Storms can occur in winter, too

[ IN THE MIDST OF WINTER it may seem odd to be discussing the effects of lightning – a phenomenon associated in this country with summer and hot weather.

The Met Office, however, describes a particular type of storm that occurs in wintry conditions, which can give rise to heavy downpours of snow. They call these events ‘thundersnow’. Thundersnow is of course unusual because it can only occur in a few months of the year.

The Met Office describes the phenomenon thus: “When thundersnow occurs at night the lightning appears brighter: this is because the light reflects off the snowflakes.

“Interestingly, the snow contained within the thunderstorm acts to dampen the sound of the thunder. While the thunder from a typical thunderstorm might be heard many miles away, the thunder during a thundersnow event will only be heard if you are within two to three miles of the lightning.”

The section on thundersnow is just one of a number of interesting items on lightning on the Met Office website. Another relates ‘10 striking facts about lightning’. Among the interesting snippets is the speed of travel of a lightning strike (270,000 mph) and the site of the most prolific lightning storm – Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela with 40,000 strikes in one night.

Of interest to historians and archaeologists are the glass-like tubes called fulgurite that are formed when lightning strikes a sandy beach, allowing past weather to be explained.

Possibly one of the most bizarre facts is the medieval idea that church bells could fend off lightning strikes. Many church bells bore the inscription fulgura frango, meaning ‘I repel lightning’ and the bells would be rung during a storm: a practice we now know to be hazardous. In fact, between 1753 and 1786 in France, 103 bell-ringers were struck by lightning and killed, resulting in the custom being banned.

Another bizarre fact? Helicopters can cause lightning strikes!

For the full list visit www.metoffice.gov.uk. q

Steeplejacks’ story is told in newspaper pictures

[ONE OF THE FASCINATING STORIES told through archive photographs from the Daily Herald by the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford is the history of the steeplejack. A series of spectacular pictures depict steeplejacks atop a range of buildings from national landmarks such as Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster to chimney stacks at Fulham Power Station and the Newton and Ayr Gasworks. The pictures also chart the development of the technology used by steeplejacks, from simple ladders lashed to metal ‘dogs’ to the use of bosun’s chairs – prior to modern abseiling techniques.

The Daily Herald was once the world’s top selling newspaper and today its photographic archive is held by the Science Museum Group at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. The archive provides a rich visual history comprising over 3 million items, with prints from press agencies and freelance photographers alongside work created by Daily Herald staff photographers.

The archive was first published at the end of 2021.

In October last year the number of images was expanded when the museum announced a new collaboration with Google Arts & Culture to digitise nearly 50,000 never-before-seen photographs from the Daily Herald archive and launch a visual experiment on the platform.

The newly digitised images are showcased in 25 online stories – including the story of steeplejacks – on the Google Arts & Culture platform as well as on the National Science and Media Museum’s website.

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In an interesting aside previewing the story on the museum’s website, the writer points to one of the first depictions of a steeplejack in the country’s history: a figure climbing the roof of the newly-built St Peter’s Church at Westminster – Westminster Abbey – prior to the burial of Edward the Confessor, depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and pictured here in a 1:7 scale reproduction.

Read the fascinating story of steeplejacks on the website at www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk. q

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