The 80s was a decade of firsts. Never before had a television channel given up virtually all of its schedule to one event, but that's what the BBC did in the summer of 1985.

“The Big Snow” as it became known in the press, was the result of a cold wave over the UK which formed in early December 1981 and would last until late January 1982.

For many children in the 1970s and 80s, extremes were common and had to be endured; not avoided. Most of our understanding of the world came by way of direct interaction with it, and not by simply reading about it or looking at images on a screen like we do today.