Where as I agree the weatherfolk do over-egg the supposed 'severity' of weather much of the time, you'd be stupid to suggest the sort of snowfall set to hit Wales tonight isn't problematic. People who just grab the keys and leap in the car as if it's an August afternoon are the most dangerous, they're the ones with no grasp of an icy road and no understanding that a big alloy with painted-on-tyres actually can't get up that hill.

I find it depressing the weatherman has to tell us to charge the mobile phone, maybe take a shovel and at least have a coat in the car. People should be sensible enough to know that but people who venture out in the snow could be deemed rather unsensible in the first place.

It's now 50 years since the big freeze of 1963, now that was an extreme winter by any measurement. Were we to face such a situation today how on earth would folks cope dressed in the flimsy clothes they wear today when out and about or if stranded in a vehicle in the middle of nowhere ?

I was a schoolkid in Banffshire - 4 miles from the nearest town in 1963. Our local road had 12 foot high snow drifts which stayed for 12 weeks - ploughs had other priorities. Our coal shed was across the road - coal fires and Rayburn ) - my dad had to dig through a 20foot wide 12 foot high drift to get more cola. (The day after the storm was cold and sunny so ideal for digging).

Temperatures? Don't know. Sea amouth of River Deveron was covered with ice from river.

We went to bed in unheated bedrooms with aluminium hot water bottles covered in a wool cover - or they burned your feet.

Kitchen with rayburn was the only warm room - except teh dining room in evening with a coal fire .. a a huge draught of incoming cold air to replace the air up the chimney.

Ice on the insides of windows for 2 weeks.. We cooked by elctricity and had no power cust so lucky.

Cloting: vests / full length flannel shirts/wool trousers/jersyes x3.. thick woollen socks. Thick woolen gloves. scarves. Hats..Wellies or thick shoes. Jerkin.

Always having a warm kitchen meant no-one ever got seriously cold.

In todays -5C I have thermals/longjohns, thick shirt/fleece x2, woollen socks / thick shoes/ hat/scarves /2 x gloves - inner silk/outer wool.. Jerkin outside.

Aaprt from less hair and more body hair I am basically unchanged . As is my clothing style.

I would expect a repaet of 1963 would see multiple deaths of drunks exiting nightclus and dying of hypothermia.

Modern thermal clothing is readily available and very very cheap compared to 1963. But common sense and self protection is far less.

Edited by madf on 18/01/2013 at 13:25

Two things to remember about 4x4s in snow and ice.

1) It will probably get you further in the snow than an ordinary car, but that might mean that you get stuck further away from help.

2) A 4x4 might be able to keep going better on an icy surface but it won't stop any quicker!

I tried to get into work this morning - a 17 mile drive mostly on motorway. Got about three miles before it ground to a halt, so decided to turn around a come home. The radio was reporting the A3 at Butser (where it goes over the Downs) was likely to be closed soon. Have done a bit of WFH, but I really need to be at work to do my job. The office has now been officially closed - so it's an extra days holiday!!

A couple of thoughts though on what I saw this morning. I'm on the south coast near Portsmouth and at 8am we had about 4cm of snow - 10 to 15 cm now and still falling. Roads were slippery, even the motorway. Why do drivers not use the outside lane (of a two lane motorway) even when it's fairly clear? In my view it's a case of if you don't use it, you lose it. Grit relies on traffic to make it work.

A petrol tanker was stuck on a very slight incline getting out of the filling station. There is a lot of comment on here about incompetent drivers, but if a professional driver was getting stuck in a little snow, there is little hope for the rest of us. And what's the use of winter tyres if the car in front blocking the road hasn't got them?

My lazy cow of a neighbour got in her car this morning. Front wipers on, rear wiper on, lowered front windows about 6 inches (obviously then the snow falls in the car). She then reversed out of her drive and off down the road. There was no ice on the windows, just snow. How difficult is it to brush that off with your hand?

Rant over.

Edited by Chris M on 18/01/2013 at 11:29

It's time the UK made it compulsory that all vehicles must be fitted with winter tyres, as per they do in Germany. A lot of incidents/accidents would be prevented and people’s lives saved.

Are the UK politicians educated enough and/or aware of this fact I wonder ?

Never found the need to fit winter tyres to my car. We have had a good 8-10 inches of snow over the weekend and my polo with summer tyres (hankooks)never faultered once. People just need to learn to drive to suit the conditions and treat the car gently.

As with fair weather driving if there is an idiot behind the wheel theres going to be an accident.

Edited by Paul87 on 22/01/2013 at 21:51

It's time the UK made it compulsory that all vehicles must be fitted with winter tyres, as per they do in Germany. A lot of incidents/accidents would be prevented and people’s lives saved.

It's time the UK made it illegal for citizens to go outside. Many, if not all, deadly accidents would be prevented and peoples lives saved.

It's time the UK made it compulsory that all vehicles must be fitted with winter tyres, as per they do in Germany. A lot of incidents/accidents would be prevented and people’s lives saved.

Are the UK politicians educated enough and/or aware of this fact I wonder ?

And you then had problems on black ise: which winter tyres would have not helped at all on.

Waste of money..

It's time the UK made it compulsory that all vehicles must be fitted with winter tyres, as per they do in Germany. A lot of incidents/accidents would be prevented and people’s lives saved.

Are the UK politicians educated enough and/or aware of this fact I wonder ?

Our politicians, or at least their Civil Servants will have looked at this and considered, for good reason, it's not needed.

Germany is a big place and has weather ranging from Baltic to Alpine/Black Forest etc. Mostly distant from an Atlantic/North Sea Coast it's climate is different to ours.

The UK, under influence of warming sea currents, is genarally cool temperate. Away from Scots/Welsh mountains and Pennines severe frosts and heavy snow are rare. We lived here in Northants for eighteen years with only one or two significant feeze ups/snowfalls. Only in last few years has there been a return of deep or long lying snow and periods of days where daytime temp stays below zero. Whether that's reversion to mean or climate change is a matter of speculation.

There's a point at which snow tyres become a liability (6-10C?). The first week of january we were seeing 13-15 at midday with grass greening on verges!!

Edited by Bromptonaut on 23/01/2013 at 11:38