see -

http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/1709-year-that-europe-froze-coldest.html

and then

http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/great-frost-of-1709-winter-of-2009-and.html

Interesting read?

Edit: sorry wrong main link 

Thing I don't get about all this, is that during that winter the winds were mostly westerly or southwesterly. 

Responsible for mahogany replacing walnut as a preferred wood for furniture; the walnut trees, mostly in France were largely killed off and the French put on an export ban for the rest.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/apr/25/specieswatch-english-persian-walnut

Thing I don't get about all this, is that during that winter the winds were mostly westerly or southwesterly. 

Originally Posted by: polarwind 

I don't think anyone gets it.

Originally Posted by: Quantum 

The thing is polar, the temp distribtion reconstruction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Winter1709.png

Note: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Is basically exactly what you would expect with scandanavian blocking. The coldest anomolies are in E europe especially W russia, Serbia (and SE europe), Germany and poland where you might have an upper level trough and the most easterly part of scandi high carrying in the cold air. Further south you have less influence of the high and more influence from the atlantic so less cold temps, and crucially above average anomolies for Iceland, N scananavia and moderate anomolies for greenland and scotland just as you would expect with this. Its textbook scandi blocking with no scandi block!

I'm trying to imagine a state at the end of the little ice age where the polar vortex was twice the size it is today, and 'northern blocking' highs are in the medatarian rather than scandanavia! So our climate is like iceland, sitting under the polar vortex while iceland itself gets some arctic high warming things up maybe?! idk!