Today in History—January 5: A Winter So Cold It Rewrote History

On January 5, 1709, Europe’s coldest winter in 500 years crept in overnight. The chill stretched from England to Russia. Whole trees froze and shattered. Trade came to a standstill, as snow made roads impassable, and the Thames River and the Baltic Sea froze. Copenhagen Harbor reported 27 inches of solid ice. Flocks of birds froze midair. Temperatures fell to –5 °F.

This was long before weather forecasting, so people had no warning. The Great Frost—as it came to be known—reshaped the continent. Many countries needed a decade for their economies to recover.

The weather caused immediate deaths from hypothermia and exposure, but the food shortages that followed prolonged the suffering. France was hardest hit, with at least 600,000 deaths from cold, famine, and disease that year. A commission was formed to manage grain distribution, with prices rising sixfold in some places. Punishments for hoarding grain were severe—up to and including execution.

Some residents adapted creatively, moving provisions by cart via newly formed ice routes and burning furniture for warmth. But for many, adaptations weren’t enough. Wine froze in barrels. Bread turned so solid it had to be cut with an axe. Livestock died, as did fish trapped beneath frozen rivers and lakes. Wheat crops failed. Agriculture collapsed. Each loss compounded the famine to come.

The cold disrupted two wars. The War of the Spanish Succession stalled, and the Great Northern War—Russia versus Sweden—ended in a defeat for the weakened Swedish army, helping to vault Russia to world-power status.

When Europe finally thawed in the spring, flooding ensued: All that meltwater had to go somewhere, and the ground was frozen more than three feet down.

Climatologists are still studying this one. Some blame volcanic eruptions in the preceding years, which may have caused a dust veil high in the atmosphere that blocked the sun. Others cite an extended period of low solar activity, the weakest in millennia.

Whatever its cause, we know its cost: For millions, that winter didn’t end in spring, it ended in loss.