Historic weather: The Great Frost of 1407

There’s a chill in the air right now, but it is nothing compared to The Great Frost. One of the coldest winters to ever hit our shores in 1407.

The frigid conditions arrived in early December, lasting until 1408 the next year and spread across Europe. In the UK trees split in two, bird populations spiralled, and the Thames was completely frozen for three months which some people took advantage of by hosting fairs on the frozen surface.

Life came to a standstill with boats stuck at docks as ice and slow blocked other land routes at the time.

In Europe, Turkey’s Bosphorus and the lower Danube also froze along with most of the continent’s bodies of water. Seas were not spared either, with travel between Denmark and Norway across the frozen North Sea reported.

Ice caused widespread issues with watermills suddenly clogged by ice flowing within rivers, a problem particularly prevalent in France at the time.

When, after three months, the winter finally ended widespread thawing led to flooding. Destroying the few crops which had survived the conditions and leading to an economic downturn for 17th-century England.

Today the winter of 1407-08 is regarded as one of the most severe on record and the longest lasting winter of the whole millennium.