Rare ‘ice hair’ phenomenon discovered by park ranger in Northumberland

Charlie Gouty, 39, was carrying out his daily checks and putting out feed following cold weather on January 30 when the striking phenomenon caught his eye.

The dad of two, who has worked for the National Trust’s Wallington estate for three years, said: “I was aware of it, but I’d never seen it before. I realised quite quickly what it was.

“I was quite awestruck at how something like that could exist.

“It’s almost otherworldly, something that you shouldn’t really think should happen, because ice that normally forms on the ground crusts, but this kind of hair that comes out is amazing to see.”

According to the Met Office, hair ice is a rare type of ice formation which only happens in the presence of a specific fungus called ‘Exidiopsis effusa’.

Also known as ‘frost beard’ or ‘ice wool’, the first record of the phenomenon was made in 1918 by Alfred Wegener, the discoverer of continental drift.

He observed the ice forming only on wet dead wood and proposed that a specific fungi might be the reason.

Its exact cause was finally discovered in 2015, by scientists Hofmann, Mätzler and Preuß, who discovered the presence of the fungus created a barrier which traps liquid between the ice and pores in the wood.

This then creates a suction force which pushes water out of the pores, which freezes and extends outwards like hair.

The Wallington estate has experienced the rare ice formation before. Last year, park ranger Nick Allen spotted a massive clump in the woods.