"Rupert" wrote in message
...


God knows what they would say if we had the 80s style freeze ups again

"Max temps of -6 and gale force easterly winds"

Now that was "bitterly cold"

Anyone remember which year and no it wasn't 87!!!!!!!!

1982; January 8th stands out for me. A white knuckle ride from
near Reading, Berkshire to Ryde, Isle of Wight that afternoon and
evening was unforgettable, especially the latter part. In falling and
drifting snow, the M3 was negotiable by some careful driving where
dozens of vehicles had already spun off the motorway.

Having been dropped off at the ferry terminal in Southampton at
about 6PM, I soon discovered that the car ferries were not running
due to ice sheets floating in the north end of Southampton Water.
At the terminal I learned that the passenger ferries were still operating
out of Portsmouth so after a 20 minute blast in the blowing snow,
carrying luggage, I took the train (a slow shuttle service maybe, but
it reached Portsmouth Harbour around 9:30PM).

A ferry was in and ready to depart (timetable up the spout), but one
of the crew informed me that it might not sail because of high winds
and an ice covered gangplank that bobbed about at an incline of
around 30 degrees to the horizontal. After an announcement was
broadcast that the ferry would attempt to make the crossing, I was
told to lob my bags onto the deck and then slide up the foot-wide
walkway, using both handrails to haul myself up (at night, in poor
artificial light and strong gusts... what Health and Safety?!).
Needless to say, there were no children, pets, elderly or infirm
people onboard this vessel! Only the fit (as I must then have been).

A screaming force 9 easterly in the Solent ensured that the
entertainment carried on all the way to the exposed and very
slippery Ryde Pier Head where several attempts at docking the
ferry were made. The shuffle down the half mile long pier from
11 to 11:30PM was particularly interesting.

Once home, I measured a mean wind of 35kt, gusts 48kt (a mile
inland) and the dry bulb was -3C. Perhaps someone would care
to work out the wind chill factor. 'Level' snow depth in the garden
was very roughly 13cm (average of 10% bare patches of grass to
30cm of snow thanks to heavy blowing of the stuff) while drifts
heaped to 150cm.

Nigel (hardy Southener)