A very uncommon kind of shower fell in the west of England, in December 1672, whereof we have various accounts in the Philos. Trans. - "This rain, as soon as it touched any thing above ground, as a bough or the like, immediately settled into ice; and, by multiplying and enlarging the icicles, broke every thing down by its weight. The ram that fell on the ground immediately became frozen, without sinking into the snow at all. It made an incredible destruction of trees, beyond any thing mentioned in history. Had it concluded with a gust of wind, (says a gentleman who was on the spot,) it might have been of terrible consequence. I weighed the sprig of an ash tree, of just three-quarters of a pound, the ice on which weighed sixteen pounds. Some were frightened with the noise in the air, till they discerned that it was the clatter of icy boughs, dashed against each other."

Dr. Beale remarks, that there was no considerable frost observed on the ground during the above: whence he concludes, that a frost may be very intense and dangerous on the tops of some hills and plains; while at other places it keeps at two, three, or four feet distance above the ground, rivers, lakes, etc. and may wander about very furiously in some places, and be mild in others not far off. The frost was followed by glowing heats, and a wonderful forwardness of flowers and fruits.