Winter of 1962–1963 in the United Kingdom
Mereclough , Lancashire | |
Lowest temperature | −22.2 °C (−8.0 °F) Braemar, Aberdeenshire[1] |
---|---|
Areas affected | United Kingdom and Ireland |
The winter of 1962–1963, known as the Big Freeze of 1963, was one of the coldest winters (defined as the months of December, January and February) on record in the United Kingdom.[2] Temperatures plummeted and lakes and rivers began to freeze over.
In the
December 1962
A wintry outbreak brought snow to the country on 12–13 December 1962. A cold easterly set in on 22 December as an anticyclone formed over Scandinavia, drawing cold continental winds from Russia. Throughout the Christmas period, the Scandinavian high collapsed, but a new high formed near Iceland, bringing northerly winds. Significant snowfall occurred as the air mass moved south, and parts of Southern England had heavy snow late on 26–27 December.[8] The cold air became firmly established.
29 and 30 December 1962
On 29 and 30 December 1962 a
January 1963
With an average temperature of −2.1 °C (28.2 °F),
At various locations in the UK, it had been the coldest January on record for long established stations such as Newquay and Ross-on-Wye with the coldest January on record since 1891 and 1877 respectively. It was the coldest January at Kew since 1838.[15]
In January 1963, the sea froze for one mile (1.6 km) from shore at
On 20 January, 283 workers had to be rescued by RAF helicopters from Fylingdales, where they had been snowbound for several days.[8][19] The ice was thick enough in some places that people were skating on it,[8] and on 22 January a car was driven across the frozen Thames at Oxford.[8][19] Icicles hung from many roof gutterings, some as long as 3 feet (0.9 m).
On 25 January there was a brief thaw that lasted three days.
February 1963
Snow continued to fall in February 1963, which was stormy with winds reaching Force 8 on the Beaufort scale (gale-force winds).
A 36-hour blizzard caused heavy drifting snow in most parts of the country. Drifts reached 20 feet (6.1 m) in some areas and gale-force winds reached up to 81 miles per hour (130 km/h). On the Isle of Man, wind speeds were recorded at 119 miles per hour (192 km/h).
March 1963
6 March was the first morning of the year without frost in Britain. Temperatures rose to 17 °C (62.6 °F) and the remaining snow disappeared. The thaw was gradual, and unlike 1947 there was no widespread flooding.
Effect on sport
Sport was disrupted in the winter of 1962–1963 in the UK. Football matches in the
National Hunt horse racing was also affected by the weather. Ninety-four meetings were cancelled during the freeze. There was no racing in England between 23 December and 7 March, although a meeting at Ayr in Scotland occurred on 5 January.[23]
In popular culture
The cold of the winter of 1962–1963 is referred to in Dream Academy's 1985 hit single "Life in a Northern Town". The lyrics include the phrase "In winter 1963 / It felt like the world would freeze".
The 2017 Christmas special and first episode of season seven of Call the Midwife were set during the winter of 1962–1963. The cold was a factor in several of the drama's plot points.[24] Actress Jenny Agutter, who plays Sister Julienne, wrote an article in The Times about her memories of the 1962–63 winter to coincide with the Christmas special.[25]
Several episodes of the television drama series The Edgar Wallace Mysteries were filmed during the 1962–1963 winter, and the effects of the Big Freeze on both urban and rural locations were captured on film.
The 1963 crime film Calculated Risk was filmed during The Big Freeze and makes ample use of the weather, with music composed by George Martin while he was working with The Beatles.
See also
- Great Frost of 1709
- Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom
- January 1987 Southeast England snowfall
- Winter of 1990–1991 in Western Europe
- European winter storms of 2009–2010
- Winter storms of 2009–2010 in Great Britain and Ireland
- The European winter cold snap of 2010-2011
Notes
References
- ^ "January 1963 Monthly Weather Summary". www.digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk. Met Office. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ a b "BBC London summary".
- ^ "Scotland North Mean Temperatures". Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
- ^ "Scotland East Mean Temperatures". Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
- ^ S2CID 128819843.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Butler, C. J.; García Suaréz, A. M.; Coughlin, A. D. S. and Morrell, C. "Air Temperatures at Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland, from 1796 to 2002" (PDF).
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Shellard, H.C. (May 1968). "The Winter of 1962-63 in the United Kingdom — a Climatological Survey". Symons’ Meteorological Magazine, volume 97, no. 1150.
- ^ a b c d e f g A BBC Television programme made in 1963 and retransmitted on BBC Two on Saturday 19 January 2013
- ISBN 0-333-61610-3.
- ^ "UK mean temperatures". Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
- ^ "England North mean temperatures". Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
- ^ "Scotland Mean Temperatures". Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Mean Temperatures". Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
- ^ a b "Pathe news reel, January 1963".
- ^ "MWR_1963_01". digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ "Newsreel film clip of sea frozen at Herne Bay".
- ^ "Frozen sea reported as damaging pier at Herne Bay".
- ^ "photographs of Thames frozen at Windsor".
- ^ a b Paul Simons, The Times, 26 January 2013, p 73
- ^ a b "War, weather and working weeks: the previous times football has been halted in England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/Articles/1962-63winter.htm football site: 1962/63 – a Winter of postponements
- ^ "Rugby affected. Extraordinary measures for a single match". BBC News. 18 February 2003.
- ISBN 978-1-905080-61-8.
- ^ "Call the Midwife: the real history behind the Big Freeze of 1963". Radio Times. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ Agutter, Jenny (23 December 2017). "Jenny Agutter remembers the Big Freeze that inspired Call the Midwife". The Times. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- General
- L.P. Smith, Seasonable Weather, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1968, p133
- The winter of 1962/63
- Another summary page
External links
- "Snow Survey of Great Britain: Season 1962-3" by R.E. Booth
- Account of the big freeze in Windsor
- local newspaper history coverage
- The Long Winter 1962–63 Guardian Newspaper coverage