Forty years ago, one of the most momentous weather events of the last century occurred and no one who was around will ever forget it.

That Boxing Day was the start of the Big Freeze, which lasted for more than two months and caused huge disruption.

Even in Sussex, often protected from the worst weather in winter by the warming effect of the sea, there was ice and the county was snowbound during that time. The whole country was caught in the prolonged cold snap.

There had been some cold weather earlier in the December of 1962, following a particularly cool summer, and there were also some severe gales.

But the main weather story before December 26 was what proved to be the last great smog in London. The Clean Air Act ensured there were no more.

Sussex missed having a White Christmas by only a few hours as the snow started to fall heavily on Boxing Day. As it was a public holiday and there was much less traffic around, the snow settled and stayed on the ground.

The heavy fall of about 6in was great fun for all the children on holiday but more was to come. A few days later, another foot of snow was deposited on top of it, making it the heaviest fall in most places since the snowy winter of 1947.

There was not a huge amount more snow after that and the chief feature was the intense cold. Even on the coast, the temperature stayed below freezing on many days and the average temperature at many weather stations broke new records for both January and February.

The snow simply stuck for nine or ten weeks in any spot sheltered from the sun. For the first few days and weeks, children played in it joyfully, making snowmen and balls in profusion. But gradually it became icy and in many cases dirty. It became so filled with grit that pavements were not even slippery any more.

Snow became a normal part of life much as it is in parts of Canada, Sweden, Russia and other countries used to more severe winters. Skating was possible for weeks on end and people even managed to drive cars along lakes and rivers.

It was so cold that the sea even froze in places such as Whitby in North Yorkshire. In Brighton it did not freeze but ice was seen forming on the groynes.

Members of Brighton Swimming Club continued their daily dips and for several days in a row the water temperature went down to 29F (minus 2C), well below freezing. The hardy dippers had always had an Under 40 club for those who braved cold snaps in normal winters; now they had to create an Under 30 Club.

Sport was disrupted enormously with most football and rugby matches cancelled. While the professional soccer programme was completed later in the year, many amateur leagues gave up the season as a bad job.

My main memory is how normal it all seemed after a while. I even adapted to the extreme cold of my bedsitter by wearing layers of clothing and knowing exactly when to put precious pennies in the meter to make full use of the one-bar electric fire. The only hairy moment came during a power cut when I was in a lift and it was so dark I could not even see my hands.

The freeze came to an end early in March with the inevitable floods and burst pipes as the snow thawed. Despite dire predictions that the climate was changing, the next few winters were normal and since then we seem to have experienced much milder weather.

Should there ever be such a prolonged cold snap again, I seriously wonder how a generation not used to freezing would manage to cope with it.