CHRISTMAS IN BRITAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 December 1947, Page 5

CHRISTMAS IN BRITAIN

SUNSHINE AND SNOW MILDER WEATHER ON THE CONTINENT • N.Z.P.A.—Reuter—Copyright) Reed. 8.30 p.m. London, Dec. 26 A sudden freak thunderstorm ended for London and the Home counties an unusually warm Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Elsewhere in Britain the weather varied between sunshine on the south coast and heavy snowfalls in the north. At Sandringham, with the Royal Family and the Duke of Edinburgh, were Queen Mary, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and their sons, and the Duchess of Kent. His Majesty, after broadcasting alone in his study, went with the Royal party to the Palace ballroom and distributed gifts to the servants and workers on the Royal estates. Most people in Britain, like Royalty, gathered at their home firesides. Some 480,000.000 letters went through the British post offices, compared with 430,000,000 in 1946 The Associated Press, surveying the Continent’s Christmas, said Europe, though still hungry for peace on earth, counted its blessings in the form of more food and less suffering. Mild temperatures in most of the Continent helped to draw thousands from their tiresides in contrast to the biting cold of last Christmas.