With the mercury plummeting across Britain this week, Merseyside has seen weather warnings for ice this weekend.
So with treacherous pavements glistening underfoot and even possible snow forecast, spare a thought for those who had to endure 36-hours of Arctic conditions 40 years ago. Back in January 1982 Merseyside, as well as most of the UK, was hit by freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall lasting hours.
Photographs show large parts of the River Mersey frozen over as ferries struggled to anchor at Seacombe. On January 9, 1982, the headline on the front page of the Liverpool Echo read 'It's back to the ice age' as the weather caused chaos across Merseyside.
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That winter had already been a severe one, as a cold wave had hit at the start of teh festive season in 1981 making it one of the coldest Decembers recorded in the United Kingdom. The freak blizzards that followed in January 1982 meant a double helping of weather woe as several inches of snow covered a layer of frost.
The ECHO reported on two buses sliding broadside on the ice in Everton Valley blocking the road. A dramatic accident caused by the weather at Miller's Bridge in Bootle involving at least four vehicles, including heavy lorries, saw tailbacks through Crosby.
Most of the motorways in Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire had speed restrictions imposed as snow continued to fall. Elsewhere in Britain, fierce blizzards caused snow drifts 8ft deep in places and brought a white-out in southern parts of the country.
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And things were only to get worse. The next day, the ECHO reported the severe weather that had gripped Britain had left two people dead, drivers marooned in their cars, and train passengers trapped overnight.
One man was killed when the car he was driving collided with another near Runcorn after skidding on the "glassy" road surface. A farmer in Bala was the second victim of the weather: his body was found among the snow drifts after he had been out searching for lost sheep.
With bus, train and motorway services severely hit, police warned people to stay at home. Sales of salt to the public from Liverpool's highways depots were suspended as council engineering chiefs tried to conserve their rapidly diminishing stock.
With the severe weather bringing chaos to the nation, perhaps the two luckiest people to come through the spell were two boys from Liverpool. Two friends, Mark McCourt, 11, and John McGugan, 10, were left trapped and shivering in a frozen lift for 15 hours as temperatures plummeted way below freezing.
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Fire crews had to rescue the frightened lads from the icy lift in Liverpool city centre's Mount Pleasant car park after it had frozen up. When they were finally free, they could barely walk or talk but after a check-up at the Children's Hospital in Myrtle Street, the boys were free to go home to their worried families.
Firemen estimated that temperatures in the all-steel lift would have dropped to about 20 degrees below freezing. With nobody around to hear the boys shouts for help, they settled down on the floor together to keep warm until the car park attendant heard their cries at 7am the next morning.
Do you remember the freezing blizzards in January 1982? Let us know in the comments section below.
However, despite the freezing temperatures, some people took the opportunity to have fun in the snow. Dozens of people took to Camp Hill in Woolton on homemade toboggans, including kitchen trays and plastic bags, to take advantage of the conditions while they lasted.
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