Snow!!!

[stargold]

I'm surprised no-one has posted about the very large amount of snow over the past 24 hours!!





Because of the clouds (presumably), it was extremely bright last night - the two pictures above were taken hand-held out of my window!








Just amazing - I don't remember snow like this in London for a very, very long time!

Bad news for anyone who needs to / was hoping to go anywhere today, however -

Airports: A very grim picture. Mostly closed or so few flights actually running that it makes hardly any difference. Runway has been closed for about 3 hours already and just now one runway has opened, with over 600 flights cancelled!

Rail: Commuter services essentially non-existent in the Southern regions...

Buses: 3 - yes, THREE - bus lines running today in central London so far. Otherwise, no London buses at all today!

Tube: A couple of lines running without disruption, but others are part suspended or completely shut down...

[jhm]

The BBC have reported it's the heaviest snowfall in 18 years.

OTOH, I e-mailed someone in Norway about this earlier (explaining why I'm not in the office) and he replied to say he'd heard it had snowed quite a lot in London; they get that much snow in Norway overnight; there's a metre of the stuff on his porch; and it was only -18 degrees C when he drove to work! It puts things into perspective.

[Guy Betsy]

Yes, its a 'little' snow if you compare it to either Toronto or Montreal. I laugh when I see that the entire city of London has ground to a complete halt because of a little call of nature.

None of the UK airports are equipped to handle snow, are they. And for that matter, London itself is incapable of handling any natural emergencies.

Snow, wind, rains (floods), heatwave...

Like I said before, london doesn't need to be worried about any W of MD falling. They just need to worry about snow!

[jhm]

You forgot about the "wrong type of leaves on the line" which also sometimes causes train cancellations!

[quik!]

Arrived this morning on SQ322. Was on hold for about 30-40 mins before landing. After landing, it took another 1 hour for the luggages to arrive!

I should be glad that the plane landed at all!

[quik!]

[Kyo]

Burst out laughing when I saw that... didn't think Emirates anticipated that!

[jjpb3]

I kinda liked it (mainly because there were no major disruptions for me). Only a slight delay on the Picadilly line in the morning (but I did go to the office early); quiet office; then a very civilised ride back home. There were very few people in the restaurant I went to for dinner, even though that was probably of only a few that remained open.

I've missed hearing snow crunch beneath my feet, and watching snowflakes drift by when I looked out my window. (Probaby because I've forgotten the kind of disruption that can arise if such storms occurred with enough frequency.)

[Kiwi]

No snow here, could do with some cooler air >20C overnight a bit too warm

[soak01]

I'll definitely trade you 43C during the day and 33C at night for some snow. Off to Canada for xmas this year, so can't wait to actually see what it feels like.

[phaleesy]

A bit of snow is fine. But in a country which is not prepared to deal with 10-20 cm of snow, then it's no fun.

I could not get to work on Monday and Tuesday. The roads where I live were not gritted. When I got into work on Wednesday, I had to stay in emergency accomodation on-site for two days. I chose to stay on-site because I knew I would not be able to get into work the rest of the week otherwise and I was right!

Cars were unable to go up or down the hill. Or they had to queue - one car at a time on the hill. Then the roads were closed. All the cars were then piled up on top of the hill. Some people got out and started walking instead. But the pavements were not treated. Someone at work who abandoned her car and started walking fell and dislocated her elbow instead. People who came out from the train station found themselves stranded because they could not walk down the hill, the pavements and roads being too icy. Buses and taxis were not running. Even hospital transport to transfer staff from one site to the other were 2 to 3 hours late.

Absolute chaos. So snow is definitely not fun.

[Desert Traveller]

Hm, sounds like there was a lot more snow 'down south'. Some people didn't show up for work in my office the past week, but the majority made it. Some with delays.
What surprised me though, was the driving. It's not that difficult to drive on a little bit of snow. Even without winter tires...no need to slow down to 10mph...and people stopping when driving up slopes, hills and then revving everything out of the engine...
the other really baffling bit for me was/is...nobody bothers to clear pavements...they're icy now. is nobody worried about liability?

[phaleesy]

Hm, sounds like there was a lot more snow 'down south'.

According to the Met Office, the south is currently on amber alert while you Midlanders are only green! But the reverse could happen on Sunday. Then it's back to the south again!
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/...ngs.html?day=1

Aren't I such a good weather girl?

[Desert Traveller]

According to the Met Office, the south is currently on amber alert while you Midlanders are only green! But the reverse could happen on Sunday. Then it's back to the south again!
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/...ngs.html?day=1

Aren't I such a good weather girl?

Well, so far it's a pretty bright sun-shiny day!!

[Kiwi]

ack hot & humid, downpours expected tomorrow

I'll swap the snow for this soup