Some stories suitable for the chillier season ....
The Loony Dook is an annual event held on New Years' Day in which people dive into the freezing waters of the Firth of Forth at South Queensferry (north of Edinburgh), often in fancy dress. It has spawned some other equally mad festive swims elsewhere,
The Little Ice Age was a period of cooling that meant more severe winters happened in Britain between 500 and 250 years ago. The climate occurred in the Northern Hemisphere from the 1400s to about 1850 after the Medieval Warm Period.
Almost nothing looks more stoical than the dainty wild snowdrop flowering above snow or bare earth in the depths of winter. Why on earth does it pick such an unpromising time of year to emerge?
Up Helly Aa is a fire festival held annually from January to March in various communities in the Shetland Islands, Scotland to mark the end of the Yule season. The largest festival is held in Lerwick, Shetland's capital.
People have skated for pleasure outdoors for thousands of years, but the indoor rink is a much more recent phenomenon - first appearing in London in the 1840s - the amazing Glaciarium!
Mulled wine is an ancient drink, dating back to the 2nd century, when the Romans, who were conquering countries in Northern Europe, took to warming up their wine to help them through the freezing winter months. It began to be adopted by the local populations including Britain. It is also known as glühwein in Germany and glögg in Sweden.
