ARCTIC WEATHER

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 65, 14 February 1929, Page 7

ARCTIC WEATHER

EUROPE’S TRAGIC EXPERIENCE

FREEZING CONTINUE

NEARLY 20,000 DEATHS. (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Australian Press Association. PARIS, Feb. 13. Statistics collected throughout Europe show that the deaths due to the so-called “ice-age winter” are approaching 20,000. There are at least 2500 deaths from influenza and pneumonia in France atone. There have been several hundred deaths from drowning resultant from shipwrecks. To-day's reports show that there is but little abatement of the freezing conditions.

Nancy registered 54 degrees of frost, The river Meurthe is frozen.

BRITAIN SUFFERING,

LONDON HAS COLDEST DAY SINCE 1908.

ICE FORMING ON THE THAMES

(British Official Wireless.)

Received February 14, 11.0 a.m. RUGBY, Feb. 13. 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 provinces, while in Scotland and Wales the cold, was again intense. The bitter east wind has, however, moderated. Heavy snowfalls in Scotland and in Wales have greatly hindered communications to London, and the Glasgow express was delayed owing to the freezing of the water in the railway troughs. On the arrival of the express the ice which had collected between the coaches had to be broken through before the coaches could be separated. Two trains that were caught in a snowdrift near Stranraer were imprisoned throughout yesterday; but they have now been released as the result of work by’* snow ploughs. * 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. NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS. In South Wales many motor bus services have also been suspended, ancl numerous accidents due to skids on icebound roads occurred yesterday, while scores of vehicles are abandoned in snowdrifts.

The severe frost continued to-day, the thermometer readings being even lower than yesterday. The coldest place appears to be Ross-on-Wye, in Herefordshire, where tho thermometer showed a ground temperature of six degrees below zero, Fahrenheit, or 38 degrees of frost. •

The ice has begun to form on the Thames in the Higher reaches. The other rivers are also becoming frozen, while canals, lakes and ponds are generally ice-bound. FREEZING OF WATEIIPIPES.

Householders are finding tlieir chief discomfort in the freezing of the waterpipes. This was the subjecUof a general complaint to-day all over London.

FRENCH CAPITAL’S EXPERIENCE,

(Australian Press Association.) LONDON, Feb. 13. Advices from Sofia state that the ports of Varna and Burgas are icebound and that people are skating along the coast of the Black Sea for the first time since 1849.

Paris experienced 26 degrees of frost, the lowest with three exceptions in fifty-five years. The Prefect of Police is installing braziers at sheltered corners in tho principal streets. There are many train delays owing to points and engine tubes freezing. Heavy snow falls are reported in many places, evc«i at Marseilles and Cannes. The famous Chartreuse monastery near Grenoble is snowed up and isolated. There were 48 degrees of frost recorded at Belfort.

Forest guards near Lublin, Poland, found an entire gipsy band of thirtyfour men, women and children frozen to death.

DISASTERS IN GERMANY,

(Australian Press Association.) BERLIN, Eeb. 12,

The intense cold has been responsible for two disasters at Stuttgart. An express was forced to slow down owing to the freezing of the radiator. The driver of a following express did not see the signals, owing to the frostcovered windows, and crashed into the Stuttgart train. Three were killed and 17 injured.

An attempt to thaw frozen calcium carbide in an acetylene gas factory at Bremnen led to an explosion in which three were killed and 50 injured seriously. The whole factory was demolished.

Tlie Rhine, Mosel and Ruhr Rivers are frozen for considerable distances. Frankfurt experienced the lowest temperature for a century. A war-blinded man was found frozen to death at Duisberg. His dog kept watch beside the body, and would not allow anyone to approach.