The Big Freeze of 1962-63

Great Britain is forecast to endure 17 days of snow over the Christmas period. This will be the UK's first snow of the winter, and is reminiscent of 1963. That was the year Britons experienced one of the harshest winters ever recorded: also known as the Big Freeze.

During the winter of 1962-63, there were 20-foot snow drifts, while lakes, the sea, and the River Thames froze over. Temperatures plummeted to minus 20 degrees celsius, meaning England endured its coldest winter since 1740. January 1963 was consequently reported to be the coldest month recorded in 20th century UK. The cold front arrived just before Christmas, and remained until the beginning of March.

The last month of 1962 began with an anticyclone in the UK. It was a white Christmas in Scotland, which then spread to northern England. On the same day England saw its first snowfall of that year, a frontal system moved into Scotland. This pushed rain into certain parts of the country, while snow fell over higher ground.

A shimmering wall of ice on one of the waterfalls on the Brecon Beacons, 13th January, 1963 / birminghammail.co.uk

Frontal systems are a phenomenon that takes place due to the clash of warm and cold air masses, and is also called a cold front or a warm front. A warm front, as the name suggests marks the boundary of an advancing warm air mass, originating from the subtropical Atlantic. Meanwhile, a cold front marks the boundary of a cold air mass.

In Scotland, the rain gradually turned to snow over lower ground. As the south endured bitterly cold temperatures, it was eventually Boxing Day that the snow arrived. The depth of snow was two and a half feet in certain places.

In the Bay of Biscay, a gulf that lies in the northeast Atlantic Ocean south of the Celtic Sea, there was a strong easterly wind and heavy snow to the south. The weather was severe with blizzards and whiteouts, while roads were obstructed because of huge drifts.

With temperatures down to -20C , canals and rivers in the UK froze over, and seaports were icebound. Rural areas suffered severely, as the electricity in farms and villages was cut off. As roads and railways were obstructed, transport ground to a halt for some time. Livestock perished in their barns and coops, as farmers struggled to save them.

One of the most noticeable consequences of the Big Freeze was the huge disruption to the national sporting calendar. "For many weeks, football matches in both the English and Scottish leagues suffered because of the severe effects of the Big Freeze." Several football matches in the 1962–63 FA Cup were rescheduled to the point that a board known as the Pools Panel was set up. The group consisted of men who would predict the result of postponed matches; its first members comprised Conservative MP Gerald Nabarro, former players George Young, Ted Drake and Tommy Lawton and ex-referee Arthur Ellis. Their decisions were made "behind closed doors", and were largely undisputed, with the exception of Leeds to beat Stoke and Peterborough to defeat Derby.

Birmingham City ground staff clearing snow from the pitch at St Andrews in January 1963 / birminghammail.co.uk

Codes of rugby, union and league, were similarly affected. National Hunt horse racing also suffered a similar fate, as 94 meetings were cancelled during the 1962/63 freeze. There was no racing from 23 December - 7 March.

The Big Freeze of 1962–63 is mentioned in The Dream Academy’s 1985 hit single “Life in a Northern Town”: “In winter 1963 / It felt like the world would freeze / With John F. Kennedy and The Beatles”.