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Is British Snow Different?

stuartcox

stuartcox

Charter Member
Two days ago we had a few inches of snow! Nothing special you would think...
Yesterday morning I made my way to work, waited for a bus into town but nothing turned up!
So I walked for 50 minutes, enjoying the seasonal landscape.
Having arrived at the office I took the lift up to our floor, only to find a notice on the door saying that the office is closed due to the weather conditions!
I could see one of the receptionists through the glass window, knocked on the door, and told her to let me in, as the door was locked from the inside. That was a first!
After a hot cup of coffee and cancelling my appointments, telling the receptionist off for not notifying staff, I walked back home!
This morning we had another 4 inches!
All rail and bus services are cancelled, Gatwick is shut for another 24 hours, needless to say that my office is closed again (no staff), and I'm sitting here writing this, and twiddling my thumbs!
Having lived in Bavaria for over 20 years, I can't get my head around the Brit's preparation for a winter. It's ludicrous!

Gatwick earlier:
View attachment 24601
Strange enough, Heathrow is only 35 miles away, ran by the same operator, and everything is running smoothly, despite the same ammount of snow!
 
Dunno... when I was over there, it looked like the same snow we get. But then around here if it snows, they shut everything down anyway.

We got some pretty big snows in Scotland when I was stationed there and nothing shut down. Yall must have got some of that southern US snow is all I can figure.
 
Weird Snow and shutdowns. Yellowknife doesn't ever, we get creative. I guess you got our COD Package:icon_lol:. Just pass it back to the US Upper Midwest, they know how to handle it.
 
I do believe that British snow has a much stronger accent than the typical US snow. Minnesota snow, however, has a very strong accent and only people from Minnesota can under stand a darn thing it says.

OBIO
 
There are four people in my office today - usually there are thirty or so. If you live in south London or out of town then it seems there is absolutely no way to get in. It's absurd!
I got in ok but I wouldn't be surprised if I have to walk home today. The streets in central London are the quietest I have seen them in many years.
 
Actually it is quite different due to the climate and the constant warming/cooling that we see on the snow. Snow is one thing but the melting snow that turns to ice is another, conditions are more dangerous (especially on the roads) simply because the snow that is lying freezes and melts, then refreezes and so forth. I was discussing this with a good friend of mine who is Swedish and as happy as she is with the snow and inclement weather over there she despises the snow over here for that reason.

I must admit I'm getting a bit sick and tired of people blaming a variety of reasons for everything shutting down when they are missing the bigger picture; the main reason things close is because of our beautiful modern litigation culture and people are terrified of being sued. It's nothing to do with "health and safety gone mad" or "the younger generation being soft" (frankly people who trot off these reasons tend to be utter idiots).

The media is also partially to blame. They are whipping people up into a frenzy, when I was younger we would have the odd snow day from school and just accept it, enjoy it, and get back to school as soon as it was safe to do so. These days there has to be a national enquiry and every armchair and keyboard warrior has to have their say and inflict their ill informed opinions on us all.

And finally blame needs to be levelled and idiot motorists who close roads by causing accidents because they aren't driving to the conditions. I'm sick and tired of seeing people driving along with a tiny peep-hole in the snow on their windscreen, or bombing along the motorway at 70mph in a blizzard. The vast majority of the time it is accidents that close the roads, not the bad weather, and if people behaved more responsibly, left for work a little earlier and just stopped being so flippant with other peoples lives there would be much less disruption.

I'm sorry if this seems somewhat harsh and I'm coming across as very agitated by the whole subject but my partner is a teacher and they, as always, are bearing the brunt of the vitriolic and at times disgusting abuse from various corners of the nation with regards to the schools being closed by people who don't know what they are talking about. When you start taking your life in your hands for the reasons outlined above the line has to be drawn.

People should just relax, stop listening to the news and reading newspapers and enjoy the snow in the short time that it's here. We live in a beautiful country and it looks so picturesque at the moment, there's no excuse for not getting out and appreciating it for the time being, as Stuart above and his dog seem to be doing! :icon_lol:
 
Chris H said:
.... the main reason things close is because of our beautiful modern litigation culture and people are terrified of being sued. It's nothing to do with "health and safety gone mad" or "the younger generation being soft" (frankly people who trot off these reasons tend to be utter idiots).
Click to expand...

I'll have you know young man, I use to walk five miles in the snow to school. My dad told me he walked in 10 feet of snow to school...barefooted. :d

This was back in the days before global warming and it used to snow in the Southern US. :jump:

Well actually, I use to walk five miles to school...when I missed the bus. And my last year of high school, I would get off the bus at my girlfriend's school, talk to her until I had to leave for my school. That was about a two mile walk. Can't blame that on the weather, however. [/tongueincheek]

Your comment on litigation makes a lot of sense. I had never thought of it that ay before. Down here in the southern US, if one snowflake hits the ground we cancel everything. Heck, it doesn't even have to snow. It just has to get below freezing for a couple hours.
 
Perhaps its time we all read up on Shakespeare's opinions on litigation! Some common sense is in order.
 
It's the same deal in Ireland...almost the entire country has shut down. Schools are closed and people are staying at home rather than venture out.
A major factor is that the majority of Irish drivers do not have winter tyres (no need really as it's very rare to get snow here...although it's beginning to look like the climate has begun to change over the past 2 years). As Chris mentioned, the snow isn't too much of a concern itself However when it begins to melt during the day and re-freezes later that evening (it was -8°C in my town last night with up to -13°C in other areas of the country) it becomes a problem. Couple that with all season tyres, inadequate supplies of road salt/grit and travelling about becomes rather dangerous...especially for the many motorists who've never driven on snow or ice before.
I brought my wife out in our rear wheel drive 3 series bmw to an empty local car park yesterday in order to teach her how to control the car in a slide in a safe and controlled manner. She is much more confident in driving on compacted ice now.
 
kilo delta said:
I brought my wife out in our rear wheel drive 3 series bmw to an empty local car park yesterday in order to teach her how to control the car in a slide in a safe and controlled manner. She is much more confident in driving on compacted ice now.
Click to expand...

I actually passed my driving test in new snow in a 325i!
If you can handle that, then you're fit for the road! Being a Bavarian car it's the worse you can encounter in snowy situations.
'Never start in first gear! Use second, and play with the clutch....blah blah, blah blah!'
 
i'm still amazed of the fact that the snow comes as a suprise to most of england! I'm with about idiot motorists, i think "common sense" should be put in the driveing test, that and at least some time on a skid pad or summing.
 
stuartcox said:
I actually passed my driving test in new snow in a 325i!
If you can handle that, then you're fit for the road! Being a Bavarian car it's the worse you can encounter in snowy situations.
'Never start in first gear! Use second, and play with the clutch....blah blah, blah blah!'
Click to expand...

Lot's of opposite lock and lay off the brakes,too! :d

We've 17" alloys on our car with 225 width tyres. Drop the pressure to ~ 18 psi and it grips pretty well on the icey snow.
 
I live in an area that sees it's fair share of snow and ice and I can tell you that most motorists forget from the previous year on how to drive in it. I can't begin to imagine how bad it is in an area where that majority has never experienced it.
 
o they have experienced it .. last year when it snowed far worse for example .. they've just forgotten it all!
 
When I was driving in Bavaria, it was common sense to have two sets of tyres!
Snow arrived at the end of October, so you put the winter wheels on...!
Maybe the pilots arriving at Gatwick should do the same!
 
stuartcox said:
When I was driving in Bavaria, it was common sense to have two sets of tyres!
Snow arrived at the end of October, so you put the winter wheels on...!
Maybe the pilots arriving at Gatwick should do the same!
Click to expand...


It's part of the driving law in many continental EU countries that you MUST have snow/winter tyres fitted during the Winter. It wasn't and isn't a requirement in the UK/Eire as heavy/long lasting snowfalls are, or used to be, very uncommon.
I'm old enough to remember the heavy snows of 1982 where there were 6ft snow drifts on the roads around my parents house.
 
kilo delta said:
I'm old enough to remember the heavy snows of 1982 where there were 6ft snow drifts on the roads around my parents house.
Click to expand...
I remember that winter well. I was made redundant from my previous job in November and to try and make ends meet I took a job as a taxi driver until I could find work in my field. Getting around in those blizzards was a nightmare but the money was good while it lasted as we were charging 'after midnight' rates due to the weather conditions and the time taken for each journey. Once the snow cleared away the money disappeared though! As a 'driver' (as opposed to an 'owner/operator') we got 33% of our day's take as our daily 'wage' and I remember one Saturday I worked 13 hours straight and took home 5.45 GBP! (less than $10 US at the exchange rate of the time). I vowed I would never work a Saturday again after that.

Thankfully I started a new 'real' job shortly after that episode and never had to drive a taxi again.
 
The Baltic Sea starts to freeze up in ports and I have to walk to work. *Grr*

Fcking winter. [Curses]
 
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