A TERRIBLE WINTER (1947)

From the 23rd of January,
The coldest weather for a century,
The worst winter in living memory,
Paralysed the country, literally:
Blizzards, twenty-foot snowdrifts, a big freeze.

Even coastal waters froze, if you please.
The crisis lasted for eight weeks or more.
Shinwell reported (as jaws hit the floor)
The closure of much of British industry
And deep cuts in household electricity –
A crippling fuel emergency.
Shipping was unable to put to sea;
Roads were closed, with lorries going nowhere;
Coal supplies at the pithead were stuck there;
Power stations were shut down. Cue, despair.

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