Winter weather - Beast from the East

crescent

Currently a red warning In Strathclyde but i’ve been thinking to myself over the last few days that “it’s not that bad”, “why all the fuss” and “I’ve seen it worse”etc. It really hit home this morning though when I woke to an email telling me my new wheels had been delayed due to weather/transport issues and would not be here until next week. I hope those lorry drivers that have been sat in their cabs on the motorway for hours on end realise the hardship and misery they are causing. Honestly, some people just don’t see the bigger picture. I’m staying strong but it is very difficult.

rolf_f

I don't get why folk have been blaming the lorry drivers? I know blizzard bound car drivers do keep saying it is the fault of lorry drivers failing to get up the hill they never had the chance to fail to get up because they never reached it but, if you chose to go out in your car knowing exactly what was forecast and you got stuck then it is your fault.

Meanwhile, C5 expended what - 4 hours or more of prime time on "Most places getting less snow than we got 8 years ago which was itself nothing remotely as bad as it was in 47 LIVE" That was (what I saw of it) deeply dull viewing.

In the meantime, stay strong. Hopefully your new wheels won't have been used to make a camp fire.

capt_slog

Hang in there, I'm sure they're aware of your pain and are getting to you as soon as they can. There's probably some kind soul with a tractor out there now, towing the lorry full of 'essential supplies' out of a ditch.

Rolf F wrote:

Hopefully your new wheels won't have been used to make a camp fire.

Nah, snow shoes

crescent

There has been a lot of reports of good samaritans and even the military helping medical staff and essential supplies to get through, shouldn’t they be going the extra mile and helping other priority deliveries reach their destination. For all they know I might have needed these wheels for Sunday’s run..... I don’t, but I might have.

Stevo_666

I've had a double seat on the train to and from work every day this week. It's the 'Hysteria from Siberia' where I am.

orraloon

My new wheels arrived this week, so I'm Alright Crescent. DPD ok sometimes. Still sitting in the box though, as the summer bike ain't coming out any time soon plus it's 'kin cold to be out in t'workshop fettling. Is it that a deferred pleasure is greater...?

Pross

I thought it was going to be another cry wolf weather warning this time yesterday as the snow never seemed to be very heavy. I've certainly seen worse and it was arguably deeper around here back in December but it is drifting a lot so the 6-8 inches we have is over 2 feet in places and there are streets further up the valleys where cars are more or less covered so from that perspective it's worse than normal. There don't seem to be any major problems here as people have actually listened to advice and also the snow is so powdery it isn't that slippery at the moment.

However, I was due run a cross country league race tomorrow and it has been cancelled meaning the club are relegated and Newport Half Marathon has been cancelled on Sunday so the red status is justified - very serious problems! I did just manage a 3 mile run though so that must explain the drop to amber.

Pross

Crescent wrote:

There has been a lot of reports of good samaritans and even the military helping medical staff and essential supplies to get through, shouldn’t they be going the extra mile and helping other priority deliveries reach their destination. For all they know I might have needed these wheels for Sunday’s run..... I don’t, but I might have.

You need to make it a media friendly cause and they'll be beating down your door to be seen to help.

joe2008

We're currently cut off by 12 foot snow drifts, and that's just the A road to our village; nearest town is 20 miles away.

Heaven knows what it is like on Exmoor, but it is always a good deal worse up there.

This is the road to the moor:

Pross

Yeah, but if you from up north and not a southern softie then you would just be carrying on as normal (or someone from 'up north' will tell you. Alternatively London wasn't hit as hard as expected so things aren't too bad

pblakeney

Nah, that is perfectly acceptable reasons to have a duvet day.
It is when reporters go overboard about levels beaten by cake icing sugar that we laugh at.

Pross

PBlakeney wrote:

Nah, that is perfectly acceptable reasons to have a duvet day.
It is when reporters go overboard about levels beaten by cake icing sugar that we laugh at.

I always have a chuckle when a reporter gets sent out to cover extreme weather and it doesn't materialise so they're left talking it up when the pictures as showing a different story.

crescent

Pross wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

Nah, that is perfectly acceptable reasons to have a duvet day.
It is when reporters go overboard about levels beaten by cake icing sugar that we laugh at.

I always have a chuckle when a reporter gets sent out to cover extreme weather and it doesn't materialise so they're left talking it up when the pictures as showing a different story.

Or when the news programmes tell you not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and then send a reporter out to the worst possible location on what is basically an unnecessary journey.

joe2008

They're on their way to us... A399 to Blackmore Gate

pblakeney

Crescent wrote:

Pross wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

Nah, that is perfectly acceptable reasons to have a duvet day.
It is when reporters go overboard about levels beaten by cake icing sugar that we laugh at.

I always have a chuckle when a reporter gets sent out to cover extreme weather and it doesn't materialise so they're left talking it up when the pictures as showing a different story.

Or when the news programmes tell you not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and then send a reporter out to the worst possible location on what is basically an unnecessary journey.

Or worse, send a national reporter out just to repeat what the local reporter has just said.

crumbschief

joe2008 wrote:

They're on their way to us...

Good pics,you got it deep down there fella,i wonder how a fat / MT bike would handle that lot,wet and cold i suspect but fun just like my memories of winter as a child going down a hill on a bin bag or a sled if i was lucky.

cycleclinic

I have really enjoyed my snowy rides. I'll be sad when it melts. If it could carry on for a few weeks I could take up criss country skiing.

Pross

joe2008 wrote:

They're on their way to us... A399 to Blackmore Gate

Used to spend a lot of time near there at Stowford Meadows. Never seen it like that though!

briantrumpet

joe2008 wrote:

We're currently cut off by 12 foot snow drifts, and that's just the A road to our village; nearest town is 20 miles away.

Heaven knows what it is like on Exmoor, but it is always a good deal worse up there.

Wowsers.

Thankfully it now looks as if it'll be geting a good deal warmer from tomorrow, but I guess that that'll take a little while to clear.

joe2008

This is the A39 into Lynton. Gonna take some time to get us freed up.

bendertherobot

This is Cold Knap BEACH in Barry.

joe2008

There's a road under this:

Ben6899

Of course, people trespassing on the railway don't help matters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43266245

briantrumpet

Ben6899 wrote:

Of course, people trespassing on the railway don't help matters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43266245

Or joyriders taking buses and crashing them outside the police station:

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/jo ... -1-5417865

Ben6899

Tossers.

joe2008

Found it...

joe2008

A39 near Parracombe

Pross

People say we don't cope well with snow but the Councils around here are doing a great job. It only stopped snowing about 7pm last night and by lunchtime today we had a tractor down the minor cul-de-sac I live on clearing it (annoyingly after myself and a neighbour had spent two hours clearing the top half while the lazy sods down the road did nothing to help). Supermarkets and shops were re-stocking this morning. Even places like Nebraska shut down during heavy snow storms and then clear up afterwards.

Pross

joe2008 wrote:

Found it...

"It's alright, the weather warning doesn't apply to me I've got a 4x4"

big_harv

News from the East (Essex), the weeds in my garden are emerging through the white stuff. Damn.

briantrumpet

I get poked off with people moaning about how we grind to a halt when it snows in the south. Of course we do, as no-one wants to pay to have snow ploughs sitting round for 10 years doing absolutely nothing instead of having a couple of days of inconvenience once in a while.

Of course we are all mightily impressed when in the Alps and they've snow-ploughed the road by 7am each day, but that's because life would grind to a halt every winter if they didn't invest in the machinery. Add to that that nearly everyone in a snowy region will change their tyres to winter tyres, and probably carry chains (and know how to use them), and of course they are better at coping with snow.

And, to their credit, Devon County Council have an amazing gritting network, all clearly prioritised, and publicised, of well over 1000 miles of roads. Though that was never going to stop the carnage of this one, especially when d!cks ignore the warnings and decide to drive in a red alert weather warning.