More cases of mystery ice falling

The ice, which was eight inches square, fell near Barry Gray

Yet more ice has fallen from the skies above Bristol this time damaging a van and falling just feet from a man sitting in a park.

The latest incidents follow the cases of a man in Stoke Bishop who was hit in the leg by a lump of ice and a house in Downend which was also damaged.

After these stories hit the headlines BBC Bristol was contacted by other residents who said the same had happened to them.

One of those, Barry Gray from Brislington, heard a strange sound while he was enjoying a quiet day out.

"I was sitting in Stoke Park by the obelisk where you overlook the M32. I heard a 'thwacking' noise behind me somewhere.

FALLING ICE Current incidents of ice falling from the sky in Bristol Man in Stoke Bishop hit in the leg House in Downend damaged Ice falls in Stoke Park Van hit in Staple Hill

"When I left and walked about 50 yards along the path I found this square-shaped piece of ice in the grass which I thought was pretty strange. And then a few yards along there was another very similar piece."

Mr Gray said the two lumps of ice were around eight inches square and around an inch-and-a-half thick.

"It's a long way from anywhere, it's a public open space. I couldn't see that anyone would empty their freezer and dump the ice there and I didn't see a stop-me-and-buy-one man clearing out his bike.

"I could only conclude it might have fallen off a plane."

Another Bristolian, Nigel Hanmore from Kingswood, said a piece of ice smashed into his windscreen recently.

He told BBC Bristol that the incident "shook him up".

"I came to the traffic lights opposite the Staple Hill police station and a blue bus went past me. And as the bus went past me I couldn't see nothing.

"Everything went blank and I don't know why, but I put my wipers on and there was this big ball of ice hit the windscreen.

"It was the size of a football. I laugh now but it could have been a lot worse, definitely."

The very high altitudes that planes operate at these days, ice can form but of course it is dangerous to the safety of flights so therefore planes carry heating systems to prevent ice formation Chris Yates, aviation expert

But where is all of this mysterious ice coming from? Could it be from aeroplanes flying over the city?

Aviation expert Chris Yates told BBC Bristol that plane parts falling off has happened before but ice is rare.

"It has been the case in the past where bits have fallen off planes and come to land in the back gardens of people's homes or indeed on roofs.

"But, ice falling from the sky? Yes, I guess it can happen. The very high altitudes that planes operate at these days, ice can form but of course it is dangerous to the safety of flights so therefore planes carry heating systems to prevent ice formation.

"Where does it come from? Heaven only knows!

"It could possibly have come from aeroplanes. But I would suggest nothing approaching Bristol International Airport."

Mr Yates explained that it was possible for ice to form as planes got higher in the Earth's atmosphere.

"At the end of the day at those very high altitudes that we fly when we're up in the cruise of a flight - the 30-odd thousands, it is quite frigid air up there.

"But at the lower levels - 10,000ft and below on those approaches into airports - it's reasonable air pressure and one might expect the ice that may have formed would have dissipated by the time an aircraft gets down to those levels."