I witnessed an unusual ‘phenomenon’ (…well to me at least) on the River Ribble at Fishwick in Preston, looking back towards Walton le Dale, in early January 2026. The ice, in thin sheets, I think, had floated downstream from cold areas and had settle in a deeper, sheltered, slower moving section of the river. It was also in the shadow of the nearby buildings. Tides were perhaps changing and water levels with it. A top layer of ice from upstream collided with, and crunched its way over, the stationary sheets. It was a bit like I have had a tectonic plate collision described to me.
After another very mild winter in the North of England, UK, we had a short cold spell. I have seen the River Ribble frozen many times before, but I hadn’t seen the top layer of ice moving in this way before. Ice rafting occurs when one sheet or pan of ice is forced up and over another due to compressive stress from flow, wind, or water-level change.
Photographs of The River Ribble Frozen at Walton le Dale
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