Although digging into the Gazette archives, you could be forgiven for wondering why anyone might want one. The Met Office is currently forecasting light cloud and a moderate breeze on Christmas Day. And this might come as a relief to residents who recall the Great Freeze-Up of 1947. While the first flakes of snow of this winter are yet to fall, nothing will ever surpass the amount of snow that occurred at the end of January that year. As King George VI and his family set off for the warmer lands of South Africa for several months, so the bitterly cold winds brought a similar period of snow and ice to Britain.