History of Snow Days

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About the map

Growing up, I always remember the excitement of a potential snow day… listening out for the announcement of school being cancelled and spending a day in the snow. However, recent shifts in climate have meant those days have felt far less frequent (and fortunately I’ve also left school). Within this app, users can pan around a map of the UK with a dynamic statistic revealing ‘average number of snow days’ which changes based on the map extent. This has been calculated from the past 30 years of snow data, where a ‘snow day’ is defined by the Met Office as a day with greater than 50% of the ground covered in snow at 09:00 GMT.

Why it works

The app is simple and to the point, designed to allow the user to investigate the history of snow days in their local area and really explore the Met Office snow data. On the desktop and tablet version of the app, there are buttons to direct you towards the key cities across the UK (i.e. London, Edinburgh).

Requirements

  • Data and software

    Esri UK created the app using Experience Builder to visualise HadUK-Grid climate observations data, published by the Met Office. 

  • Analysis

    The history of snow days has been used to create a 30 year average for each 5km gridded square, across the UK. The app allows users to pan around a map of the UK with a counter statistic revealing ‘average number of snow days’ which changes based on the map extent. This has been calculated from the past 30 years of snow data, where a ‘snow day’ is defined by the Met Office as a day with greater than 50% of the ground covered in snow at 09:00 GMT.

  • Time

    The app was simple to create, but fine tuning your app design is a patient process, particularly as we designed with a mobile first approach. This means when designing you have to create 3 versions of your app; Desktop, Tablet, Mobile.

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Tips and tricks

  • Simple UX

    When thinking about the UX of your app, always ask yourself whether an item is absolutely necessary to be included in the app layout. Space is a premium, particularly for mobile users, so it’s best to avoid clogging up the page with irrelevant text and images.

  • Mobile design

    Using Experience Builder allows you to fine tune the design for either mobile or desktop by adding or removing items for the app. This makes for a more tailored app experience based on the user’s device.

  • Blend modes

    Blending mode was used to add texture to the gridded snow data, as otherwise it made the map looks a little two dimensional.

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Links & Resources

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Issy Amis, Graduate

Map Author

Issy Amis

Issy joined Esri UK as part of the 2021 Graduate intake and is currently rotating through a variety of roles within the company. Alongside developing her knowledge of GIS, Issy has a keen interest in marine biology and astronomy.

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