A major winter storm is currently sweeping across the United States, bringing life-threatening conditions and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power. Meanwhile, in the UK, scores of flood warnings and alerts are in place following strong winds and heavy rain.

In today's episode of HistoryExtra’s series History Behind the Headlines: Briefing, Hannah Skoda from the University of Oxford explores the ways in which such extreme weather affected societies in past centuries – and how catastrophe was often met with surprising resilience.

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