hard winters
In Britain more snow fell in the winters of 2008–9 and 2009–10 than for about 20 and 30 years respectively, while the winter of 2010–11 was the coldest for over 30 years. These recent hard winters were associated with the north polar jet stream, which had a more southerly course than usual.
This definition is abridged from A – Z of tree terms: A companion to British arboriculture.
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