Hundreds of schools across Northamptonshire were forced to close as children and teachers were unable to travel to work safely. In February a blanket of snow several foot thick covered the count. The first heavy snowfall began on 1 February 2009 and continued over the next fortnight. This exceptional snowfall caused chaos and all but brought the county to a halt as journeys became hazardous, for example, delivery lorries got stuck on snow-covered roads and were unable to reach their destinations. Thousands of people took advantage of the situation to play in the snow.

The timeline is made up of events that for one reason or another have a lasting historical significance. Some events register more in our long term memories and give us a focal point by which to remember time passing. It may be difficult to remember what you had for tea a fortnight ago but memories of what you did during the snowfall in February will be clearer. Ten years from now the snowfall will still live on in human memory; a hundred years from now the extreme level of snowfall will live on in written records; a thousands years from now its significance will have changed.