Since yesterday's OBR report I've been wondering what on earth happened 300 years ago to make the Covid-19 pandemic the 'worst economic hit in 300 years'. And the answer is that in 1709 there was an overnight, Europe-wide drop in temperatures called THE GREAT FROST. (1/5)

The Rector at Upminster claimed that he recorded a temperature of 5F/-15C (his lowest ever) in January 1709. But it's quite possible he was wrong because the list of things that happened that year included:
- The Baltic Sea freezing and people walking from Sweden to Denmark (2/5)

- Trees exploding
- More than 2000 Swedish soldiers freezing to death in one night as they attempted to invade Russia
- A foot of ice developing on canals in the Mediterranean
- Paris being cut off for supplies for three months
- WINE LITERALLY FREEZING IN THE BOTTLE (3/5)

The deep freeze lasted until mid-April, and when the ice melted it flooded Europe. There was no food. Then the flu that had started in Rome spread, and the Europe-wide pandemic lasted for the next two years. By the end of 1710, France had had 600,000 more deaths than usual (4/5)

To summarise - The Great Frost of 1709. A year that was almost definitely worse than this one.
You can read about it here. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2017/01-02/1709-deep-freeze-europe-winter/