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Settling a small HP argument
Mar. 20th, 2023 11:15 am I've seen quite a few stories which suggest that Harry Potter could have frozen to death after being left on the Dursley doorstep. This always seemed a bit unlikely to me, since Britain rarely has sub-zero temperatures at the beginning of November - nights at that time of year are usually pretty mild.
So I finally got round to asking the Meteorological Office, who sent me some data, and it turns out that night temperatures on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of November 1981 were all above freezing in Bracknell (Berkshire) which was apparently the nearest recording point. Surrey is further south so I'd expect it to be slightly warmer there if not the same. London weather seems to have been much the same but I don't have the same level of detail.
So the night of the first was fairly mild - there were no sub-zero night temperatures until the 5th. I don't know enough about babies to say how temperatures of 7-14 degrees would affect one, except to think that they're probably less than ideal, but I get the impression we're talking exposure-related illness rather than literally freezing to death.
I pass this on in case anyone finds it useful.
So I finally got round to asking the Meteorological Office, who sent me some data, and it turns out that night temperatures on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of November 1981 were all above freezing in Bracknell (Berkshire) which was apparently the nearest recording point. Surrey is further south so I'd expect it to be slightly warmer there if not the same. London weather seems to have been much the same but I don't have the same level of detail.
| Date | Daily Maximum Temperature (0900-0900) (°C) | Daily Minimum Temperature (0900-0900) (°C) | Maximum Night Temperature (2100-0900) (°C) | Minimum Night Temperature (2100-0900) (°C) |
| 01/11/1981 | 15.8 | 3.9 | 14.0 | 7.0 |
| 02/11/1981 | 15.5 | 13.3 | 13.9 | 13.3 |
| 03/11/1981 | 13.6 | 12.0 | 12.9 | 12.0 |
| 04/11/1981 | 10.5 | 7.9 | 12.6 | 7.9 |
| 05/11/1981 | 9.8 | -1.5 | 2.5 | -1.5 |
| 06/11/1981 | 8.1 | -3.3 | -0.9 | -3.3 |
| 07/11/1981 | 7.7 | -2.1 | 1.3 | -2.1 |
| 08/11/1981 | 7.8 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 0.9 |
| 09/11/1981 | 8.5 | -1.5 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
| 10/11/1981 | 8.6 | -2.5 | 4.1 | -2.5 |
So the night of the first was fairly mild - there were no sub-zero night temperatures until the 5th. I don't know enough about babies to say how temperatures of 7-14 degrees would affect one, except to think that they're probably less than ideal, but I get the impression we're talking exposure-related illness rather than literally freezing to death.
I pass this on in case anyone finds it useful.
