Ice Storm
JANUARY 1940 was one of the coldest on record.
But the real sting in the extreme cold’s tail came four days before the end of the month in the form of an ice storm.
Much of Britain was covered in sheet ice from January 27 until February 3 and animals and millions of birds perished in the extreme conditions.
Worst affected areas included Wales, the Midlands and southern England.
Extremely cold continental air was sitting over Britain but as slightly milder Atlantic air with outbreaks of rain tried to push eastwards, it rapidly froze creating chaos.
Tree trunks were split down the middle by the ice in Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex and the Midlands – particularly in the Cotswolds and ponies on the Welsh mountains died -entombed in ice and birds fell out of the sky in Kent after their winds were locked solid by the freezing conditions.
Telegraph poles were also toppled by the weight of the ice.
Roads and paths were impossible to use because of the thick ice deposits on top of the snow that had fallen earlier in the month across many parts of Britain.