Snow brings Britain to a standstill

Yep. It's happening all over again.Travel chaos after a heavy snowfall across most of southern Britain today.It couldn't have happened on a worst weekend. This weekend before Christmas should be the busiest travel and shopping weekend of the year. Instead the bad weather caused misery and a massive travel disruption just about everywhere.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick airports were closed and roads were gridlocked. It was so bad in the midst of the snow storm that police closed several access roads to Heathrow because of dangerous driving conditions. So even if the airport had been open, it would have been virtually impossible to get there by car. In fact, Heathrow Airport was advising people not to even attempt the trip.

Heathrow airport will remain shut until until at least 06.00 Sunday morning. When it does open again, "There will be further cancellations & delays for airlines tomorrow due to the knock on effects of the severe weather." (info via Twitter)

Gatwick Airport was closed for five hours but it's open, with some delays and cancellations.

The snow is very pretty but it really does bring everything to a standstill here. Drivers were urged not to travel unless the journey is essential but of course most people just ignored the warnings. I think people are desperate to get their Christmas shopping done and to buy food (panic buying).

Were you affected by the bad weather today? Did you have plans to travel out of the UK or expecting family members to arrive? Did you have your flight cancelled?

What are your thoughts about how this country copes (or rather doesn't cope) with snow and ice? I know there are warnings about icy roads for tomorrow. It would make sense for the gritters to get out during the night and make sure all the roads are gritted and/or plowed but it seems that there aren't enough gritters to go around.

By the way, it's probably going to be the coldest English December since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office.

Satellite image: snow-covered Britain on 2 Dec 2010

CREDIT to 'NEODAAS/University of Dundee'.

This image was taken by NASA's Terra satellite and released by the University of Dundee.

Frozen UK - snow causes chaos!

The UK is frozen and not just because of the freezing temperatures. It's frozen as in nearly coming to a stand-still in many places. Two major airports are closed, Eurostar trains delayed, scores of other rail services cancelled and motorways blocked. Thousands of schools are shut.

This bad weather started a few days ago when very cold temps and heavy snowfall hit Scotland and northern England, parts of Wales and Northern Ireland.

On Nov 28th, the Met Office reported that:
Lowest overnight temperature last night was -18.0C in Llysdinam, Powys making it the coldest November night in Wales since records began.

Scotland has been hit the worst with very heavy snow and even though they are used to heavy snowfalls and cold temperatures, this was very early in the winter for such severe weather. Edinburgh Airport is closed until at least Thursday morning due to heavy snow showers.

The snow and freezing temperatures have gradually spread to most of England now. Yesterday, snow moving across London and the surrounding areas, caused traffic chaos.

Gatwick Airport (Britain's second busiest airport) closed today! There are no flights until 6am Thursday [update: until at least 0600 GMT on Friday] due to heavy snow and further snow forecast. Check website for updates.

Snow closes Gatwick Airport


Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and London City all open, but with delays to flights. You're advised to check before you head out.

Due to current weather conditions Eurostar services are delayed by up to 90 minutes. See this Eurostar link for the latest news.

The forecast is for fresh snowfall across the majority of the country.

How is everyone faring? We've only had a smattering of snow where I live. It is very cold though.

Edited to add:
Lincoln's famous Christmas Market has been cancelled due to the bad weather. This is the first time it has had to be cancelled.

Police sledging, Oxford - watch the video

What do you think about their moment of fun using riot shields to sledge down a snowy hill while on duty?

Are you angry about their behavior since they were on duty? or do you think they should be allowed to have a bit of fun - as long as they didn't stay long and went right back to work?

Removing snow outside your house

I've been hearing and reading about this a lot lately with our snowy weather and wonder what people think. In the UK, it seems to be taken for granted that if you clear the pavements outside your house you are liable to be sued if anyone slips and falls. I think that's absolutely crazy! The people at the BBC have obviously noticed this discussion on forums and twitter too because they've got an article about it in BBC News Magazine: Is it your civic duty to clear snow? Local authorities in the UK are responsible for gritting and salting public roads and pavements, but what about your own path and the pavement in front of your home? Is it your civic duty to keep them clear for others? In fact, you are taking a theoretical legal risk if you clear the pavement in front of your home. It's worth noting a glimmer of sense in the article: But, Paul Kitson, a partner with leading personal injury solicitors Russell Jones & Walker, explains that a claimant would have to show you had acted either maliciously or carelessly, and that such a case would often be tricky in practice. So there you have it. It seems like a crazy country if people have to be afraid to clear their pavements (sidewalks) in front of their property in case they are sued. I just don't understand this mentality at all. As the BBC article points out, it's your legal duty to clear your sidewalks in Minneapolis (Minnesota). So if you live in the UK, what do you do? Do you go ahead and clear the pavement in front of your house, even though there is a theoretical legal risk? Or do you leave the snow and ice there? What about where you live? What are the laws regarding snow removal outside your property? Update: Edited to add a link to an article in The Telegraph on Saturday 9 Jan, 2010 Healthy and safety experts warn: don't clear icy pavements, you could get sued Pavements are being left covered in ice because of “ludicrous” laws that put home owners and businesses at risk of being sued if they try to clear them.

Amazing satellite view of the UK today (7 Jan)

Wow! This a fantastic satellite view of the UK today! What the UK looks like covered in snow - a stunning photo from NASA:

Yes, we are having a very cold and snowy winter in the UK - most unusual and thus it's big news! If you are planning to visit the UK in the next week or so, be sure you bring lots and lots of warm clothes. This is not your usual mild British winter - you have been warned!

Snow, ice, sleet across UK causes travel chaos

Snow and ice continue to cause travel chaos across the UK, disrupting the Christmas holiday plans for thousands (link via BBC News)

Well, despite the snowstorm back in February, and the chaos it caused, the councils up and down the country didn't seem to learn anything from that experience. Yesterday, the chaos from roads that didn't get gritted (sanded) or salted, is inexcusable. It's unbelievable that news reports are about the gritters showing up today - the day after they were so urgently needed.

Yesterday was a real nightmare for a lot of people in many parts of Britain. There were many car accidents and a lot of drivers were forced to abandon their cars because the roads were so icy and treacherous. Traffic came to a halt in many towns and cities. Conditions were just appalling. Even emergency services and automobile breakdown companies were struggling to get through. In fact, an ambulance and a fire engine were both stranded on our road because of the ice!

A friend said that buses were getting stuck and blocking the roads in London. The bendy buses were the worst because they jackknifed all over the place until even they got stuck and jammed the roads even better. It meant very long journeys home for a lot of people yesterday.

I wonder if any of the roads were salted or gritted yesterday. Apparently they used to add molasses to the grit mix to make it sticky but the cost has gone up and now they don't however this means the grit and salt soon wash away particularly if you have some rain or sleet. Can someone verify if this is true?

Fortunately, Eurostar was back in business today after three days of stopages, although Eurostar services between London and Europe which were thrown into chaos by snow (more than 2,000 passengers were trapped on trains overnight in the Channel Tunnel on Friday) will not return to normal until "after Christmas" according to the latest report from the company.

And it's still only December! Winter has barely started.

What has the weather been like where you live? Have you had a bad experience on the road or perhaps waiting to travel via the Eurostar? What are your thoughts about the lack of gritting?

Related Post:
Frozen UK - snow causes chaos! (December 1, 2010)

Snow storm hits England (and most of Britain) - chaos on roads, rails & airports

Wow! It snowed a lot during the night. It looks like a very pretty winter wonderland (it reminds me of Minnesota). It looks like we have about 6 inches of snow here (in East Hertfordshire), and it's just started to snow again! For those of you not in the UK, this amount of snow is very unusual for the southeastern part of England and even a very small amount can cause a lot of disruption to normal services (trains, buses, schools, etc.). It's not surprising therefore to learn that this quite heavy snowfall has caused major chaos with the roads, rails and airports: Heavy snow in Britain causes travel chaos Heavy snowfall overnight in Britain caused widespread travel delays across the country, including disruptions to flights and London's rush hour Monday morning, and forced the closure of dozens of schools. (link via guardian.co.uk) The Met Office has issued an extreme weather warning for England, Wales and parts of eastern Scotland. More snow is forecast later and on Tuesday. It's quite exciting to see this much snow here because it so rarely happens. And I have to say that I'm in shock because this time the forecasters were right! Edited to add: Travel has been severely disrupted in London. I've just heard that every bus in London has been withdrawn from service - for the first time in living memory! And I also heard that there are hardly any taxis in service. All but two Tube lines were either totally or partially suspended. Many mainline trains in and out of London were cancelled with Southeastern and Southern services completely shut. Getting in and out of London is a real problem. Related post from my blog: Brrr-itain: it's cold and we have snow! February 1, 2009

Brrr-itain: it's cold and we have snow!

Even though our weather forecast was for much colder temps and snow, I didn't quite believe it because the forecast is so often wrong (to be fair, it's difficult to predict the weather on an island since it can change very quickly and unexpectedly) but lo and behold it did get very cold today and then snow started coming down this evening. Snow and freezing weather threaten to shut down Britain The Met Office is warning of an "extreme weather event" across large swathes of England, Scotland and Wales with up to 10in of snow expected even in the usually warmer south and as much as 1ft on higher ground (link via telegraph.co.uk) Severe weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office. Snow flurries came down really fast and furious for a while this evening (in East Hertfordshire) but it stopped almost as quickly as it started. It didn't amount to much after all that excitement (it hardly ever snows in this part of England and when it does it's usually just a light dusting) although we did get about an inch of snow on the ground. It's very cold too (well, by English standards, not anything like the winter temps in my homestate - Minnesota)so it definitely looks and feels like winter. If you are in the UK, what is the weather like where you are? Have you had any snow? Wherever you live in the world, what is the weather like? I know a lot of American states have been badly affected by winter storms. And in the southern hemisphere, where it's summer, they've had a particularly intense heatwave. Australia has recorded temperatures soaring to 46C (115 Fahrenheit)! When I hear about temperatures like that, I think I am happy to put up with a bit of cold weather.