Memories of the Big Freeze of 1963: When winters were real winters

Watch remarkable 1963 footage from the ITV News Anglia film archive showing just how harsh the coldest winter on record really was 60 years ago

Imagine a time when snow was lying on the ground for more than 60 days and the temperature barely climbed above freezing for three whole months. That was the winter of 1962/63 - the coldest on record in East Anglia.

It was dubbed the Big Freeze as the region stayed sub-zero for week after week. The sea froze over near the coast, boats became trapped in thick ice on rivers across the Eastern Counties and crops stayed frozen in the fields.

As this current winter in East Anglia draws to an close with spring just around the corner, it bares no comparison with 60 years ago. This year's lowest temperature in the region was close to -10°C but in 1963 the thermometer plunged to -18°C at Cardington in Bedfordshire.

While it would not be encouraged today, in 1963 the ice was so thick on Oulton Broad in Suffolk many took advantage of the wintry conditions Credit: Anglia Television Archive

In a time when many homes lacked central heating the impact on people and their lives was harsh and relentless. Most rural schools had only outside toilets which needed the ice breaking day after day.

Explosives were used to break up the ice on the Norfolk Broads, pneumatic drills were used to dig up carrots and potatoes and electric current deployed to melt the ice in frozen water pipes.

Marian Lowe from Norwich had memories of the winter of 1963: "What a remember most of all is how long it went and how bitter it was.

"Even in the city was deep at the side of the road and when we visited friends in the country it must have cut through 10 or 12 feet deep.

"Most people didn't have central heating in those days. We had one coal fire in the living room so the rest of the house was freezing.

"We just got used to it and thought it would never go away."

The ground was frozen solid for much of the winter of 1963 so hammers and even a pneumatic drill were need to lift carrots and potatoes Credit: Anglia Television Archive

The 1960s was a less safety-conscious era and barbecues were held on frozen lakes and one intrepid drivers zoomed his Austin Healy Sprite at 30 mph past the boats stuck firm in a frozen solid River Great Ouse in Ely.

For statistical purposes, winter is defined by weather people as the three months of December, January and February with March being the first spring month.

Diggers were deployed in the winter of 1962/63 to keep roads clear and get through to villages cut off by snowdrifts Credit: Anglia Television Archive

The Met Office said the icy conditions set in just before Christmas 1962 following weeks of changeable and stormy weather.

On 22 December a high pressure system moved to the north-east of the British Isles, dragging bitterly cold winds across the country. The situation was to last much of the winter.

A belt of rain over northern Scotland on 24 December turned to snow as it moved south, giving Glasgow its first white Christmas since 1938. The snow-belt reached southern England on Boxing Day and parked over the country, bringing a snowfall of up to 12 inches (30 cm) deep.

This snow set the scene for the next two months, as much of England remained covered every day until early March 1963. 

A ship becomes trapped in ice on a frozen river at Reedham in Norfolk in January 1963 Credit: Anglia Television Archive

The long bitterly cold spell caused lakes and rivers to freeze, even sea water in some of England's harbours turned to ice. Ice patches formed at sea and on beaches.

Winter didn't fully relax its grip until 4 March, when a mild south-westerly flow of air reached the British Isles. By 6 March, there was no frost anywhere in the British Isles and the temperature in London reached 17°C - the highest since October 1962.East Anglia temperature records date back to 1884 and during that time there has never been a colder winter than 1962/63 in the region.

Extreme measures were needed to blast through the ice on the Norfolk Broads at Horning as explosives are lowered into the icy water Credit: Anglia Television Archive

The longest continuous temperature record in the world is the Central England Temperature series with monthly data going back to 1659.

Only the winters of 1683/84 and 1739/40 were colder than 1962/63 making it the coldest in Britain for more than 200 years.

The winter of 1962/63 had a mean temperature, which averages the daytime maxima and night time minima, of -0.8°C in East Anglia.

In contrast, the past three months up to the end of February 2023 has seen a mean temperature of around 5°C, which is slightly above normal.

The record-breaking cold winter of 1963 saw widespread travel disruption for months Credit: Anglia Television Archive

The "Beast From The East" winter in 2018 recorded a mean temperature of 4.3°C in East Anglia and the coldest winter so far in the 21st century was in 2009/10 when the mean was 2.5°C, more than 3°C higher than in 1962/63.

Climate change has seen winter temperatures in East Anglia steadily climbing each decade. In the 30 years between 1941-1970 the mean winter temperature in the region was 3.4°C while in the latest 30-year period from 1991-2020 it had risen to 4.7°C

While there will still be harsh winters in the future it seems unlikely that anything on scale of 1962/63 will ever occur again in the UK.

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