Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom
Severe winter in the UK / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The winter of 1946–1947 was a harsh European winter noted for its adverse effects in the United Kingdom. It caused severe hardships in economic terms and living conditions in a country still recovering from the Second World War. There were massive disruptions of energy supply for homes, offices and factories. Animal herds froze or starved to death. People suffered from the persistent cold, and many businesses shut down temporarily. When warm weather returned, the ice thawed and flooding was severe in most low-lying areas.
Lowest temperature | −21.3 °C (−6.3 °F) Elmstone, Kent[1] |
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Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 83 in (210 cm) Forest-in-Teesdale, County Durham[2] |
Areas affected | United Kingdom and Ireland |
Beginning on 23 January 1947, the UK experienced several cold spells that brought large drifts of snow to the country, blocking roads and railways, which caused problems transporting coal to the electric power stations. Many had to shut down, forcing severe restrictions to cut power consumption, including restricting domestic electricity to nineteen hours per day and cutting some industrial supplies completely. In addition, radio broadcasts were limited, television services were suspended, some magazines were ordered to stop publishing, and newspapers were reduced in size. These measures, on top of the low temperatures, badly affected public morale and the Minister of Fuel and Power, Emanuel Shinwell, became a scapegoat; he received death threats and had to be placed under police guard. Towards the end of February, there were also fears of a food shortage as supplies were cut off and vegetables were frozen into the ground.
Mid-March brought warmer air to the country which thawed the snow lying on the ground. This snowmelt rapidly ran off the frozen ground into rivers and caused widespread flooding. More than 100,000 properties were affected, and the British Army and foreign aid agencies were required to provide humanitarian aid. With the cold spell over and the ground thawing, there were no further weather problems. The winter had severe effects on British industries, causing the loss of around 10% of the year's industrial production, 10 to 20% of cereal and potato crops, and a quarter of sheep stocks. The governing Labour Party began to lose its popularity, which led to its loss of many seats to the Conservative Party in the 1950 general election; on top of other factors. That winter is also cited as a factor in the devaluation of the pound from US$4.03 to US$2.80 and the introduction of the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Europe. The effects on the rest of Europe were also severe, with 150 deaths from cold and famine in Berlin, civil disorder in the Netherlands and business closures in the Republic of Ireland.