Freezing weather on the way

[GS250]

Today just a bog standard winter's day. We used to have weeks of this in the past without the need for the press to comment.

 

[Freightmaster]

We used to have weeks of this in the past without the need for the press to comment.

Try telling the Daily Express that...

 

[GS250]

'UK to be blanketed in snow just before xmas'....

Oh no it won't!!!!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Well at least TOCs don't have to worry about whether or not to run trains in the snow if the RMT are on strike next week

 

[450.emu]

Whatever your car, if you have summer (only) tyres, they will be hopeless in snow, and won’t get up even gentle incline (and spinning means tyres not good in cold weather either, usually below +10c in wet). Remember if you can spin the wheels starting, they would probably not grip in an emergency stop either. It’s also not good form to block the road in case emergency vehicle needs to get through (They of course also dont use summer tyres in winter)

Those with all season (all year) tyres, or winter tyres should be ok, always worth buying all season tyres when you renew tyres in UK. Around here (semi-rural Wiltshire), all the courier vans and supermarket delivery vans are fitted with all seasons (obvious from diagonal tread grooves). Minor roads and lanes aren’t treated here, so can get frosty and slippy any time from November to April.

As we don't have the amounts of snow that would be experienced in Germany or France or more Alpine regions, there's little chance of people having snow chains / tyres for the occasional cold snap... and if one is subject to service at Kwik Fit, even a change of a regular tyre can be a long drawn out experience. I once had winter tyres on my old 3 Series Touring, they made such a racket, I was glad to take them off, especially if the roads are just cold and covered in grit or salt.

I have all-season ones on my car, but driving into central London, I won't see much in the way of snow until I get back to the suburbs (lots of hills around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace / Highgate), it all depends if the council had gritted the roads in time. Right now, they think the worst of the weather will be from Monday onwards in these parts. For most it's dry and bright, there is now fog and temps of 2 or 3 as a maximum over the weekend

 

[Russel]

Shock revelation, winter is cold...

I suppose it'll give the Great British public another excuse to not attend work.

 

[DelayRepay]

My thoughts go out to the people in Sheffield who are currently without gas:

Stannington: Major incident declared as homes still without gas

Hundreds of people in Sheffield are warned they could be without heating until at least the weekend.

www.bbc.co.uk

A council has declared a major incident as hundreds of homes in Sheffield wait for their gas supply to be restored.
Residents in Stannington have been left without heating or cooking facilities since Friday when more than 400,000 litres of water from a burst pipe leaked into the gas main.
Up to 2,000 properties were thought to have been affected, Cadent Gas said.
Sheffield council leader Terry Fox said disruption would last "at least until the end of the week, maybe longer".
He said declaring a major incident meant the authority would now be "better able to coordinate the overall response".

Households were provided with electric hot plates for cooking and electric heaters, but this has led to concerns that the electricity distribution network in the area could become overloaded so people are now being asked to minimise electricity use.

This would not be a good situation at any time but to happen as we enter a period of particularly cold weather is especially unfortunate.

 

[gswindale]

Shock revelation, winter is cold...

I suppose it'll give the Great British public another excuse to not attend work.

Who's not working just because of the cold? The workers down the mines?

 

[Smidster]

Shock revelation, winter is cold...

I suppose it'll give the Great British public another excuse to not attend work.

Believe me I would absolutely love to be able to get to work next week.

Unfortunately I can't with all the strikes - it is going to be absolute hell on earth to the point I have considered getting a hotel to avoid being at home

 

[Bevan Price]

The time to start worrying is if we get a repeat of Winter 1962/1963. Sub-zero temperatures on most days between December and April....

 

[Trackman]

The time to start worrying is if we get a repeat of Winter 1962/1963. Sub-zero temperatures on most days between December and April....

A relative told me the sea froze near them , I'm sure I've seen pics of it.

 

[Russel]

Who's not working just because of the cold? The workers down the mines?

If we get an inch of snow, the country grinds to a halt, we give up and call it a day...

 

[GusB]

If we get an inch of snow, the country grinds to a halt, we give up and call it a day...

That's absolute nonsense. An inch of snow is hardly anything to get worked up about. The problem is that we're generally not prepared for prolonged snowfall in the UK, and the population isn't used to dealing with it. To suggest that everyone expects to have a day off because there's a light dusting of the white stuff is simply ridiculous. Excuses for not working are going to be fairly thin on the ground anyway, now that we've proved that we can work from home.

 

[philthetube]

light covering in Blackpool tonight.

 

[Lost property]

light covering in Blackpool tonight.

Would that be the illuminations then ?...sorry, too tempting....

 

[philosopher]

If we get an inch of snow, the country grinds to a halt, we give up and call it a day...

From looking at weather forecasts, I am getting the impression the cold snap will be predominately dry one with snowfalls being limited to areas such as the Scottish Highlands or exposed coastal areas.

Any widespread significant snowfall looks like it will pass to the south through France and Germany.

 

[Wynd]

If we get an inch of snow, the country grinds to a halt, we give up and call it a day...

No, only some parts of the UK grind to a halt. We have quite a bit of snow here and life is relatively normal.

Are there any snowplows south of the Watford Gap?

 

[Lost property]

Manchester Airport is closed due to snow on the runways...Anchorage will be open as usual.

In 1982, t'council held an impressive parade, only the frock coats and stovepipe hats were missing. of the then latest snow clearing equipment...driving majestically in " V " formation down the runway....that, alas, was in the middle of Summer.

It snowed a bit in 82 as many will recall.....there are no prizes for guessing what happened at Manchester when it did

 

[GS250]

To be fair it's easy to beat up the UK when we have a bit of a perceived snow fiasco. It's generally so rare here it's just not worth investigating in mitigation. The classic example was Heathrow Airport investing millions after the 2009-2011 winters. This equipment has generally stood idle since then.

 

[Magdalia]

The time to start worrying is if we get a repeat of Winter 1962/1963. Sub-zero temperatures on most days between December and April....

That's a bit of an exaggeration.... but not much!

The bad weather started on Boxing Day 1962 and the thaw was in early March. Most days in that period the temperature did not get above freezing point during the day, and was well below freezing point at night.

There is an excellent BBC documentary from 1963, fronted by Cliff Michelmore, that was repeated on BBC4 one evening last week.

There's very little information on how the railway got through the 1962/63 winter, most enthusiasts were too busy worrying about keeping fed and keeping warm to look at trains.

The BBC documentary does have a few railway references, including 31818 snowed in on Dartmoor.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

There is an excellent BBC documentary from 1963, fronted by Cliff Michelmore, that was repeated on BBC4 one evening last week.

A very interesting programme on what happened almost 60 years ago now.

Programme was entitled "Winterwatch 1963: the Big Freeze" and was aired (again) on BBC4 on Wednesday last week at 9 p.m. (Wednesday 7th December 2022).

More here...

BBC Two - Winterwatch, 1963: The Big Freeze

Chris Packham takes a look at the worst winter of the 20th century in 1963.

www.bbc.co.uk

Chris Packham introduces a classic documentary from the BBC's archive, which takes a look at the worst winter of the 20th century in 1963.

 

[david1212]

Whatever your car, if you have summer (only) tyres, they will be hopeless in snow, and won’t get up even gentle incline (and spinning means tyres not good in cold weather either, usually below +10c in wet). Remember if you can spin the wheels starting, they would probably not grip in an emergency stop either. It’s also not good form to block the road in case emergency vehicle needs to get through (They of course also dont use summer tyres in winter)

Those with all season (all year) tyres, or winter tyres should be ok, always worth buying all season tyres when you renew tyres in UK. Around here (semi-rural Wiltshire), all the courier vans and supermarket delivery vans are fitted with all seasons (obvious from diagonal tread grooves). Minor roads and lanes aren’t treated here, so can get frosty and slippy any time from November to April.

No doubt different around the country but I do not know anyone who has two sets of tyres and wheels. All season ( Goodyear Vector, Michelin CrossClimate etc ) are becoming more common. If I keep my current car it will need a set of tyres before the end of 2023. They will be an all season. On the surface nothing special 215/45/16 but £500+ for Goodyear Vector, the fitted Dunlop SP are similar though.

My thoughts go out to the people in Sheffield who are currently without gas:

Stannington: Major incident declared as homes still without gas

Hundreds of people in Sheffield are warned they could be without heating until at least the weekend.

www.bbc.co.uk

Households were provided with electric hot plates for cooking and electric heaters, but this has led to concerns that the electricity distribution network in the area could become overloaded so people are now being asked to minimise electricity use.

This would not be a good situation at any time but to happen as we enter a period of particularly cold weather is especially unfortunate.

With electricity around 3.5 times more than gas per kWh expensive too. I wonder if they will get a rebate?

If we get an inch of snow, the country grinds to a halt, we give up and call it a day...

If not totally coming to a halt certainly it slows to a crawl.

I did wonder this morning if there had been a sprinkling of snow but I'm sure just the frost.
Earlier I went for a walk around the estate. The canal where sheltered has frozen over deep enough to stop a convoy of three boats.

 

[Ediswan]

There is an excellent BBC documentary from 1963, fronted by Cliff Michelmore, that was repeated on BBC4 one evening last week.

An early credit for Ridley Scott as "designer".

 

[stuartl]

With electricity around 3.5 times more than gas per kWh expensive too. I wonder if they will get a rebate?

According to the bbc Cadent are going to pay them double the normal compensation, around £900 at the moment. Hope Yorkshire Water have got good insurance as I'm sure all the costs will be passed onto them.

 

[Ted633]

A produced BFI film on the effects of snow on the railways in 1963

 

[Starmill]

Shock revelation, winter is cold...

I suppose it'll give the Great British public another excuse to not attend work.

What's your motivation for these comments? How many people precisely are you alleging should be attending work and aren't? Or is this just your attempt to make yourself sound hard because you're not bothered by cold weather?

 

[jupiter]

I fitted a set of Michelin crossclimate tyres a couple of weeks back and I can highly recommend them. Quiet, comfortable, as economic as the last set and gripping like a demon on untreated roads in the sub-zero temperatures recently.

 

[Starmill]

If we get an inch of snow, the country grinds to a halt, we give up and call it a day...

Well people obviously change their behaviour when there's snow yes. Snow is rare in this country, but still happens for several days every year. The result is that most people will work at home if they can or change the days they're travelling if not. People working in essential services such as operational staff for utilities, healthcare, emergency services, prisons and so on and so forth will continue to attend work - travelling in by whatever means necessary. Are you claiming that's not the case?

To be fair it's easy to beat up the UK when we have a bit of a perceived snow fiasco. It's generally so rare here it's just not worth investigating in mitigation. The classic example was Heathrow Airport investing millions after the 2009-2011 winters. This equipment has generally stood idle since then.

Indeed. And ultimately that equipment has been funded via higher charges per passenger, which feeds directly into what consumers pay for tickets.

 

[Lost property]

Apparently, due to the snow, deliveries of the Sun have been delayed ! (thus proving every cloud does have a silver lining)

Sadly, due to pressure on the NHS, counselling may not be immediately available for those affected by this deprivation.

As expected, now snow has fallen in London / S.East, the weather is suddenly getting greater prominence...we await a reprise of a fearless reporter. the open neck shirt may have been a clue, reporting from "the wilds of Kent " one year...unfortunately, as the camera panned the ice and snow tundra, it also caught a railway station and car park....very adjacent to said reporter

The "Winterwatch " programme also showed a map of the rail network at the time....ironic really given what happened next and how the various branch lines suddenly became invaluable during the period in question.

 

[Russel]

That's absolute nonsense. An inch of snow is hardly anything to get worked up about. The problem is that we're generally not prepared for prolonged snowfall in the UK, and the population isn't used to dealing with it. To suggest that everyone expects to have a day off because there's a light dusting of the white stuff is simply ridiculous. Excuses for not working are going to be fairly thin on the ground anyway, now that we've proved that we can work from home.

The transport situation in the south east this morning would suggest its not nonsense.