The Weather Thread - Storms! Floods! Snow! Sun!?

[SiHart]

The snow's stopped for a bit now. For how long remains to be seen. We'll see how long it takes Steve to get home tonight though.

Lisa, who gave me a lift home tonight , hadn't made it to the other side of Bracknell half an hour ago. That's about 3 or 4 miles away.

Si xx

[duncan]

Three and a half hours it took me to get home tonight. It normally only takes me just over an hour. Southeastern got into a right mess once the snow started to come down this evening. Not only do the trains stop running, their tannoys and the ability to make announcements letting passengers know what is going on stop working too.

[MinaHarker]

You wear glasses?

Si.

Only for 3 years or so...

[WhiteCrowNZ]

It's mad how snow can cripple such a technologically advanced species!

Doesn't it take councils "completely by surprise" every year?

[Alex]

Indeed! And we seem to struggle a lot more than other countries, despite how often it snows here.

I really chose the wrong day to finish off my Christmas shopping today, it rained for half the day, and then snowed for the other half. It got horribly slippery towards the end of my journey as well, which I hate as I'm terrified I'll slip over and break a limb again. I know it's unlikely, considering how many other times I've slipped or fallen over in the past and not broken anything (and I used to be far more accident prone than I am now) but this weather just freaks me out a lot.

Funnily enough I checked the weather reports on Saturday when deciding what day to go out shopping, and it said that Monday would be a cold but clear day, and there definitely wouldn't be any snow in London...

[SiHart]

I wonder how Steve is doing.

Si xx

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Alex my wife has similar fear about slipping over and putting her back out.

I guess this sounds like a repeat of Februarys weather, where there just wasn't enough grit kept by the councils to counteract, and they were all caught completely by surprise. I got an email from my mum last night saying it was snowing, and they were having trouble, but I thought she was just being dramatic.

Si - I hope Steve makes it back before too long - he's going to be exhausted when he does. Hope he thinks twice before heading back tomorrow.

[Simon R]

Is there a hotel near work Steve can stay in if it happens again? I know some people at my work were contemplating it.

[Stephen Morgan]

Although a bit icy, the main road to work tonight wasn't too bad, but in the street leading to the factory cars were double parked and with a narrow strip of ice down the middle of the road. I found that was where I had to be the most careful.
With a freeze expected tonight I'm gonna have to be extra careful on my way home in the morning.

[Si Hunt]

Did Steve get back ok??

Si. :mobile

[SiHart]

Yes. At 1am. I'm very tired this morning!

Si xx

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Is today generally being written off over there then?

Hope anyone thinking of travelling is keeping a mini survival kit in the car just in case. It sounds horrible.

[SiHart]

Well I'll be walking to work to rescue the car shortly.

Si xx

[Larry]

Well I'll be walking to work to rescue the car shortly.

Si xx

well Radio Berkshire have been advising people not to travell to Basingstoke unless absoloutly necessary so Steve might get to his car weather he'll get it home is another matter.

[Larry]

Indeed! And we seem to struggle a lot more than other countries, despite how often it snows here.

...

well people from other countries in central and eastern europe plus Scandinvian countries must laugh at us and the caos caused by what to them would of been just a thin dusting of snow.

[Jason Thompson]

You wear glasses?

Si.

Umm, yes, for over three years, and I've had them on every time I've met you in that time... Check the PS meet photos if you don't believe me!

[SiHart]

It's OK, it's my car I abandoned Larry- so it's only a few minutes up the road from home.

Si xx

[Jon Masters]

well people from other countries in central and eastern europe plus Scandinvian countries must laugh at us and the caos caused by what to them would of been just a thin dusting of snow.

I think that's a little harsh. They cope because they have so much snow that (a) they don't need to clear the roads and (b) they fit chains to their wheels.

That's fine when you're guarenteed to have the roads covered in a good 6" or more for the whole network for a reasonable length of time. Not so good if you've only got a 1" and only on side roads.

Our local news is full of people bellyaching that councils haven't done enough to clear their road / their bit of pavement / the car park they want to park in. The same people who moan every time the council tax goes up.

The only other annoying thing is the trite phrase 'only go out if your journey is necessary'. Do they imagnine there are hundreds of people who just go out in their cars in this weather for a bit of a dive about ?

[Rob McCow]

The council could invest in a fleet of 100 snow ploughs, but what are they going to do on the 360 days a year where it isn't snowing?

Plus grit is expensive and not the nicest thing to spread everywhere, because it can be quite corrosive. When I was working at Legoland and we opened during the winter, we gritted the metal turntable of the 'Spinning Spider' ride. By spring it had rusted through.

[Pip Madeley]

Umm, yes, for over three years, and I've had them on every time I've met you in that time... Check the PS meet photos if you don't believe me!

@ Jason

[Si Hunt]

I always say its a bit like when someone changes a picture and you don't notice and then you do and they say its been there the last two times. Sometimes Simon and I go out for the day and in the evening I say "ooh you're not wearing glasses!"

Si. :mobile

[Pip Madeley]

it looks like Manchester has seen the last of the snow for now

Spoke too soon - it's back with a vengeance now... so glad I've not got any travel plans for Christmas!

[Larry]

quite a change from this time yesterday it's faily bright with intervals of sunshine but the snow is beginning to melt.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Just got an email from my mum - sounds like they turned Debenhams into a crisis centre for people to stay overnight.

quite a change from this time yesterday it's faily bright with intervals of sunshine but the snow is beginning to melt.

So after all this - not even a white christmas?

[Larry]

So after all this - not even a white christmas?

well it was -9 here in Berkshire over night with only two days to go chances are there will still be a bit of snow about some where on Christmas Day. They were predicting rain for tomorrow so chances are there won't be any snow round here.