for an end of term pizza then saying to the kids we would stay out as it wouldn’t last… Fast forward an hour or so and the buses were stopping and I had to wrestle a pram home in it! Great stuff.”

Botanic Gardens in Churchtown in Southport in the snow in 2010 by Tracey Elizabeth

Penny Powell said: “I remember having to walk to work there was no other way of getting there. It was eerily quiet. Had to wear wellies thankfully never worn them since!”

Linda Humphrys said: “I remember it well, we had just moved up here from The South…..and wondered whatever had happened to us – especially when the council didn’t clear the roads properly.”

Pauline Graham said: “It was a nightmare, no roads were cleared, all traffic stopped. It was very dangerous underfoot, many people were slipping and breaking bones.”

Jacquie Wade said: “Remember it well! Looked lovely but made driving and getting around hazardous.”

Angus Matheson said: “Remember it well… just before Christmas and there was nobody in the Highways Department to make the call for the gritters to go out. It froze solid over the next couple of days – I’m amazed there weren’t more accidents. Here is Birkdale Common in the snow.”

Birkdale Common in Southport in the snow in 2010 by Angus Matheson of Wainwright & Matheson Photography

Stuart Isenberg said: “The year before (2009), just before Christmas, was also notable for a considerable snowfall which lay on the ground for two or three weeks afterwards.

“But it was nothing like the foot of snow that fell on that Friday night before Christmas in 2010.”

Sandra Ellis said: “I remember vividly flying into Liverpool Airport on a delayed flight from Spain at 2am in the morning! Then having to drive along motorways in a hire car to stay at our daughter’s in Burscough for Christmas! Horrendous journey which took forever! It was on the 23rd December. Never again.”

Southport Pier in Southport in the snow in 2010 by Bernadette Platt

Fred McCann said: “We flew out of Heathrow, and that place was like a scene from a disaster movie with people trying to get in. The plane pushed back on time, but then we waited for hours for the takeoff slot as only one runway was in use.”

Shirley Aspden said: “I remember. Picked my daughter up from Manchester Airport where there was no snow and she wanted to detour to see her brother in Southport. Big mistake!”

Amy Frain said: “When it hit we were sitting on Manchester Airport runway waiting to fly off to Australia for the first time. Our plane had to be defrosted and then we were the first plane out to ‘test’ the runway!”

Southport in the snow in 2010 by Andrew Johnson

Chris Ry-Anne said: “I’d just flown into Heathrow before it hit and within the hour all following inbound flights were cancelled leaving hundreds of my colleagues stuck all over the world!”

Ali Murphy said: “Was 39 weeks pregnant and had to drive to hospital in it!”

Julie Rigby said: “It was awful as a community carer travelling 10 miles to work then driving around Southport streets all day wouldn’t want to do it again.”

Jake Bullit said: “Bloody nightmare. Busiest week of the year for deliveries, and that lot came down, and stayed down for weeks. Got through it eventually, but not fun.”

Southport in the snow in 2010 by Claire Dixon

Sheila Jones said: “I remember walking down one side street as it was melting and my feet just slid apart and I nearly did the splits! I had to take little slide steps to hold onto the railings of people’s homes otherwise I would have ended up like Bambi did on the iced pond!”

Gemma Lightfoot said: “Hubby and I went for a walk in Hesketh Park before anyone else did. It was so beautiful.”

Krista Boo said: “Yep, 17th December. Remember it well. I was driving from home in Southport to Kirkby where I was meeting work colleagues for our Christmas night out in Liverpool. I left a perfectly clear Southport and met a curtain of snow in Ormskirk. Drove the rest of the way in second gear!

“Guys with shovels were popping out to help flash rear wheel drive cars that were stuck.

Lord Street in Southport in the snow in 2010 by Bernadette Platt

“We were lucky enough to get one of the last taxis running into Liverpool that night from Kirkby and managed to get a lift back from one of my friend’s husbands.

“I stayed at hers overnight as planned and the following morning her 12-year-old son dug out my car so I could do the return journey to Southport. I had to get back to host our biker club’s night out on the Saturday night. Quite a weekend!”

Diane Lees said: “Remember digging a path way around my shop in Formby (Boots), the village looks stunning, and having so many staff turn up who couldn’t get out of the village to get to their normal shop, then I drove back to Southport store, that was an amazing day, I love snow.”

Southport Pier in Southport in the snow in 2010 by Tania Morris

Mike Sharples said: “I remember it well. I was walking home from work in the early hours in the morning. It was up to my kneecaps walking across Asda car park.”

Amanda Gilchrist said: “Yes, I remember it well. When I worked elsewhere; our Christmas night out was cancelled. And our nursery had to close as staff and parents couldn’t get to the nursery and it was unsafe to open.

“I did a lot of walking with my mum and our dog at the time.

“The spirit was lovely as everyone was just walking and smiling, with sledges and snow boots. “But, I ended up sick the week before Christmas with my first case of tonsillitis which developed into glandular fever.

Promenade in Southport in the snow in 2010 by Tania Morris

“I was very poorly in the run up to Christmas; I ended up in hospital Christmas Day night. My mum stayed with me for a few days. Swine Flu was going round Southport Hospital at the time. But it took her hours to get home to Birkdale. Good memories and bad. I ended up having a month off work; and had my tonsils out a few years later.”

Jackie Blundell said: “We had just moved to Tarleton that year and were very fortunate in that Booth’s supermarket had just opened so we were able to walk there to get our shopping as we couldn’t get the car out of the drive.”

Audrey Parkes said: “I remember it well… it took me seven hours to get home from Selby to Southport for Christmas and I still remember all the men in suits / tuxedos trying to push their BMWs up hills to get to their Christmas parties.”

An igloo in the snow in Southport by Sophie Hatton

Jayne Sims said: “I remember it well. My central heating packed up, my road was literally an ice rink, getting kids to school and childminder was an expedition. A very kind friend and colleague got me to work and back every day, otherwise I don’t know how I would have coped!”

Mark Hague said: “Yes! I was fortunate to have snow chains in my car because I’d been skiing and driven. I got some funny (and envious) looks because you couldn’t drive without them for a few days!”

Joyce Higginbotham said: “Remember it very well! Friday night, December 17th 2010, not long retired, the most magnificent snowfall I’d seen for such a long time! And the following morning was wonderful. Walked through the Botanic and into Churchtown village where we had a meal at the Bold.”

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