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The year the sea froze in Kent

John Clague An old photo from 1963 shows people peering over the railings into a sea which is covered in ice. John Clague
In January 1963, it was so cold the sea froze over

The winter of 1962 to 1963 was one of the coldest on record in the UK as temperatures plummeted to -20C.

It was so severe, the sea froze over one mile from the shore in Herne Bay, Kent. It also froze in Whitstable.

Shipping was paralysed on the River Medway as the upper reaches of the River Thames froze too.

Herne Bay resident Trevor Martin told the BBC: "It was exciting. I thought the sea would be frozen solid but of course the ice was on top of the waves."

John Clague Four people stand at the sea railings among mounds of snow and ice. The sea in the background is also covered in ice. John Clague
People visited from all over east Kent to see the frozen waves

Mr Martin was five years old, living in Blean, near Canterbury, at the time and remembers his dad took him to visit the frozen sea.

"We were somewhere near the pier and we went right down near it - obviously it was cold," Mr Martin recalls.

Amateur filmmaker John Clague, who was based in Herne Bay, captured the stunning images of the phenomenon on a 16mm film, used throughout this story.

Known as "the big freeze", cold weather hit the UK on 22 December 1962 and the arctic conditions continued all the way through to the following March.

It brought widespread chaos to England, with roads and railways buried under snowdrifts.

A BBC weather reporter at the time described Gatwick as looking "more like Lapland".

John Clague Two children and a man with a camera stand at the railings on the promenade looking out onto a frozen sea. The skating rink on Herne Bay pier can be seen in the background. John Clague
The sea froze in Herne Bay up to a mile off shore

Residents who were around in 1962 remember snow on the ground for 62 consecutive days.

Thick sheets of ice formed where the sea met the shore along the coast.

Fishing boats were locked in place, and the harbours fell eerily silent.

John Clague Three children stand in the frozen waves at the shoreline. One wears an orange jumper, another brown and the girl in a beige jumper. They walk on the snow which reaches up to the shore. John Clague
The ice extended several feet out in the sea

Another Herne Bay resident Colleen Foreman added: "We had to go to school no matter how cold it was. Life went on."

Janet Farbrace said she had just moved down from London and added: "My brother took me down to the front to the frozen sea - a sight I will not forget."

John Clague Thick layers of snow and ice stretch out a long way on the sea, past the pier. John Clague
Temperatures dropped to -20C

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