The recent weather conditions have been compared to the "big freeze" of 1962-3, and a look through the News archive tells the story of how things were at the time.

Then, the freeze hit the region just before Christmas, putting a stop to a number of seasonal sporting events and causing havoc for the water board. But local youngsters, on holiday from school, were able to find fun in the gloomy weather.

On December 21 it was reported that the Christmas tree in Birstall market place had been damaged by high winds for the second time in as many years.

In 1961 the tree had been "almost completely" blown over, smashing many of the bulbs and scattering branches over a wide area.
It ended up leaning precariously, with only a few branches, and looked "a very sorry sight indeed."

In the gales of 1962 bins were sent rolling, windows were smashed and trees were felled.

Many of the Christmas tree's coloured fairy lights were smashed and lower branches were broken.

But, the News added that the village's electric lamps were decorated superbly with fairy lights, and most shops had bright, original, seasonal displays in their windows, giving the centre a very cheerful look.

On December 28 it was reported that this Christmas would be remembered as the coldest Christmas for 12 years.

Batley's very own 'weatherman', Coun JRR Thornes, recorded temperatures on Christmas Eve of minus 10 degrees centigrade, which was the lowest since he started his records in 1950.

Coun Thornes said he would not like to guess how long it had been since Christmas was as cold, but "it must have been a very long time".
And because of the extreme conditions, plumbers across the district were being kept very busy.
Plumbers in Batley and Birstall had to work overtime to deal with the hundreds of burst pipes.
The General Works Departments of the corporation reported they had dealt with 284 bursts since a few days before Christmas, and were expecting numbers to increase when the thaw came.
They said the problem had been mainly in old people's homes, probably because elderly people could not afford to take extra precautions such as additional heating.
A Birstall plumber said the bursts had been the worst since 1948.
But amid the felled trees and burst pipes, those who were young at heart were able to "derive much pleasure" from the winter wonderland conditions.
In the Youth Notes of January 11, 1963, it was reported that children on holiday from school had the opportunity to clean up the rusty runners on their sledges and make the most of the snow before it disappeared.
Members of the 3rd Morley scout group spent nearly three hours building an igloo.
And pupils from Batley Grammar School were also digging deep to help clear the snow on the football pitches at the top of Field Hill.
The pupils turned their attention to the field after being unable to go on their ususal cross country runs.