IS 14.] Scientific Inielligence. tZf 



VI. The late Storm. 



The late storm, being the most severe and the longest which has 

 occurred in Great Britain since the year 1796, I conceive it will be 

 worth while to state a few particulars respecting it, as it appeai'ed 

 ill liic vicinity of Loudon, partly by way of record, and partly to 

 enaljle my readers in other parts of the country to compare the 

 storm iu the neighbourhood of London, with its appearance iii 

 their own vicinhy. 



A severe frost had commenced on the 1 3th of December, and 

 continued till the night of the 16th. The thermometer stood at 

 19° in the night between the 14ih and 15th, and in the night be- 

 tween tiie 15th and H)th. On the 16th it thawed, and continued 

 fresh (thougii it froze twice during tlie night) till die 26"th, the day 

 after Christmas. This was Sunday. It was clear and nearly calm^ 

 and the sun shone the whole day. On that day the frost set in at 

 London, and continued, if we do not reckon a« interval of four 

 days, (the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of January) for 42 days, 

 or exactly six weeks. During the first week, the thick fog already 

 described in the Annals of Philosophy, obscured the whole atmos- 

 phere, and rendered travelling dangerous. This fog did not go so 

 far west as Sidmouth ; but we know that it existed at Harwich. On 

 Monday the 3d of January an east wind sprung up, which dissi- 

 pated the fog. This wind continued without intermission till the 

 26th in the evening, when it changed to the south-west, and brought 

 Oft a very gentle thaw. This thaw continued about four days, 

 when the wind again shifted to the north, and blew steady and 

 cold. The frost returned ; though upon the whole the cold was 

 not so intense, and the weather was much clearer, and there was 

 €ven a good deal of sun-shine, which had not been the case before 

 the thaw. This second frost continued till the 6th of february, 

 when the wind shifted again to the south, and finally put an end to 

 the storm. 



A good deal of snow fell during this long continued frost, but in 

 the vicinity of London the fall was not deep. At Chelsea and 

 that neighbourhood, where I had an opportunity of making my 

 observations, it was no where deeper than about a foot. Ice had 

 formed u|)on the river at some distance above London, but the 

 tide kept it clear for a long time l)etween Hattersea and the sea. 

 Above Battcrsea the river appeared to me quite frozen over about 

 the 20th of January The ice was covered with great quantities 

 of snow, and large lumps of these floating down were driven 

 backwards and forwards between the bridges. 'I'he thaw of the 

 2f;th of January brought down such prodigious quantities of this 

 floating ice, that the whole river Ijeiween Blackfriars and London 

 bridyi; was filled with ii ; and when the succeeding frost came on, 

 it bound together all these masses, so that the river was completely 

 covered with ice, from London bridge up to Westminster, and 

 Miijjht at one tin)e huve boin cros'-cd in almost any place. 



