ARCTIC WEATHER

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5315, 30 January 1947, Page 5

ARCTIC WEATHER

l (Prts s Assn-

FOUR children die IN lincolnshire

-Rec. 9.30 p.m.)

LONDON, Jan. 29. Britain is in the grip of winter. An arctic north-east-erly wind has been sweeping the country and almost the whole of Britain is covered with ice or snow, with the South-East and East of England most severely affected. Bent and Essex had seven days of snow and London six. I The worst snowstorms for 20 | years swept Kent and the road I to the Isle of Sheppey, at the | mouth of the Thames, is [ blocked by snowdrifts five feet deep. As a result, 25,000 people are cut oif from the mainland. Gales havc r>L*en pounding the east coast. and hampering the fishing I fleets. wliile many air services have been si.'spcmleil. Farmers have been out fe'iiic i'li ep from drifts, 10 feet | deep. on the mnth downs and on the j Yoifehire 'v.dds. Conditions are be- ( eomiiig" sei'ious for villagers who are | busily gathering liranch wood to supI plement theiv coal. | Lincoinshirt had a .succession of I snowstorais v.ith a 50 miles-an-hour I wind, and four children in difFerent I parts of the country died through I vent:ri::a- or t'razen ponds. i I Snow plo'i :. hs are working in many. I distiets to keeji the roads open for | food surylios to get through. Cuts in I electricity have been general, rangI ing in extein from 10 per cent. in the I north to 15 per cent. rT n* the south. I Last night was Londcn's coldest I of the year, with the thermometer E at 27 degrees. The only people to I Rain enjoyment have been skating I and tobogganing enthusiasts. The I further oiitlook is for more snow.