On Wednesday about 9,000 schools were shut across England, with 950 in Wales, and at least 250 in Scotland and 16 in Northern Ireland.
While some schools were forced to close in 1963, Peter Hennessy, professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary University of London, said the large number of closures this week indicated the UK had become a "health and safety nation".
But he said people usually lived within walking distance of their schools in 1963 - while more parents and staff drive to school now - so snow on the roads has more impact on closures these days.
Wading to school through inches - not centimetres - of snow is something Christine Hewitt, 64, from Prudhoe, Northumberland, remembers well.
She said at the age of 18 she had no choice: "You put wellies on and walked. If you could get on a sledge, you went to school. Sledging was skiving."
Cultural historian Christopher Cook said the "technology of schools" had also changed.
He said: "You don't hear of frozen loos - heating is much more efficient.
"In 1963 my brother was at primary school and had to break the ice in the toilets - he was told not to hit it too hard with the stick in case he broke the porcelain too."
