www.channel4.com/apps26/4car/jsp/main.jsp?lnk=211&...0
If those at the met office are to be believed, we're in for a chilly time!
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Yes, now might be a good time for us all to check our cars to make sure the antifreeze etc. is OK and that we're carrying appropriate equipment and emergency supplies. Wouldn't want to get stuck out in the middle of nowehere all night!
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Darn, have a driving test Wednesday morning (East Anglia).
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Maybe the roads will be exceptionally quiet for you ;)
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This kind of cold 'snap' in the UK never fails to amaze me. I spend quite a bit of time away on business to some very cold places, Moscow in February being the coldest at -27C. This is the temperature diesel congeals at. They manage perfectly well with their collection of 20+ year old Bonsa's and Lada's and yet first bit of cold at -5C in the UK and there's traffic jams due to breakdowns.
Totally agree with the preventative measures, it's predicted to go as low as -15C in places. Sod the car, I'm checking the pipe lagging in the house first.
Wonder if we'll get one of these threatened power cuts due to under capacity.
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A few years ago I spent some time in Killington, Vermont. The temperature for 2 weeks didn't get above -20c and the only people who suffered were? Thats right the holidaying Brits.
I had a great big Dodge van, V8, rwd and terrible in the snow and ice but I still managed better than the English in their rented 4x4's who kept going off the road and crashing at the intersections.
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Totally agree 3500S.
I spend most Christmas and New Years at SWMBO's parent's house in the Czech Republic. -20 deg C is commonplace, and -30 not unheard of.
He father's cranky old rear-engined Skoda starts first time, every time, and runs to perfection. No stuttering, no flat spots, and no cutting out, whether cold, warm, or hot. After a minute of running, it also switches over to LPG without missing a beat. It's body is falling apart at the seams, and a teaspoon in yoghurt would give better steering control, but the engine mechanical and electrical bits appear very well designed.
Likewise her uncle's only marginally more recent Skoda Favorit. This has an auto-choke that puts every one of my brother's three Astras in the Eighties and early Nineties to shame. No spluttering as the choke fails to adjust to a warming engine here.
Her sister in law drives a rear engined Skoda that is at least 20 years old, and on which just about every panel has come from a different donor car. It receives no tlc other than routine servicing, and is also totally dependable. On another subject, I even watched with a wry smile as it made mincemeat of a snowbound hill that saw a traction control equipped Three Series get no more than a few yards up! Having the engine hung over the back and skinny tyres, was just the ticket it seems!
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Since we're still waiting for the 90mph winds and torrential rain forecast a couple of weeks ago, hibernation may not yet be on the cards.
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Most importantly... is it going to snow in Wolverhampton and am I finally, at the old age of 23, going to see proper snow???
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Oh, you must have seen some snow on the Southdowns at least once?
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Apparently the last time I saw proper snow I was about 3 (1983) and it came over the tops of my little red wellies!
I'm talking proper snow...the sort that doesn't turn to grey slush the minute it hits the ground, and the sort where you can't see the tops of the grass through it. Oh and I've never built a proper snowman either!
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Apparently the last time I saw proper snow I was about 3 (1983) and it came over the tops of my little red wellies!
Ok, getting an image now...... I have a pic of my daughter from last winter when we had half a cm of snow. She rushed outside in her purple dressing gown, one pyjama leg tucked into her pink Barbie wellies and one flapping in the slush, her favourite cuddly toy (Holly the cat) wedged under her arm. She was 3 then too.
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Apparently the last time I saw proper snow I was about 3 (1983) and it came over the tops of my little red wellies!
there was an awful lot of snow around the 13th feb 1991 for a few days in wolverhampton
dont you remember??
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Apparently the last time I saw proper snow I was about 3 (1983) and it came over the tops of my little red wellies! I'm talking proper snow...the sort that doesn't turn to grey slush the minute it hits the ground, and the sort where you can't see the tops of the grass through it. Oh and I've never built a proper snowman either!
The last time I saw snow that came over the tops of my wellies ~ which were for 7-year olds ~ was (if I remember right) the winter of 1947/1948!
Anyone beat that?
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L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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The last time I saw snow that came over the tops of my wellies ~ which were for 7-year olds ~ was (if I remember right) the winter of 1947/1948! Anyone beat that? -- L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
Just remembered ~ when the snow finally melted after many weeks, the resulting floods came over the tops of my wellies too!
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L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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As a lad in 1963 in the far north of England - well over the tops of wellies where the wind from the Russian steppes blew it into 6ft + drifts.
One day it took five hours on the bus to do a 17 mile journey home from school ( we were sent home early) and I had a mile bike ride from the bus stop in a blizzard. The front of my duffle coat was white with snow when Dad appeared in the Land Rover to look for me. Was I glad. I was so cold I was literally crying with the pain when I defrosted in front of the fire and then Mum produced her special scotch broth and all was well with the world.
IIRC however three hill shepherds died in Northumberland that year.
Never underestimate the British weather.
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helicopter,
Thankyou for turning this thread back into a motoring discussion.
A flood of moderators were about to turn up the heat and melt away the snow from this thread ;o)
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And in the far south of England, Jan '63 I drove to college in Exeter in my Austin 7, bought in Bristol the previous summer for £10, from Westerham in Kent. It took all day and most of the night, and when I got there they told me the college had postponed the start of term by one week...
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Following that 1963 winter in S.Wales, we moved to the Canadian prairies for 3 years, followed by a year in Ottawa. We also wondered why a cold snap causes so much trouble here, as our Morris 1100 would start on its battery down to 0°F (just) and down to -20° with the block-heater. At that temp. turning the wheel became difficult!
But a S.African guy with a Mini was sometimes to be seen jump-starting Chevvies, which only had 6 volts to play with. On the other hand a big Ford could usually be left outside for a month in those conditions and would still start.
The reason is that as arctic conditions are rare here, preparing for them is a risk people take, and they also get complacent. While living in Alberta we visited Vancouver for Christmas, and took an unexpected snowfall with us. V only had 2 snowploughs and was disabled for some time, including the airport. Just like here.
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As recently as December 1979 in Essex, when I had my last accidents - first being punted into a ditch by a farm lorry, then, following day, sliding on packed ice/snow fairly gently into rear of a MK3 Cortina.
Snow was about 18in deep in most parts and lasted about a week.
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That's exactly the same timing as the M11 and M25 turned into an ice rink last year. So will there be snowploughs? Will there be grit? We'll have to wait and see. HJ
I was there last year.... no thanks again ! (Now I have blanket & spare clothes in boot, mind you!)
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It is the Gulf Stream that makes us complacent, and fairly warm! The Northern tip of the Shetland Islands is, give or take a few miles, as far North as the Southern tip of Greenland! If you go due West from London you hit Halifax, Nova Scotia. If you go due East from New York you hit Oporto in Portugal. I don't think that the local councils can afford to buy in the equipment that they need to clear the sort of snow and ice that we get once every 5 years. Good luck to all travellers next week!
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"I don't think that the local councils can afford to buy in the equipment that they need to clear the sort of snow and ice that we get once every 5 years."
Absolutely correct.
A pal of mine had the responsibility for organising gritting and snow clearing for several counties in southern England. There was the understandable reluctance of councils to spend the large capital sums for snow clearing equipment. However the greatest cost would have been employing the labour to operate and maintain the equipment. This involved not only training but also setting up and paying workers on a standby rota system.
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