Snowy Wyre scenes from across the decades

But in these photos, from the Fleetwood Weekly News and Gazette archives, it’s a very different story.

Over the years, Fleetwood and surrounding areas of Wyre have experienced deep freezes as the mercury plummeted.

In 1895 and 1929, the frost was so severe even the sea froze.

The year 1940 saw a rare heavy snow fall across the whole of the Fylde coast, including the port.

And 1947, as this picture of Thornton in the snow shows, was a year with a very big freeze.

In fact, 1947 was such a severe winter the whole country was affected.

The whole Fylde coast was crippled by blackouts, people worked by candle-light and hundreds were laid off as factories shut down – the blackout effectively returned to peacetime Britain.

Blizzards were swept along by 40mph winds across the Fylde coast, causing everything to come to a stand-still.

Skippool can be seen pictured here in the 50s, in this undated photograph of a snowy scene.

St Chad’s Parish Church is pictured surrounded by a blanket of the white stuff after a heavy snowfall in 1962, in a scene reminiscent of a Christmas card. And again pictured in 1980 during another deep freeze.

This view of Preesall after the snow came down in February 1971 provides another really picturesque winter scene. Another bitter winter hit Wyre and the Fylde coast in 1981, as shown in these two snowy Fleetwood scenes.

Children enjoy tobogganing in the snow at The Mount, while the swans at Fleetwood boating Lake come ashore in search of food.