"Kate Brown" wrote...

Could it happen this side of the pond? I mean, ice storms on that
kind of scale?


It could, and certainly has happened in the past, though probably less
likely to this reported extent here than in the US/Canada. However,
there is one notable example: according to records (though NOT
contemporary reports, due to wartime restrictions), the
'longest-lasting' Rain - Ice event occurred 27th/28th January to 3rd
February 1940. There was severe dislocation to transport (railways
badly affected), with a large area from north Wales to the south and
west Midlands, the southwest of England and the 'Wessex' areas (i.e.
central-southern England). Lamb in 'The English Climate' has this ....
" Extensive thick ice, no traffic, birds had wings frozen to bodies,
and feet to the ground. Branches/telegraph wires collapsed by great
weight of ice. Electricity lines were coated with up to 4" (diameter)
of ice."

The problem for us is not so much the *specifics* though: a localised
fall of snow across the A30 a few years back in the Bodmin Moor area
caused much distress - we haven't seen a widespread persistent deep /
drifted snow situation for example across southern Britain for many
years.

Martin.



--
Martin Rowley
E:
W: booty.org.uk