WHITE CHRISTMAS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 December 1927, Page 5

WHITE CHRISTMAS

SNOWSTORMS IN ENGLAND.

TRAFFIC DISORGANISED,

FLOODS IN SOME PLACES

BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION-COPYRIGHT LONDON, Dec. 26.

On Christmas night London and the whole ox England were mantled in snow, an Arctic blizzard 1 sweeping the entire country with a severity unexampled since 1906. It raged all night as well as the greater part of to-day, the temperature being at ireezing point. This is the first time snow has fallen on Christmas Day in London for 21 years. Everything was covered to a depth of several inches, trees weighted down making pavements impassable The absence of heavy traffic allowed the snow to accumulate in the streets, converting the whole ol London into a gigantic Christmas card. To-day horse-drawn snow ploughs are working, together with an army of labourers, but are unable to tope with the downfall. In the suburbs, visitation or an old-fashioned Christmas brought widespread havoc. The early omnibusse and trams . crawled along sedately while trains were disorganised. and it was hours before the authorities were able to run anything like proper services. imports were widely abandoned and motoring called on. Many villages were isolated, and Travellers caught ou the roads were stranded.

At Guildford, near Loudon, two double-decker buses were completely buried in snowdrifts, and the passengers had to walk a mile to t-lieir destinations or to pieK up other means of transport. Several branch line railways were impassable, being snowed up all day. Kail way men describe as unprecedented the driits between Salisbury and Basingstoiie, these being twene feet deep in places, tenow ploughs tire at present at work clearing the lines. A few hours after nig -ben had been heard in Australia it stopped, owing to the weight ox snow accumulating on the hands proving too great for the veteran to manage. Tins is the first time such a thing has happened in tiie clock's history. Every district reports severe falls, and blizzards of varying intensity are causing damage to property and disorganisation in the routine of life. ° In the peak district of Derbyshire the blizzard snowed up every road in the region ©t Matlock, and men are digging a way to isolated villages. scores of sheep are buried in snowdrifts in the Welsh mountains, wlii.e telephonic communication is widely interrupted throughout the overhead wires being damaged. The snowfalls in several instances were so heavy that' the Air Ministry is unable to accurately gauge them. It is calculated that tiie tall in London alone exceeded twelve million tons, which, coming on top of twelve hours, rain at a time when large areas were already flooded, is giving rise to fears of serious consequences. Floods are particularly bad in Yorkshire and the southern counties. ’ike Thames has overflowed in many places, and a hundred acres have been inundated, including all the roads leading to Chertsey and Shepperton, where those dwelling in bungalows are marooned.

Gales are raging in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, and the Irish Sea. Many battered vessels are arriving at Plymouth for shelter. The driving snow stopped public clocks and tore the British Broadcasting Company’s aerials, so that broadcasting had to be cancelled. High seas at Heal swamped the promenade and the nearby streets, causing considerable damage, while many aerodromes are waterlogged.

The railway authorities, who have been engaged in a ceaseless struggle during the last two days to keep the services going, say it is the worst time they have had for years. The snowfall’s have dislocated services throughout the country, especially on branch lines/

The snowdrifts in some places in Devon were twelve to twenty feet deep. The most astonishing plight of the railwaymen was getting the Scottish express through, though on the journey from London it was only 56 minutes late. A London-bound train with 60 passengers encountered a landslide in a blinding storm near Stourbridge on Christmas night. Hundreds of tons of earth and snow fell on the track, the engine becoming embedded in the debris. The train was derailed, the coaches being inclined at an angle of 45 degrees. The passengers were terrified, and some women became hysterical, hut no one was injured. Several other trains had to be dug out of drifts ten to twelve feet deep. Trans-Atlantic liners were delayed and scores of smaller vessels hurried for the shelter of the harbours and breakwaters. It was the severest blizzard for many years. The Air Ministry reported a gale of 54 mi.es an hour at Holyhead and of 50 miles an hour at the Scilly Islands. Despite bad weather, which caused business in the restaurants and night clubs to be extremely slack, England enjoyed probably the greatest Christmas festival since the war. The King and Queen spent the day quietly at Sandringham with the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of York, and Princes Henry and George. . Economic experts estimate that during C hristmas week London spent £40,0(X),C00, or approximately .-£5,000,000 above the average year, while the country as a whole spent L13,0.a), I .*/’ more than usual. The Christmas mails were ten per cent greater in volume than those of 1926.