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I am stuck in my office in Bracknell which is overlooking complete gridlock on London Road/A329. There has been no gritters at all today. Cars have been crashing into one another and there is no traction at all. Remind me why I pay the local authority so much money.
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Funny you should mention that some folk said that today in the canteen not seen any, have they run low on supplies with this cold snap?
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Nah, its a secret ploy by Broon as a sap to Copenhagen. No gritters any more therefore less traffic and thus reduced emissions. S'obvious....and anyway, salt's bad for you too....
;-)
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I have slipped on some black ice and badly greased my eblow. I don't think I have broken it but it is very painful. I might not be able to drive tomorrow and thus have to cancel yet more jobs. I just about type with two hands so hopefully its nothing more than a nasty bruise.
Thanks a bunch Manchester city council.
My entire town is now just an ice rink no signs of any grit anywhere. It surely must cost more not to grit than to grit? I would dread to think what the local A&E departments are like.
Edited by rtj70 on 21/12/2009 at 20:54
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I have slipped on some black ice and badly greased my eblow.
ROTFLMAO.
Sorry Rattle, not laughing at you, I'm laughing at your typo. After the last few days I've just had, it brought a well deserved smile to my face.
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I have been asking around and nobody has seen a gritter for more than 3 days. Our reception have instructions to let us know as soon as one drives by the building but nothing.
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Oh well looks like the Travel Inn is going to be doing some good business tonight
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I've been local all day and not one gritter....roads now complete grid lock after an inch of snow in an hour
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Westpig what area of the UK are you in?
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Our gritters are out and about, pavements done too, have you tried the council website for gritter route and priority information? Gritters cant work on roads blocked by idiots that can't or shouldn't be driving. It is winter, have you been lulled into complacency by the Global warming extremists?
Edited by Old Navy on 21/12/2009 at 18:43
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>Gritters cant work on roads blocked by idiots that can't or shouldn't be driving.
That was the problem a few years ago in Hants.
The gritter crews didn't turn out until it had been snowing heavily for 2hrs and the roads were already blocked.
The Council's reply to my complaint was that they now have an early warning system in place whereby neighbouring councils will alert them to incoming bad weather.
Obviously they don't need to watch the weather forecasts now (or look out of the windows of their Ivory Towers).
And their website proudly states that they have 10 days supply of salt, more than most other councils.
Kevin...
Edited by Kevin on 21/12/2009 at 19:06
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>>> Westpig what area of the UK are you in? <<<
The shire of Wilt.
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>>> Westpig what area of the UK are you in? <<<
N London
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>>> N London <<<
Sorry, I always placed you in Wiltshire for some reason!
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Sorry I always placed you in Wiltshire for some reason!
Going there on thurs, for 3 days....S-I-L's.
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>>> Going there on thurs, for 3 days....S-I-L's. <<<
Ah, so - I've still got a few marbles left then :)
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Use the train to get home.............................
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Well, they're not in Hampshire either. I set off home from Reading to just south of Basingstoke around 2pm. It took me over 3hrs to travel ~25 miles and I didn't see a single gritter - plenty of Wombles in their Range Rovers and Discoverys but no gritters. Conditions are treacherous and there are plenty of minor accidents and immobile cars.
I wisely took the M3 around Basingstoke instead of the A30 but even the M3 hasn't been gritted and is covered in about two inches of slush and packed snow. Apparently it is now at a standstill between J5 and J8.
Very lucky to get home really - an XJ isn't the easiest car to drive in snow.
The same thing happened a few years ago (no gritters and 5hrs to get home). I complained to Hants Council who reassured me that it was an isolated incident and they now had procedures in place to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.
Another formal complaint will be heading their way tomorrow copied to the local fish-wrap and MP.
Kevin...
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Use the train to get home.............................
No station where I live :(
I have emailed both Surrey and Bracknell informing them of my disgust but as you say they will probably ignore it.
TV crew turned up now to film it too
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Perhaps the gritter driver is having trouble getting to work. How does he get to work I wonder..............
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Probably went home early because of the bad weather.
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If the weather gets really extreme, (snow measured in feet or the Euro equivalent), local farmers and plant operators are on a small retainer to clear roads in their vicinity.
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I was finishing some work this afternoon and didn't look out of the window until too late. By then I had arranged to meet two people for a drink in Camden Town.
I tried, although it became apparent immediately that I would be late. A good couple or three inches of soft snow had fallen. Ambient temp seemed above freezing but the ground is very cold. Black slush not melting and even in main roads damn slippery. And of course a lot of odd bits of unmoving gridlock.
After taking half an hour to reach the twenty-minute queue to cross Edgeware Road I gave it best and tiptoed back home. I'm not so happy with my car's traction control after all, although it does work. Trying to start moving on a steep humpback bridge in what is certainly a London main road, the car spun its wheels anyway and didn't move. Only when I let my foot off completely and it came down to an idle did it grind and jerk into motion. The ABS was tripping all the time too (and no one should imagine that I don't know how to pussyfoot when necessary).
The whole thing looked more trouble than it was worth, and I let my two friends down. I pity those who have to drive a long way home. The annoying thing is that it will probably all be gone by the end of tomorrow or the day after.
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.......Another formal complaint will be heading their way tomorrow copied to the local fish-wrap and MP...............................
It is Winter you know!!!:-) it's not the end of the world to have to slow down a bit and take a little care on the roads, worse things happen at sea as they say!
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>>> It is Winter you know!!!:-) it's not the end of the world to have to slow down a bit and take a little care on the roads, worse things happen at sea as they say! <<<
I thought it - you sed it baz ... t'was minus 33c recently in Southern Germany.
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Coincidentally, just had conversation on very same topic with a colleague. I went down to St Albans then Burgess Hill then from Eastbourne back to East Midlands on Friday - lot of snow all over (except E Midlands!) - never saw a gritter. Colleague was in same area today - never saw a gritter. Today I went to Scarborough and back to E Midlands, saw a gritter near Sheffield on M1 but it wasn't gritting! However, main roads have been "wet" rather than icy and on way to Scarborough, there was evidence that snowploughs had been at work. I wonder if they had been out during the night, and gritters, otherwise wouldn't roads have been icy rather than wet? (As they were in Ryedale, N Yorks on Thursday aft) Side roads not been touched though! Porsche 997 is not a good car..................on snow and slush in St Albans and Burgess Hill side roads!
Practically no snow in N Leics - just a light dusting!
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I wisely took the M3 around Basingstoke instead of the A30 but even the M3 hasn't been gritted and is covered in about two inches of slush and packed snow. Apparently it is now at a standstill between J5 and J8.
My in laws have just been stuck on the A30 between Hartley Wintney and Blackbushe for nearly 3 hours. No evidence whatsoever of any attempt having been made to grit the road, and no sign of any emergency services or any authority to help deal with the resulting chaos. Bumper to bumper, cars sliding all over the place when they did move, people failing to make it up the hill by the council refuse site and trying to turn around.
OK, we had a good dump of snow this afternoon (about 3" in 3 hours), but it was only forecast a week in advance. Maybe the council needed some more time, bless 'em.
An interesting observation too - just went for a walk around the block with the dog, and counted four abandoned cars on the gentle (but completely untreated) hill at the end of our road. All BMW's and all on the big "bling" wheels. Are they really that awful in these conditions?
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Ours were out last night...
Can someone clarify but I was under the impression that they had a set route that they had to take (something to do with Emergency Services routes that needded kept open)?
Also would grit work if it was put down and then it snowed 3" of snow and then froze? Think thats what happened in Brum a few years ago, the rush hour had already started so no chance of them getting out... Aren't they there more for ice rather than snow?
Edited by b308 on 21/12/2009 at 19:57
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Can someone clarify but I was under the impression that they had a set route that they had to take (something to do with Emergency Services routes that needed kept open)?
My council, (Fife), have gritter routes and priorities on their website.
www.fifedirect.org.uk/atoz/index.cfm?fuseaction=se...1
Edited by Old Navy on 21/12/2009 at 20:07
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@ DP
Yes - but I would suggest mainly to those not used to driving in snow. I see so many cars revving and revving in first gear to try and make progress, but all it does is spin the wheels and put a layer of ice under the driven wheels - not the way to do it! Mind you, it's equally annoying to be behind someone who thinks that an inch of snow on the fields by the road means you have to drive on a wet salted road at 10mph!
Edited by PhilW on 21/12/2009 at 20:02
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All BMW's and all on the big "bling" wheels. Are they really that awful in these conditions?
No. Just the one's with the "bling" wheels. I have bog standard 16 inch wheels on my car and it has been fine. (And this is from someone who is the world's worst worrier, and very apprehensive about RWD). I am pleasantly surprised.
My council (Barnet) have gritted everywhere, by the look of it. Even in the modest cul-de-sac of little terraced houses where I live. It has only been tricky when venturing into the People's Republic of Haringey!
This is the same council that removed all the speed humps when they got elected, and have put a great effort into recycling. I think that they seem pretty good to me, regardless of political flavour.
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>My in laws have just been stuck on the A30 between Hartley Wintney and Blackbushe for nearly 3 hours.
Mmm, that must be at least two or three miles.
Tell them that bazza and perro think that they should slow down..
I hope they're clear of it now or they could be there all night. It isn't forecast to get above freezing before mid morning tomorrow :-(
Kevin...
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> stuck on the A30 between Hartley Wintney and Blackbushe
>>
I've always loved misreading the place as "Hardly Wintry"
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Gritters can't get out because the roads are full of snow. Basingstoke is a whiteout, swmbo can't get home as she can't get up a hill in Farnham so I'm home alone with a houseful of hooch and food with the remote in my control. Would invite the lads round but they can't get here either. My car has rear wheel drive and in the ice etc its useless......anyone recommend a reasoanbly priced 4x4?
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Get a FWD with traction control, no point in wasting money on a 4x4... nothing used to stop my old Fabia except old BMWs!
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"Gritters can't get out because the roads are full of snow."
Can't they look at the weather forecast and get out before it arrives?
If you look at the radar images on Met office site, you can predict to within an hour when snow and rain is going to hit you (use animation). We are going to get some snow in next hour - I'll let you know when it arrives!
www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/index.html
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If you are in bracknel, why are you phoning surrey council?
Its balmy here just south of the m3. No Snow at all.
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I live in Surrey 10 miles from Bracknell and I left my office at 19:45 and got home at 11:05 over 3 hours on compressed ungritted sheet ice.
I am working from home now thats it.
My neighbour left Pinewood studios at 6pm and got home at 23:40!!!!!
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Never see a Gritter these days.. But back in the 70`s here in West Yorkshire they were out in droves. you would dread meeting one coming the other way as they threw tons of salt everywhere.
At night I used to avoid country roads with no escape road off. There! over on the hill - something yellow with a flashing light, doing 45 mph, coming towards you and firing salt out like a double array of Gatling guns.
What happened?
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What we've had other years in Somerset when there's been heavy snowfall is that the council grits/clears the roads in town but not the pavements, which remain treacherous.
Not surprisingly, that means many pedestrians choose to walk in the road, even when there's traffic. I must admit I've done this too, in the past.
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went down to St Albans then Burgess Hill then from Eastbourne back to East Midlands on Friday - lot of snow all over (except E Midlands!) - never saw a gritter.
The complete opposite of my experience - on Saturday I went from Leicestershire to Beds, then North Herts and back to Leics, saw 10 gritter/snowploughs (my daughter and I were keeping count!).
It mildly infuriates me that the authorities continue to receive all this flak from uneducated layfolk even though in recent cold spells they have done their level best to spell out how road gritting works - you need traffic to mix the salt with the water and turn it into brine - no moving traffic = no melting snow!
My cul-de-sac was gritted this morning for the first time in 3 years - a blessing as the road surface is in the shade all day at this time of year and can stay iced over for a week at a time. I wonder if today's gritting could have anything to do with the chap over the road recently starting work on the bins? ;-)
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>It mildly infuriates me that the authorities continue to receive all this flak from uneducated layfolk..
As one of the "uneducated layfolk" doling out the "flak" I bow to your superior intellect.
>you need traffic to mix the salt with the water and turn it into brine - no moving traffic = no melting snow!
Many councils (including Hampshire) now use pre-mixed road salt. It doesn't need moving traffic, sticks to the road better and uses 30% less salt than dry salt.
Marvellous innit? You learn something new everyday!
Kevin...
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"It mildly infuriates me that the authorities continue to receive all this flak from uneducated layfolk even though in recent cold spells they have done their level best to spell out how road gritting works - you need traffic to mix the salt with the water and turn it into brine - no moving traffic = no melting snow!"
Hence why I said
"However, main roads have been "wet" rather than icy and on way to Scarborough, there was evidence that snowploughs had been at work. I wonder if they had been out during the night, and gritters, otherwise wouldn't roads have been icy rather than wet?"
I was trying to say that maybe these guys were out doing the job somewhat earlier than me ( I set off at 5.30am). The fact that I was able to do those journeys on wet rather than icy roads suggests that they had done their job on the main routes.
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- you need traffic to mix the salt with thewater and turn it into brine - no moving traffic = no melting snow!"
I heard the salt is mixed with something like molasses ...somebody will know the right stuff ....to make it stick to the road.
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"...nothing used to stop my old Fabia except old BMWs!"
Quite, b308! Octavias are just as good. But it took half an hour to get out of Twyford station car park this evening because of a godforsaken RWD German taxi (not a BMW but they are probably just as bad). Eventually several of us pushed the overpriced white elephant up the hill. And then drove slowly and surely up ourselves.
Edited by Avant on 21/12/2009 at 21:01
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Well I had fun ice skating in the car coming off the A449 at Ombersley (Worcester), straight into a kerb at 30mph. Nursed it home in the dark, looked at it and realised the wheel was no longer round. Phonecall to fleet this morning resulted in them having to call a recovery driver in to bring me a loan car and take the Vectra away. Won't see it again till early Jan!!
Hopefully just a new wheel and maybe a tyre....
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Up here in snowy Cumbria the gritters were out in force today. There is a depot at Penrith and Tebay and the one in Penrith had a steady stream of the yellow trucks rumbling in and out keeping the roads passable.Most motorways, A roads and some of the better used B roads were passable although tonight most of the high level routes are closed but thats not unusual.
I drove round today on country roads quite happily and swimbos 4 x4 made unhindered progress on her routes today.
As an aside is in not strange how the anti 4x4 brigade have gone very quite at present.
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>>Get a FWD with traction control, no point in wasting money on a 4x4
Going to have to disagree with that just on my experiences. I'm not long back home having spent 8.5 hours getting from Northampton to Windsor (95 miles, the first 60 in one hour!) in a Focus diesel, manual with TC and Vredstein Quatrac 3 all season tyres. Previous car was a Legacy that had snow tyres (Quatrac Extremes) and I'd say the Focus was no better than 20% as effective and 1% as confidence inspiring. Mind you tonight was all about snow falling or melting on ice so nothing was going to be great. I still managed to push on past others who had lost the clutch and throttle balancing plot - best bit was letting out two big Mercs from a dealers in Hemel Hempstead and after 15 minutes and 100 yards of fishtailing on the gentlest of inclines seeing the drivers park up, quick chat, lock cars and walk away. Oh, back to the OPs point, I never saw one gritter, but did see about 10 ambulances, 4 fire appliances and countless police vehicles.
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I claim the slowest journey. Left the office in Chessington around 3pm.Was by Bracknell station at 4pm. The 4.9 miles (yes, the scenic route) from there to home took me 5.75 hours. Got in at 21:45, 32 mile journey.
Bracknell and surrounding area totally gridlocked.
Unbelievable. Quite scary on occasions too.
Edited by smokie on 22/12/2009 at 07:14
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I claim the slowest journey. Left the office in Chessington around 3pm.Was by Bracknell station at 4pm. The 4.9 miles (yes the scenic route) to home took me 5.75 hours. Got in at 21:45 32 mile journey.
Sorry.... Caversham to High Wycombe via Beaconsfield.... left at 5.30, arrived home 1.35 thats 8 hours... last 1/4 mile took 45mins!
Biggest problem was cars dumped anywhere and everywhere, and my car didnt give me any tense moments at all.
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Asked a "fiendly" council chappie in our local last year why they had "salted and gritted" all the pavements in town but not the roads.
His reply was: " we`ve had orders from above to only do the "walks" - "if somebody slips on the pavement, it`s a claim against the council, if a couple of cars have a prang, its a claim on thier insurance, no cost to council"
"what if somebody slips crossing the road?? or a car skids up the pavement and hits somebody?" he was asked.
"Dont know! dont think they`ve thought of that!"
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Left Reading about 2pm yesterday - took about 3 hours to travel 25 miles to Camberley. All the main roads were clogged solid (often because there was someone stuck on a slight hill ahead).
Some roads were very slippery - cars (FWD and RWD) struggling to get up the very slightest of slopes. My ABS kicking in at about 2mph with anything more than the slightest dab on the brakes. It had been sleeting earlier, which then got covered in snow to create this amazingly slippery surface.
Managed to make some progress by using back roads. But I did need to use 4x4 traction a few times to keep going.
I was behind a RWD lexus LS200 for about 5 miles (he didn't dare take the back roads though). Textbook driving from him - waiting near the bottom of the slight hills until it was clear, then steady driving to the top.
Much less severe in Camberley - it seems to have been a belt from Basingstoke to Bracknell
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Of course up is Staffordshire Moorlands where councils have some brains, they grit the roads the night before.
Obviously such common sense does not belong further south.
Edited by madf on 22/12/2009 at 08:34
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Mystery solved - they've all migrated to N.W. Wales.
The gritters seem to be out here as soon as we stop wearing t-shirts & shorts.
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Gritters are only required on trunk roads.
Minor roads SHOULD not require gritting
a snow plough if is is deep or drifting
Learn to drive instead
Salt bunkers for the steep bits, apply as necessary
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Gritters are only required on trunk roads......
Hear Hear, most of my problems getting home last night were purely due to people who can't drive, and then others who just dumped cars anywhere, blocking completely passable roads.
my car? 2.0 auto FWD and NO issues anywhere!
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 22/12/2009 at 12:24
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I watched the mayhem in Windsor last night from the comfort of The Lime bar and grill and then struggled to get home due to my two leg drive only working intermittently....
Good night for Windsor's hoteliers by all accounts!
I would concur with some of the comments about people's bad driving, BUT in other's defence I would say that it's pretty hard to drive badly when the traffic isn't even moving. If anyone knows Windsor, Victoria Street up to the roundabout for the bypass was gridlocked, as were the roads past the Hospital and the other road that goes out to the bypass. So if one was stuck in that, as I would have been if I hadn't left my car at the Castle Hotel, then they would have a long journey home regardless of their level of driving skill!
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Good night for Windsor's hoteliers by all accounts!
And Reading - tried to book wife in for the night near where she had abandoned her car, but all 3 hotels nearby were full; Travelodge, Holiday Inn, and Millenium (Madejski). She took temporary refuge in the Holiday Inn, along with many others, where they claimed there weren't enough staff to do the usual bar meals and were charging £20 a head for a buffet instead.
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Ouch! Expensive night....
One of the bars I went in (! there were a few) had a B and B attached and were getting a steady stream of laterooms.com bookings.... unfortunately, their boiler had just gone and they were telling these already hacked off people that there was no heating in the rooms!!
One of my colleagues took 5 hours to get from Windsor to Newbury.... she's not in today. : )
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I just spoke to someone who took over 8 hours to get from Reading to Bracknell! My colleagues who left their cars at the office and went by train had no problems at all. Well done to the railways for once.
The departments responsible for the lack of gritting should hold their heads in shame. Our kids can't play conkers without a crash helmet and goggles and yet the authorities allow our roads to be as deadly as they were last night. Now I suppose we have to put up with even more huge potholes that they cannot afford to fill in.
I wonder if anyone will get a ticket for sliding through a red light or using a bus lane LOL
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The departments responsible for the lack of gritting should hold their heads in shame.
No the the clowns blocking the roads so the gritters can't do their job should try using their brains.
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No the the clowns blocking the roads so the gritters can't do their job should try using their brains.
While no doubt some of the drivers fit that description, I think the snow caught most people around here (Reading) by surprise - I didn't see a single mention of heavy snowfall for our area yeseterday in the forecasts on Sunday. Certainly my wife wouldn't have risked driving over to Daventry if we had seen it coming.
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I would put money on my residential, priority less than 4, road being gritted today or early tomorrow, its bin lorry day tomorrow!
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Old Navy, a question for you.... I made a point in my post earlier about people's skill not being applicable so much if they can't actually move.. do you think that the congestion I saw in Windsor was caused by "clowns" (love that term!) on the M4 so that the roads were blocked further back, or were people genuinely stuck further up? I agree wholeheartedly that many people seem to lack the common-sense to not panic and drive properly in the snow, but I don't think EVERYONE is a clown.
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It takes very few "clowns" to cause gridlock whatever the reason.
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Mmm.. you're probably right! I hope I can get back to the sunny(er) North on Xmas Eve without having to go via Billy Smart's!!! Don't fancy a remake of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
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>>> Tell them that bazza and perro think that they should slow down.. <<<
Well, we had one or two flakes of snow down here in Sunny Cornwall and it took me 1 hour to cover 5 miles, which equates to ... 5 MPH.
The B roads were very icy and there has been a spate of accidents - nuffink like you lot 'up country' though ... some people are a tad over causious I would say, but then they are not me are they.
The Ole Almera was ok over the ice & snow - even though it needs 4 new tyres!
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Well, up here in Southport we had about half an inch yesterday morning and an inch and a half overnight last night. Yesterday morning was chaos:
tinyurl.com/yj9ehom
This morning seems to be a little better, though I've not ventured out yet. I've got to go to a hospital out in the sticks shortly so we'll see how the rural roads are faring.
My step-kids have to come back from Manchester late on Christmas Eve so I hope all the snow and ice has gone by then. It'll be a nervous wait once they've let us know that they've left. Neither me nor my fiancee will be able to relax until they burst through the front door dispensing Christmas cheer!
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It looks really, really dangerous on those roads Badwolf - reminds me of when I was a kyd and used to go ice skating with the school :(
It should warm up towards xmas day so you should be ok on xmas eve - have a good'n.
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Just seen 2 gritters in Bracknell!!!!! and they were gritting. Well Done at last Bracknell
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Didn't trains use to be self-gritting, with tubes feeding a trickle of grit onto the rail just in front of the driving wheels?
Perhaps there are after-market attachments for cars?
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They still are it's sand to give grip in leaf fall season and on wet rail heads.
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The gritter lorry has just come round our cul-de-sac for the second time in two days.
Well done Barnet council!
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At one point there were around 2000 vehicles stranded in Basingstoke last night. There are still over 400 left where they were abandoned. Five Emergency Centres were setup to accommodate those affected.
Main roads are now OK but side roads are still skating rinks of packed snow and ice. Local forecast is for -6C tonight and pre-wetted road salt is not as effective below -5C so it isn't going to be any better tomorrow.
I'm working from home and the birds are going bonkers on the feeders in the garden. Mrs. K. put out a ploughmans (apple, cheese, mealie worms and sunflower hearts) on the lawn and the groundfeeders are fighting over it.
Just had a Local Government spokeswoman on Sky News who seemed to contradict herself. She first claimed that gritters were unable to operate because of blocked roads and then, when she was reminded of the weather forecast, she claimed that gritters were out before the gridlock. It was just unusually bad weather.
I came past the gritter depot at J7 of the M3 yesterday afternoon and there was no visible activity - go figure.
The AA is also taking a swipe at Hants Council because Edmund King was stuck on the Basingstoke Ring Road, tee-hee!
Finally, a couple of tips for anyone driving an XJ (or similar RWD auto) in these conditions.
a) Switch off Traction/Stability control.
b) At low speeds/crawl drop the transmission into neutral before braking. If you don't, the front wheels will lock while the rear are still turning and any road camber will take you.
c) When setting off - handbrake and footbrake on, into Drive and release footbrake, let it pull away slowly on tickover using the handbrake as a manual traction control.
d) Don't get upset by the single wiper blade packing snow against the bottom of the windscreen, get out and brush it off ;-)
Take care folks.
Kevin...
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Maybe I'm thinking a little too cynically, but is it outside the realms of possibility for local parking authorities to have a field day here with all the abandoned cars? Some of them must have been abandoned on double yellows. I know that the parking rats around here would need absolutely no encouragement...
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What a spiffing idea!
Give the blighters a shovel and tell 'em to find the double yellows, only way we'll get the roads clear.
Kevin...
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Just had word that my niece is currently in labour in the back of a mountain rescue vehicle. Not bad considering she lives in the middle of Tameside, Gtr Manchester! Snow is so thick the ambulance couldn't get through.
Nothing at all around my way, other than some ice and bright blue skies! :)
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Now then ... We don't talk poly ticks on here because the mods will kick it into the long grass but - if we had all the dosh that the incumbent afforsaid's had spent in the last 11 years, we could afford to install under-road heating on all A roads in the UK.
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We have no gritters because the Met Office forecast 2009 would be a mild winter...
Preliminary indications continue to suggest that winter temperatures are likely to be near or above average over much of Europe including the UK. Winter 2009/10 is likely to be milder than last year for the UK, but there is still a 1 in 7 chance of a cold winter
www.metoffice.gov.uk/science/creating/monthsahead/...l
They also forecast in April 2009 that the summer would be hot and much drier than 2008.
They also have forecast the summer of 2010 is going to be very hot.
(And they are of course prime movers in Man Made Global Warming but that is poyticks)
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I would surmise that if one cannot see the road markings due to snow, one can park wherever. In all innocence mind>
i debated in parking on a location where i know there to be yellow lines below the snow , just at lunchtime there, but found a proper spot instead.
iffen I hadda, I would have photoed, be a blinking nuiscence if the snow melted & I got a ticket before i retd.
Ps
J turns are great in the snow, pull handbrake on, full lock, and let her at it.
tee hee
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I would surmise that if one cannot see the road markings due to snow one can park wherever.
My mother was done for parking on a road which had recently been resurfaced, but on which the yellow lines had not yet been repainted. The judge said that as a local she must have known (it was the town high street)
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Normally where there are yellow lines aren't there also signs on a post?
Edited by b308 on 22/12/2009 at 15:43
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Marlot
I suspect if your mother had fought it furthur she might have won.
seeing as there have been a rash of cases recently to this effect ie yellow lines lacking the block at the end etc . not being deemed valid( he thinks he recalls)
However iffen she parked right at the said post it could have been reasonably difficult to argue ignorance.
PS
How did the judge establish she was a local?
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I live in West Yorkshire and have to say the gritters have been excellent, doing our residential
street up to three times a day all roads clear no problems.
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According to a guy from the Council on 5 live:
Roads around Reading were gritted during the morning, it then rained heavily which washed off the salt and this rain turned to very heavy snow. Snow landed on very cold roads with no salt, people saw the snow and rushed to the roads.
Gritters then had no chance as they were stuck in traffic and the road salt needs moving traffic for it to work effectively.
He did have a point that even without snow if everyone in Reading left work at the same time it would result in gridlock!
Our gritter has been seen three times day for the last week. Last time was about 5pm this evening. He may be round again later as there are snow flurries, if not I expect to see him tomorrow morning about 7am when it's due to be -5ish again.
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Basingstoke apears to have been stricken by an enormous snowfall, if the BBC script is to be believed. The visual evidence is of something of the order of 2-3 inches. The cause of the hold-up appears to be i) driver incompetence ii) excessive reliance on cars. Up in higher latitiudes, with 12" of snow (oddly not regarded as a plague of biblical proportions) there appears not to have been quite so much hysteria, nor major delays. Probably as a result of being outside the pale:) An annual amusement, the SE emphasis on the SE.
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Probably as a result of being outside the pale:) An annual amusement the SE emphasis on the SE.
>>
Bunch of drama queens. :-)
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Have just got back from New York after a long weekend. Saturday afternoon and night saw 10" of snow. The sheer amount of 24hour traffic seemed to keep the road surfaces clear. The dustcarts had chains and snow ploughs fitted and used to clear the roads. Now that's making the best use of resources! Pavements were being cleared and salted by countless workers. There was an armada of those small hand operated snow blowers.
Had a walk down to Ground Zero and saw that even before the snow had started their bendy buses had chains fitted. There is something quite perverse sitting in a Burger King sipping coffee overlooking the redevelopment of the site.
The snow only lasted 24 hours but they seemed to cope admirably. Someone told me a lot of the vehicles tend to go for 'all weather' tyres.
However CNN showed other states with greater snowfall had ground to a halt.
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"....people saw the snow and rushed to the roads." (Daveyjp, above)
That was my impression too. Driving on a bridge over the A329 last night (about 7.15 pm, the long way home from Twyford station) I saw hundreds of cars stopped, queuing to get into Reading.
Morons. That was a night to stay at home and not get the car out, let alone go into Reading.
Fortunately drivers on my road were going sensibly at 10-15 mph and not repeatedly braking, which is so often what causes delays and accidents in these conditions.
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Old Navy is correct all councils have a set gritting route. These include major bus routes and main roads to and from hospitals ,fire stations etc. You can usually view these routes for where you live on their websites or the free newspapers they send out.
Here in East Yorks gritters have done a good job .
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Avant, your impression was wrong. Much of the area (and I mean MUCH of it) was gridlocked. As I've mentioned now a million times, I spent 5.75 hours getting from Bracknell to Wokingham. Traffic was gridlocked in all directions, not just towards Reading. You were lucky if you were not affected. If you live or work in the area, speak to friends/colleagues. I'm sure you will find that the problem was a bit more widespread than people choosing to go shopping in Reading.
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Morons. That was a night to stay at home and not get the car out let alone go into Reading.
I should think most of them were trying to get home!
I ran back home from Early station along the A329 - virtually nothing going into Reading, stationary nose-to-tail coming out.
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Credit where credit's due. Had a parcel collected by FedEx Monday 2pm in Motherwell, delivered Tuesday 10am Camberley. (400+ miles) Something's working OK.
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That would be the lorry drivers then:)
Pat
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