Trowbridge man returns home after French snow blizzard drama (From Wiltshire Times)

Trowbridge man returns home after French snow blizzard drama

12:41pm Monday 18th March 2013 in Trowbridge By Craig Jones

A Trowbridge man has just returned home after seeking refuge for four days in a shelter while caught in the snow blizzards which swept through northern France.

Paul Ratnett was in a group of 12 men on a First World War history trip who got stuck in Cherbourg, France, when the severe weather - up to 23inches of snow - hit the region last Monday.

They had to stay in a rescue centre with other French families, until the conditions improved, living off bread and meat paste.

During the bad weather, an Irish Ferries vessel carrying 500 people took five attempts to dock in Cherbourg, and was at sea for almost 20 hours, arriving at its destination almost 24 hours late.

Mr Ratnett said: “It was quite a story, it was a national emergency and the sort of thing people could have easily have died in.

"The French did what they could for us but it was very, very cold in the centre and only some people managed to get blankets.”

The bad weather struck France only hours after the group arrived in the country and once the storms finished the men returned home arriving back in England on Friday morning.

• Full story in this week's Wiltshire Times

Comments are closed on this article.