Remembering the winter of the Big Freeze

THE winter of 1962/63 saw relentless blizzards, the lowest temperatures for 200 years and a football fixture list in chaos.

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On Merseyside, it started snowing on Boxing Day 1962 and the Big Freeze, as it was soon nicknamed, lasted until March the following year.

The coldest winter since 1740 brought gale force winds and snow on the ground for 62 consecutive days. Parts of the country shivered at -20с, vehicles were stranded in drifts and villages cut off, rivers froze.

The Big Freeze disrupted life across the nation. There were power cuts and vegetable prices shot up by as much as 30 per cent as crops froze in the ground. It was so cold that mini icebergs appeared across Merseyside, and park lakes froze.

In the more rural areas, snowploughs were needed to clear a way to give access to towns and villages with the snow higher than hedges in places.

While the country was battling with the impact of the Big Freeze, the sporting calendar was upended as well.

The only action came in a few FA cup ties that only happened because of monumental efforts to clear pitches with heavy machinery.

The FA Cup third round was scheduled for Saturday 5 January but took 66 days to complete.