Sea Ice, Hampshire Coast - January 4th, 2009

There has been precious little 'weather' to photograph over the last few months, with a quiet autumn and cloudy early winter, dominated by high pressure. Temperatures have been falling since the New Year, and fell to -5°C to -9°C overnight on the 3rd/4th, leading to a hard frost everywhere. Daytime temperatures have been only just above freezing for about a week too. On the way to the Forest, I noticed a large amount of ice in the harbour at Lymington. I've seen photos of sea ice in the South in books, but not in person.

First view is at Lymington:

It looked like photos of winters past, as the low tide coincided with the low temperatures:

Next stop was Keyhaven, a few miles West down the coast. I thought the shallow tidal waters would be a good place to look for ice, and there was quite a bit around:

I met a lady, probably in her 60s, that said she hadn't seen sea ice here for a long time. I certainly haven't, but I don't tend to go down this way when it's cold, so might have missed previous occasions. It was extensive behind Hurst Spit:

Closer view of the ice. It seems much 'whiter' than fresh water ice, but very brittle:

Ice, with Hurst Castle and lighthouse in the distance:

It was starting to break up a little as the tide began to come in again:

This seaweed looked like it was trying to force its way out of the ice!: