Time for a Frost Fair?
Continuing 2021’s reign as a topsy-turvy year (much in the vein of its predecessor), the freezing cold weather of the past few days has produced something not seen in over ten years: the Thames freezing over. With temperatures plummeting well below zero over the past couple of nights, part of the Thames near Teddington froze yesterday morning. [Featured image: Teddington Lifeboat, via Twitter]
Not often the Thames freezes over in Teddington. Might have to use the D class Lifeboat as an icebreaker! pic.twitter.com/TKDaWa0NQJ
— Teddington Lifeboat (@rnli_teddington) February 11, 2021
The RNLI Lifeboat station at Teddington was on hand to capture the amazing view, joking that they’d need to bring out the icebreakers to get through. The freeze comes off the back of the coldest night in 25 years, as the village of Braemar in Scotland – widely acknowledged as one of the coldest places in the UK – saw a frightening low of -23oC!
Just for peace of mind, the rest of the Thames is unlikely to freeze over any time soon (the waters flow more slowly around Teddington Lock, which accounts for the freeze here) – and you definitely shouldn’t try and walk on it in any event! So, a return of the Frost Fairs of old is rather unlikely, although we can always dream. It does however mean that we’re still in for a couple more cold nights, so wrap up warm!