RECORD OF COLDEST WINTERS IN EUROPE

Shannon News, 9 July 1929, Page 1

RECORD OF COLDEST WINTERS IN EUROPE

WINE CUT WITH HATCHETS. In connection with the recent cold weather in Europe, the following clipping comes to hand:. In 401 the Black' Sea was entirely frozen over. In 763 not only the Black Sea, but the Straits of Dardanelles were frozeii over; the snow in some places rose 50 feet high. In 822 the great rivers of Europe, the Danube, the Elbe, dte., were' so hard frozen as to bear heavy waggons for amonth. In 860 Adriatic was frozen. In 00.1 everything was frozen, the crops totally failed, and famine amt pestilence closed the year. In .1667 mast of the travellers in Germany were frozen to death on tire roads. In 1134 the I’o was frozen from Cremona to flu sea; the wine sacks were burst, and tlie trees split by the action ’of the frost with immense noise. In 1236 the Danube was frozen to the bottom, and remained long in that state. In 1316 the crops wholly-failed in Germany; wheat which some years before sold in England at six shillings the quarter, rose to two pounds. In 1308 the crops failed in Scotland, and such a famine ensued that the poor were reduced to feed on grass, and many perished miserably in the fields. The successive winters 1432-3-4 were uncommonly severe. In 1368 the wine distributed to the soldiers was cut with hatchets. In 1683 it was excessively cold. Coaches drove along the Thames, the ice of which was eleven inches thick. In 1709 occurred the Cold Winter; • the frost penetrated the earth three yards into the ground. In 1759 booths were erected on the Thames. In 1744 and 1745 the strongest ale in England, exposed to the air, was covered in less than 15 minutes with ice an eight of an inch thick., Some years later, in 1809, and again in 1812, the winters were remarkably cold. In 1812 there was a fair on the frozen Thames.