543 
Yarc, from Coldham Hall to Surlingham Ferry. On the night 
of the 15th Avo had seventeen degrees of frost, freezing all the 
following day, when the highest temperature recorded was nine 
degrees below freezing. The frost continued throughout the 17th, 
though Avith a S. and S.W. Avind Avhich, Avith a bright sun in 
the morning, caused a considerable shrinkage of siioav. 
Little did even the “ Aveather-Avise ” anticipate the change so 
shortly to follow. A gale suddenly burst upon us, unprecedented, 
almost, in the recollection of the present generation, for sCA'crity 
and the damage effected by it in the space of twenty-four hours"; 
accompanied as it Avas by such snoAv-drifts in railway cuttings, 
country roads, and lanes, as, to octogenarians, recalled the 
Avinters of the old coaching-days. About 12 o’clock at night on 
the 17th, the wind suddenly veered to the cast, and from that 
time, though chiefly from the E.N.E., a terrible gale raged 
throughout the day on the 18th, through that night, and part 
of the next day. The effect of such a storm, the velocity of the 
wind on the 18th being registered at live hundred and forty- 
eight miles, and four hundred and ten miles on the 19th, Avas 
to sweep the roofs and trees, and oven the ground in open places, 
of the half-frozen siioav, and bank it up, many feet high, to bo 
added to considerably by a heavy fall of snow between eight and 
nine 111 the evening. Skating matches were everywhere postponed, 
as many skaters could not keep their feet, whilst others, spreading 
out the skirts of their coats, sailed along with the AAnnd. At 
Yarmouth, even in the streets, several people Avere blown doAvn. 
By huge snoAA'-drifts in the raihvay cuttings (reaching up to the 
top of the engine-tender in one case) trains Avere stopped, both on 
the Yarmouth and Cromer lines, and passengers, at Buckenham, 
Salhouse, and Wroxham, had to seek shelter at the raihvay stations 
for the night, till powerful engines could reach the blocked-up 
tmins in the morning. The mail-carts were stopped by the snow- 
^ “^ various parts of the county, and aU communication was 
cut off from several towns and villages for two or three days. 
Owing to a fearful sea on at Yarmouth and LoAA’estoft, the shippin*^ 
disasters were numerous, with a sad loss of lives, and the disaster 
to the larmouth lifeboat, and the droAvning of several of her crew 
Avill be long remembered. The sky all day had a dull leaden hue 
and the thermometer registered 32-0 degrees in EorAvich. Sleet’ 
