So, snow.

[gillo]

You'd think it never snowed in England from the reactions to it. On Monday it was very cute to see all the FaceBook squee from my postgrad friends who had never seen it before. At the writing session there were three for whom it was a first - and, I have to admit, it was very touching to see the wonder on their faces.

Comments

[liliaeth]

The radio news interviewed a Belgian guy living in London about the wheather and he was talking about how people were overreacting to the snow, there being only 2 to five cm and already schools, factories and so on were closing ;-)

[gillo]

Yes - we don't get this much even in some years, but the hysteria can be very wearing - and the inability of so many people to drive in a couple of centimetres of snow is annoying.

[liliaeth]

hell we have the same amount of snow, yet our schools wouldn't even considder closing, which I'm sure our kids are very dissapointed with :-)

[gillo]

Yeah - the odd half-day to play in the snow should be every kid's right. You do get more snow than us, statistically, though, because we have the Gulf Stream - Kent gets a lot more than the Midlands too, for that matter.

[brunettepet]

It is a bit ridiculous that everything shuts or slows down, but it's dangerous when people don't really know how to drive on ice and snow. We had over 500 accidents on an icy day several years back and now the city errs on the side of caution.

I'd stick with the positive: it is very, very pretty.

[gillo]

Yes, it is pretty, true. And it will probably be gone in a week, so we should enjoy it while we can, I suppose.

[deborahw37]

Didn't grind to a halt here, trains were delayed but judging from the traffic, pretty much everyone went to work as usual and the shops and banks and schools and colleges were open as usual though some schools closed a bit early because of icy roads and, since there's more snow forecast it made sense to get the children home before dark especially in rural areas... even Stansted Airport is open. My theory is that we're finally investing in better road gritting and ploughing kit.

Gotta agree with brunettepet though. There have been dozens of minor accidents and several fatalities because many people don't know how to drive in snow and, unlike countries who get this a lot, we don't use snow tyres or snow chains.

[gillo]

Do you know anyone with snow tyres/chains? I've never even seen them in use in the Midlands. It would make one heck of a difference if even HGVs and buses had them, frankly - did you see the BBC clip of a Stagecoach bus slithering all over the road in Winchester?

We almost never get snow heavy enough to be a serious problem in Warwickshire. We have our own grey microclimate.

[deborahw37]

A few people right out in the styx have them but the roads aren't designed for them.. unless there's a good foot of snow they chew up the road surfaces.

A lot of the issues are around the closure of small rural schools.. here Primary school children get educated in their village but when they hit 11 they go to a big school in town and for some that's a 40 minute bus trip

[gillo]

And in this weather, 40 minutes becomes a couple of hours or more.

[empresspatti]

You'd think people would unclench and take it for the gift it is. Stay home, make soup and read a book. No one is so important that they need to endanger themselves & others on the roads.

Having said that - human nature what it is - everyone acts like its a huge crisis. Why?

[gillo]

Well, sometimes people have to get places. But I agree. My husband simply worked from home today - safer for him and better for his employers, who closed the office at noon anyway.

[kazzy_cee]

My road is almost impassable (and will be if we get more snow over night) - oh the joys of living in a cul-de-sac that never gets gritted!! Actually most places at least put grit out unlike last year, so the pavements, hills and station platforms were snow free!

[gillo]

That's an advance of sorts, I suppose. Your corner of the country often gets a lot more than we do, so it's good they got their act together a little.