Have you been affected by the snow?

Question

The heaviest snow of the winter has hit large areas of the UK, closing schools and disrupting transport.

Luton, Stansted, Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham airports have closed runways and train services have also been affected.

North America and Europe have been struck by some of the coldest weather of the year, getting as cold as -22C in Winnipeg and Chicago, and -31C in Helsinki.

Has your commute been affected? Have your children got the day off school? How well prepared was your local council for the bad weather? Has the snow brought you a day of fun or misery? What's the weather like on the other side of the Atlantic?

Answer 1

I finished my night shift at 6AM and was relieved on time OK. It was snowing heavily during my 9 mile drive back to my flat in Reading yet on the way i observed the Police working hard dealing with crime and accidents, ambulance people working dealing with accidents, the fire brigade (retained staff) working helping people in trouble, the buses running because staff had reported for work OK, the trains running though with some difficulty due to frozen points in places but staff on duty, and on passing the Royal Mail sorting office they too were hard at work and mail was later delivered on time. That is of course typical of the British spirit. I duly went to bed and when I woke up and later heard all these Reports on Sky News about the huge number of office workers who had used the weather as an excuse for staying at home costing British Industry millions etc. As for schools, round near me the children mostly turned up on time BUT the school was closed because the teaching staff had used the weather as an excuse not to come into work, so the children missed a valuable day's education.

This was the first heavy snow we have had in Thames Valley for about two years! Yet going back 30 years we got this sort of weather for many weeks at a time every winter, and it did not seem to cause any work problems then? Nor does it where my Brother lives in Canada, where they have snow on ground for periods of 4 months+ every year and working life just carries on as normal and how they laugh at the Brits.

Does not what happened yesterday in UK show just how decadent and idle certain sections of the UK working poipulation have become in recent years, looking for any excuse to stay in bed inrtead of going into work, office workers seem to be the mosy guilty of letting the country down due their laziness!

Answer 2

Absolutely Yes. Everything You Can Think Of From Planes To Trains To Automobiles Are Affected By Snow And Just About Any Harsh Weather Including Storms And Many Other Things Which The Snow Can Cause Delays Because A Train Company Might Have To Provide A Speed Restriction Of Less Than The Regular Speed Also Another Thing That Could Happen Would Be A Derailment Which Is Kind Of Rare But Anything Can Happen. The Train Would Not Be Canceled. I Have Seen Trains Here In America (Amtrak) That Have Been Half A Day Late (Twelve Hours) And Maybe Even Longer But They Would Most Likely Not Be Canceled. Also I Am Not Sure About Where You Are But Here In Chicago The Tracks In Mostly Yards Are Heated By Something So The Track Switch Could Be Easily Moved Back And Forth Without Having To Smack The Ice And Shove The Snow Off Of The Switch.

Answer 3

Couple of inches maximum here - normally much worse as I'm high on a hill out in the country.

Has your commute been affected? - I work from home so unless the roof blows off my commute from bedroom to office is snow free.

Have your children got the day off school? - No children but the schools round here were open.

How well prepared was your local council for the bad weather? - A gritter passed this way about a week ago, they may since have sneaked past un-noticed but in the main they've not done much. People round here have gritted the paths and roads themselves.

Has the snow brought you a day of fun or misery? - No change other than sweeping snow off the paths and I walked into the next village instead of driving (avoid icy roads).

Answer 4

I have had 2 days off school!! And its snowing soo heavy you cant see where you are going its crazy. No i dont think they were tbh.. FUN FUN FUN sledging yaya im such a kid =] might as well make the most of it, after all according to the weather people the uk isnt meant to have any snow after 2020!! Im in the uk and ive had 4 inches of the stuff its great

Answer 5

Ok hows this for me and my boyfriend.

1. He is in the Navy and got orders to go to FMF. (Fleet Marine Force, getting deployed in Nov) Well he was up at Great Lakes this weekend and guess what his car broke down. Nothing serious just the computer. He found out his car doesn't work in subzero degree temperature, so instead of sunday night coming home it was monday night coming home. Plus he doesn't have his car, its still up in Chicago.

2. We live in Indiana and for the most part, we are prepared each and every winter but the roads out here ARE SLICK AND HAVE ICE. I got to go to IL this monday and we are suspected to get more snow then, so I got to take it EXTRA EXTRA CAREFUL.

3. For a week straight, the local high school has been closed. That is a first for this high school cause usually they only have 2 hr delays.

4. I have never remember it being this cold for this long. I have a medical condition and when it gets this cold I can maybe be actually outside (not counting in the car) for like 5 minutes. I am used to being outside and going for walks, this is driving me nuts.

5. I haven't been able to get to my doctors appts. and its critical that I have those. I hope I can get to mine today.

6. I am a devout catholic and hated the fact that I can't go to church this weekend, it will be my first weekend in 12 years that I didn't go.

7. My boyfriend (for his civie job, yes he has 2 jobs) has to walk a mile in this freezing cold weather to get to work. Thats not much but when its this dangerous in temperatures, yeah its bad.

Anyway thats a little bit of what we have to go through in Indiana.

Answer 6

I was affected a lttle bit, but it was great because we never get so much snow and the kids all loved it, the view was amazing! But i agree the roads were very dangerous, and the airport closures where a big problem. But we probly won't get so much snow for a very long time so i took plenty of photos of the winter wonderland we had!

Answer 7

Its only really affected my childs school,he's been off for two days so i had to find emergency childcare as i have to go to work.I dont like the snow as it creates such dangerous conditions whether driving or walking.Think of the old people,how do they get about? Apparantly we are due some more too today.ggrrrrrrr

Answer 8

I have had to walk to work for the second day, the kids are off school and so is the wife (teacher) not fair

Answer 9

no as i said would happen none in southampton well we had a couple of cm through the small hours but it was gone by mid morning it wasnnt even enough to scoop up a snowball

Answer 10

Stuck in wales yesterday for 4 hours!