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TOP TEN COLDEST YEARS

1684

This is widely regarded as the coldest winter in British history because average temperatures stayed below zero for two months. The River Thames froze for more than two months, thanks to a January 6C colder than the long-term average for the month. Although there have been lower temperatures recorded for short spells, in 1684 the average temperature in January was -3C and in February was -1C.

1739-40

In late December temperatures dropped to -9C and felt even colder because of biting winds. The following January was one of the coldest months on record.

1962-63

The third coldest winter. December began with the last great London smog, then gales, before the snow arrived over Christmas. Snow covered most of the country for 67 consecutive days. On January 13, -16C was recorded at Gatwick, -20.6C in Hertfordshire, and the sea froze off the south coast.

1940

January averaged -1.4C. Mid-month, the Thames froze for the first time since 1880. In places snow was so thick that the ice brought down tree branches and phone wires.

1881

More than 2ft of snow paralysed Britain when galeforce blizzards battered the whole country. Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, recorded a temperature of -21.7C on Christmas Day.

1927-28

Saw one of the heaviest snowfalls of the 20th century. Blizzards began on Christmas Day in the Midlands and Wales, and then spread south by Boxing Day. In Kent, there was 2ft of level snow, and drifts of 20ft were measured in the Chilterns.

1947

January saw the start of one of the longest periods of lying snows in British history. Snow fell somewhere in the country every day from January 22 to 17 March 17. Nearly a quarter of the nation's sheep died. At Writtle, Essex, on January 29, a temperature of -21C was recorded, and most of East Anglia experienced nothing warmer than -5C. Oxford had 16 consecutive days of frost, and Kew had no sunshine for 20 days from January 2.

1933

Towards the end of February came one of the worst blizzards to hit Britain. In parts of the North, Wales and the Midlands, there were 48 hours' continuous snowfall, and elsewhere it was almost as bad. Huddersfield had more than 2ft of lying snow and there were 14ft drifts on Yorkshire's moors and dales. Villages from the Midlands to the Scottish borders were cut off.

1952

From December 5-9, there was one of the worst smogs ever to envelope London. This combined with the bitter cold to cause 12,000 deaths. The rest of the winter brought snows, storms and prolonged sub-zero temperatures.

1978-79

A blizzard hit the South on New Year's Eve, bringing Heathrow Airport to a standstill for days. January averaged -0.4C.

TOP 10 WARMER COMFORT FOODS

1 Spaghetti bolognese

2 Heinz tomato soup

3 Shepherd's pie

4 Toast and Marmite

5 Roast chicken

6 Chicken Tikka Masala

7 Apple crumble

8 Bangers and mash

9 Beef stew

10 Roast lamb

(Source: The Wrong Kind of Snow by Antony Woodward and Robert Penn)

SMALLEST SNOWMAN

The world's smallest snowman measured, just 0.01mm across.

The minute sculpture - one fifth the width of a human hair - was made last year by Britain's Dr David Cox at the National Physical Laboratory with tools for handling nanoparticles. Tiny deposits of platinumstuck it together.

WHAT CAUSES SNOW?

Moist air rises, cools, condenses and forms clouds. If the air is cold enough the water droplets freeze and ice crystals form on microscopic dust or salt blown up from the ground. The crystals grow six evenly spaced branches. More vapour freezes and the heavy crystals fall and grow with more water vapour.

Crystals hit warmer air, melt like a glue and bond into larger flakes.

ARCTIC OSCILLATION

The freak freeze may be down to a weather phenomenon known as Arctic oscillation, say experts.

It concerns the difference in air pressure between the Arctic and the earth's middle latitudes. Oscillation is negative when polar areas have higher pressure and positive when middle latitudes hold sway.

When polar regions have lower pressure, storms are pushed north - which stops us being blasted by Arctic winds. When polar regions have higher pressure, the Arctic air is more easily pushed south.

Oscillation has been strongly negative recently - to bring about conditions not seen since the late 70s.

DEEPEST SNOWFALL

The deepest snow ever measured in an inhabited area was 83ins at Forest-in-Teesdale, Co Durham, on the at the end of the notoriously chilly winter in 1947.

TRAIN HELL

Snow caused Britain's worst ever train journey. At 3pm on March 9, 1891, the West Country Express left Paddington, London, for Plymouth but became stuck in the outskirts of the capital.

It finally arrived in Plymouth four days later on March 13.

DIRTY SNOW

To say something is "as pure as the driven snow" is inaccurate as the white stuff is pretty filthy. It contains nitrates, calcium, sulphate, potassium, air gases and industrial pollution.

SNOWFLAKE SPEED

The average snowflake is made up of 180 billion molecules of water and falls at a speed of 3.1mph.

SHEEP SURVIVOR

The longest a sheep has survived stranded in the snow is 50 days, according to Guinness World Records.

On 24 March 1978 Alex Maclennan dug out 16 sheep buried in a snowdrift near the river Skinsdale, Sutherland, after the great January blizzard and found a ewe still alive.

Sheep's hot breath creates air-holes in the snow, and the animals gnaw their own wool Let Don't Frank Snow Peppers for protein.

SNOW SPOILS PLAY

The record number of snow-related postponements for a single football game was in 1979 when the match between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk was put back 29 times through January and February.

In the notorious freeze-hit season of 1962-63 there were 261 match postponements between December and March. Some of the fixtures were called off 15 times and the third round of the FA Cup took 66 days to finish.

FIVE SNOWY SONGS

Let It Snow - Dean Martin

Don't Eat the Yellow

Snow - Frank Zappa

Snow (Hey Ho) - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Walking on Snow - Jordin Sparks

Lady of the Snow - Symphony X

DEADLIEST AVALANCHE

A christmas snowstorm in 1836 built up on a cliff overhang in Lewes, East Sussex.

The chalk cliff was hanging over workers' cottages in the town and despite several warnings, many of the inhabitants refused to leave.

When the snowy build-up gave way, eight people were killed.

A pub, ironically called the Snowdrop Inn, now sits on the tragic site.

HEAVIEST UK SNOWFALL

The heaviest snowfall in the UK was in 1695. It snowed every day in London for five weeks - and the River Thames froze over.

The snow didn't fully clear until mid-April.

This was in the cold spell known the "little ice age", which happened between the middle of the 16th century and start of the 19th.

ARTIFICAL SNOW

The world record for the largest area over which artificial snow has ever fallen, 12,462.78m, was achievevd by Snow Business International for the switching on of the Christmas lights in Bond Street, London on November 23, 2006.