Snow

[englishangel]

It would seem to be very localised. Davina McCall was stranded and slept in her car in Kent somewhere, but my daughter's friends in Canterbury said it wasn't so bad. They were making snow monsters on the beach in Brighton but Rye 50 miles East had no snow to speak of.

[gma]

I went to work very early on Friday so I was the first person driving through the country lanes to the barracks - excellent drive and great fun in the 4" snowfall we had here; then as the base was empty, (and they thought we were not in), I spent the morning watching the dog patrols throw snowballs for the normal scary rotties and dobs and generally behave like children, and puppies, respectively, then watched security guards doing doughnuts in the security vans in the carpark!

I finished work at lunchtime on Friday and dfove hoemover same country anes, pretty deserted still and with few other tyre tracks to mess up my traction, went for lunch witha friend, shopped, chilled out and generally had a very nice time, all very civilised and Christmassy. Off to my Mum's in Dunstable, from Berkshire this morning and am now thinking that the glacial road surfaces created by everyone driving on Saturday and now covered up by last night's light dusting of snow may not be quite such a lovely journey as Friday's!

[sejintenej]

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Supposed to drive 200 miles to near York today, collect 3 grandchildren and drive back - there is no babysiter there. Somehow I don't think I will even go out of my front door even though the roads here are clear.

Despite the direst predictions of the civil servants who are supposed to be savants about such matters the road was totally clear and almost empty. Unfortunately grandchild #3 decided that sledging was far too interesting to stop so I'm still in darkest Yorkshire where a brass monkey would lose even more than the saying says.

[lonelymom]

We've still got deep snow, mixed with ice here, and it's snowed briefly again this morning. I'm a bit fed with it now, I hate driving in the snow, and my little cul-de-sac is like an ice-rink because the sun doesn't hit it until just before sunset, by which time it can't melt it. But I have got some wonderful 2ft-long icicles hanging outside my bedroom window - how pretty are they?!

[sejintenej]

Got back from Yorkshire with only one loss of control - a 90 degree near daughter's house on an ungritted side road. Otherwise roads A1 - A10? - M11 clear, dry in places.

[Kim2s70-77]

After dire warnings, we had only an inch or two of snow - although they had 17 inches just 20 mins North of us. My kids were VERY disappointed, after all the hype and no action.

[englishangel]

Well that was fun, 10 miles from High Wycombe to Little Chalfont in 4 hours. My son took 4 and a half from Dagenham to LC at the same time (it usually takes him about an hour and half, but the third rail was icing up).

We have had about a foot of snow altogether.

Kim, someone I was talking to said her daughter in Virginia has had a foot of snow, and a friend of my son's in Philly has had a foot as well.

[Mid A 15]

An hour and a half for me to drive from the centre of Bromley to Bickley, a distance of about 2 miles. I then decided to stay put for an hour and a half and it took a further hour and forty five minutes to drive the 35 miles home. An hour and fifteen minutes of that was the 5 or so miles to the main A road.

[Jo]

Gosh, makes me glad my journey wasn't worse last night. I took my mother to Lincoln to exchange Christmas presents with my brother. Got her home to Bedford ok by 7pm - it started to snow just south of Peterborough but wasn't settling.

However, my journey home from Bedford to Milton Keynes took an hour (usually 25 minutes) as the snow was settling by then. I was very grateful to get home in one piece. But having read about Mary's journey, and some Facebook friends in Chalfont St Peter, I see I got away lightly.

Felt a bit guilty asking Chris to walk to the station this morning but if what fell last night has frozen overnight, I really, really didn't fancy getting the car out at 7 am.

[englishangel]

Yes Jo, Chalfont St Peter and Chalfont St Giles, both being built on a hill, were virtually impassable by non-4 wheel drives. We sat on the hill in Ch St G for about 2 of the 4 hours. I am not a queue barger, but after Jeeps, Ranger Rovers and Toyota Hiluxes (?) went past I followed them and got out.

[Katharine]

I'm pleased to be able to report that my sister managed to collect my mother safely from hospital yesterday. Here in North West Wales most of the white stuff is on the mountains looking absolutely fabulous - especially on a starry night!

[J.R.]

A strange old day yesterday. Jan and I decided at lunch-time to pay a 'flying-visit' to Horsham to do some last minute Crimble shopping.

It was snowing in Dorking when we left.

It started RAINING heavily in Horsham around two, and by the time we'd had our customery glasses of wine in Wetherspoons, most of the snow in Horsham town centre had disappeared.

We caught the 3:30-ish bus home and by the time we reached around half way, (near the 'Dog & Duck', on the A.24 for those of you who know the area), it was obvious that north of Horsham had had more snow !

The last 3 miles of the journey on the bus was horrendous - The A.24 from Capel to Dorking one sheet of black ice and took over 15 minutes to complete. By the time we reached home around 4:30, the bus driver had been on the radio to base and was informed that Metrobus were suspending all journey from then on and the driver was to try and get the bus straight back to Crawley.

Thank God we didn't decide to take a later bus home !

[jhopgood]

Arrived in Belmullet, on the West Coast of Ireland, last night, having left Chesham at 7.00 am. The journey started and finished in snow but of a different type.
My brother's road was under a layer of snow and the hill under a layer of ice, which made for an interesting start. Despite having intended to go on the motorway, my GPS had other ideas and we eventually approached Holyhead via the A5, which was very picturesque but not quite what I had in mind. No snow on the roads or in the air but a lot on the side. Not much traffic either.
For some reason, when we got off the ferry, I expected Ireland to be free of snow. Not so. We ran into thick fog, snow on most roads over 100km out of Dublin, and on the last stretch from Ballina, a full snow storm that brought visibility down to about 30 yards. I kept the car astride the cats eyes where they were still visible and my wife got her rosary out for where they weren't. I tested the ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) on the car twice, neither intentionally, as bends suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Success on both occasions. Not much point in having signs on the side of the road if I am concentrating on finding the middle of the road. I hadn't realised that driving into a snow storm is like looking at a star burst coming at you and then sweeping around the car.
Fortunately on the last stretch, where there are no cat's eyes or lighting, there were two cars in front of me, so we formed a convoy and arrived with no trouble.
All this with a new pair of snow chains in the car which were useless as the snow was not thick enough.
An interesting ride and all I can say is, if you don't have to travel in this type of weather, don't.

[matthew]

Reminds me of a few years ago when we visited a friend in Canada. We went early April, when spring should have started, but they had more unexpected snow just before we arrived. Lots of it. We booked a private flight over Toronto and Niagara - Chris thought it was fabulous but my main memory of it was just snow everywhere, as far as you could see. And our few days in Toronto itself was spoilt by having to trek everywhere in single file through narrow paths cleared through the snow.

Your friend should have warned you that early April can still be decidedly wintry. We're all sick of the snow by then.

Then again, my wife loves the snow. When we lived in the UK, she'd get terribly excited whenever we got so much as a few flakes. It's actually one of the reasons we moved here.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I dare not repeat, what the "Swiss Family Evans" think of our troubles with --- think of it -- 20cm of Snow !!

(They live at 1000m)