EUROPE'S GREAT FROST

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 36, 14 February 1929, Page 11

EUROPE'S GREAT FROST

BRITAIN IN THE GRIP

SNOWBOUND TRANSPORT

British Official WlrtltM. (Heccived 14th February, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, 13th February.

Unusually severe frosts continued, over the whole of Britain yesterday. In London it was the coldest day since 1908, and it is over 40 years since such cold has been experienced in February. Last night the minimum temperature in London was 21 degrees Fahrenheit, but much lower readings were registered in the suburbs and the provinces, while in Scotland and Wales the cold was again intense. The bitter east wind has, however, moderated. TRAFFIC DISORGANISED. Heavy snowfalls in Scotland and Wales have greatly hindered communications with London, and a Glasgow express was delayed owing to the freezing of water in the railway troughs, and on arrival the ice which had collected between tho coaches had to be broken through before they could be separated. Two trains, caught in snowdrifts near Stranraer, were imprisoned throughout yesterday, but have now been released as the result of work by snow ploughs and an engine of 120 tons. At Penygroes, near Carnarvon, a passenger train was snowed up throughout Monday night. Frozen points delayed rail traffic in many parts of the country.

Road traffic is much more seriously disorganised. The inhabitants state that the conditions near Stranraer are even worse than during the great blizzard of 1895. Buses and about 100 motor-cars are snowed up in the neighbourhood. In South Wales many motor bus services have also been suspended, and numerous accidents due to skids on icebound roads occurred yesterday, while scores of vehicles are abandoned in snowdrifts. BELOW ZERO IN WALES. The severe frost continued to-day in the British Isles, the thermometer readings being even lower than yesterday. The coldest place appears to be Ross-ori-Wye, in Herefordshire, where the thermometer showed a ground temperature of 6 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, or 38 degrees of frost. Ice has begun to form on tho Thames in tho higher reaches. Other rivers are also becoming frozen, while the canals, lakes, and ponds are generally icebound. Householders are finding their chief discomfort in the freezing of waterpipes. This was a subject of general complaint today. All over London the Metropolitan Water Board^is fixing stand pipes in the streets, and housewives come with buckets and kettles and obtain water from the main. Thousands of frozen pipes are bursting and causing damage.