18 THE EUROPEAN STORM OF DECEMBER 21-28, 1836. 



doubtful by the evident unreliableness of some of the I'eports. At London, and 

 also at Oxford, no rain is reported from the 23d of December to the end of the 

 month, although this period embraced one of the most remarkable snow-storms 

 ever experienced in England. During a violent snow-storm very little snow collects 

 in an ordinary rain-gauge ; and the observers at London and Oxford, and perhaps 

 also at some other stations, appear to have taken no account of the moisture which 

 was precipitated in the form of snow. The following particulars, collected from 

 the columns of the London Times from December 27th to December 31st, will 

 convey some idea of the violence of this storm in England : — 



"At Brighton, early on the morning of Saturday, December 2J:th, there was a 

 fall of snow, averaging a depth of six inches, and it continued falling at intervals 

 throughout the day. About 5 P. M. it set in for a regular fall, which continued 

 throughout the night. The snow fell incessantly all day Sunday, and continued 

 without intermission till Monday night. The roads were rendered impassable, the 

 snow being in some places five and six feet deep. On Sunday the mail-coach from 

 Brighton to London had travelled about eight miles, when it fell into a drift of 

 snow, and the coach could not be extricated. The guard proceeded with the mail- 

 bags on horseback. At Lewes, after the storm, an immense avalanche of snow 

 glided from the cliff hills, and entirely destroyed five houses, killing eight of the 

 inmates. 



"At Rochester the oldest inliabitants did not remember so heavy a fall of snow, 

 which in some places was drifted at least forty feet. 



" At Ipswich there was a liglit fall of snow on Friday night (December 23d), and 

 in the morning the country was covered with it. A heavy fall of snow commenced 

 about six o'clock on Monday, which in various situations drifted in ridges of one 

 hundred feet wide by twelve and fourteen feet high. 



" At Harwick the snow fell to ten and twelve feet in depth. 



"At Hull the fall of hail and snow exceeded anything before witnessed for 

 several years. 



"At Newcastle the snow fell very heavy on Christmas day, and continued all 

 night and Monday without intermission. The ground was covered in some places, 

 even in town, twelve feet in depth. 



" Between Wansford and Stamford, in the hollows of most of the roads, the depth 

 of snow-drift was from twelve to twenty feet. In the high open roads there was 

 no snow, it having been blown away by the wind. 



"Between Leicester and Northampton, in some parts of the road, the snow had 

 drifted to the depth of thirty, forty, and in some places fifty feet. 



"In the neighborhood of Marlborough the drift had accumulated the snow in the 

 hollows from twelve to sixteen feet in dei)th. 



"Near Dorchester, where the snow had drifted, it was in some places five feet 

 deep." 



The editor of the Times remarks: "Never before within our recollection was the 

 London mail stopped for a whole night at a few miles from London, and never 

 before have we seen the intercourse between the southern shires of England and 

 the metropolis interrupted for two whole days." 



