Scott W writes:

I've written a few lines on my memory of the opening weekend of that
cold spell that happened 30 years ago next week. There's loads on the
net about it but in this age of mild winters it doesn't hurt to
reminisce.

I was living on the 15th floor of a tower block in Mile End at the time.
The prolonged cold caused the main water riser into the block to freeze
so no one in nearly 400 flats (there were a pair of blocks) had running
water. It turned out to be possible to tap into the larger street main
with a stand-pipe. Presumably the constant use kept it running though
I'd have thought it would have to be removed at night. I don't recall
how long that lasted but it was more than a couple of days.

--
Ben.