I think you are right, Kay and my barrel froze solid.We've had ice and snow here at Christmas for the past 3 years - before that, it generally snowed just a little in Jan/ Feb or sometimes, not at all. Poor fish ! I'll bring the new ones in next winter to the shed and sea how it goes. Islay is a lot warmer than Yorkshire but even the biggest sea loch partially froze over last year and we all expect the same sort of weather again. On a plus side, the broom and gorse have had magnificent shows of blooms since this change - maybe they like the cold snap, and we quite enjoy the unusual dryness and quiet at what is normally a windswept rainy winter, so it has it's plus points.