Well it did start on the 17th January so that part is right.....
Pedantically, I'd say the 1947 cold spell began on the 21st, going by the Wetterzentrale reanalysis charts. The daily CET values (average of daily max and daily min) go from 6.3C on the 18th, 2.8 on the 19th, 1.6 on the 20th, 1.8 on the 21st, 1.0 on the 22nd, 0.1 on the 23rd, -0.6 on the 24th. By the 29th, it was down at -6.4.
I've just been catching up on the overnight runs, and they certainly look very encouraging. However the GFSP is rather late to join the party, though by about 14 days out it starts to being in a very cold easterly.