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What the hell is wrong with the South and Snow?
late8
Posts: 7,175 Forum Member
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Is it the people or the bloody News??
I'm sorry but it has snowed in the past and has snowed deeper than this, but it seems people and the news are going a little OTT.
All you hear about is the BIG FREEZE "den sewff".
A lot of the focus is on the South of the UK where airports and roads have virtually stopped over 1-2 inches of snow. :eek:
Conveniently forgetting than only 2weeks ago Scotland and the North had well over a foot - yes 30+cm. Manchester airport is running normally after 15-20cm fell on Friday-Sat and temps last night were near -20 here.
Driving back from London- I was shocked at the amount of drivers in and around the city who were just going way too fast for the conditions. A lot were also thinking that if they pressed the accelerator more they wouldn't skid when setting off !
I cant ever remember there being so much focus, stupidity and hysterics about the Snow before. And with every cold spell it seems to be getting worse. Even the weather centres are issuing red alerts for 5-10cm and 0-4C-
I'm sorry but it has snowed in the past and has snowed deeper than this, but it seems people and the news are going a little OTT.
All you hear about is the BIG FREEZE "den sewff".
A lot of the focus is on the South of the UK where airports and roads have virtually stopped over 1-2 inches of snow. :eek:
Conveniently forgetting than only 2weeks ago Scotland and the North had well over a foot - yes 30+cm. Manchester airport is running normally after 15-20cm fell on Friday-Sat and temps last night were near -20 here.
Driving back from London- I was shocked at the amount of drivers in and around the city who were just going way too fast for the conditions. A lot were also thinking that if they pressed the accelerator more they wouldn't skid when setting off !
I cant ever remember there being so much focus, stupidity and hysterics about the Snow before. And with every cold spell it seems to be getting worse. Even the weather centres are issuing red alerts for 5-10cm and 0-4C-
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So you weren't on DS last year when we had virtually identical threads to yours complaining about the way the South had handled the snow compared to the North.
Because less snow is had less often, they're simply not prepared for it so it causes more disruption than it otherwise would up north.
ALL you hear about is them banging on about news reports from the south. Conveniently forgetting about the numerous reports from the north and scotland about weather conditions there.
Is it the people or just a select few whingers?
We had about 5 inches on snow on Saturday, but it fell very quickly and driving in it was difficult as visibility was so poor. It fell again overnight so there is about 7 inches of snow in my garden now.
I know it's not like the 1ft+ of snow in Scotland, but it's hardly 1 inch deep.
It is also very cold. It was -12 when we got into work this morning. Still, 95% of people have turned up for work and the trains were running on time.
We cope a bit worse than the North and Scotland because we're not as used to it. Weather is generally a bit better down here. We're also more densely populated, so that means busier roads and more accidents.
It's not as bad as the news is making out because they like to sensationalise things.
To be honest, having grown up in Newcastle and now living in East Anglia, I dont' think any bit of the UK is any better or worse at handling snow than the other. I think health and safety has made society more cautious - I've driven in thick snow with an old 1983 reg metro with barely any heating around Newcastle but found myself faintly alarmed by snow driving a Qashqai yesterday which is much better equipped. Lack of severe winters in the last decade almost makes us forget how to manage too.
Havent seen the NEWS so not sure what they are saying but I commute in 70 miles through Kent to Central London - got in ok all be it 20 mins late. Everybody else is in too.
I guess were not doing too badly in the big bad south!!
In the south (where I am and always have been), I have to admit that people seem to get up at the normal time and just expect everything to work. Then they hear the trains are stuck due to frozen points, a broken train, overhead lines falling down and they start to moan - and mention how everything always works fine 'in Europe'. Of course, it doesn't - but they ignore all the chaos that you can see on any foreign news website, Euronews etc.
People get stranded in their vehicles that weren't even cleared so they could see out the window, have summer tyres with questionable tread-depth (or even someone near me that is still driving day in day out with one emergency 'get you home' tyre fitted) or think that if they have a 4x4 that having all four wheels driven will prevent you skidding and it makes braking safer - but again, still on those summer tyres. The BBC even had a video telling people how to drive on ice - but surely that should be part of the driving test as it is abroad?
Perhaps people in the south (and London in particular) just don't know what to do in snow. They don't even think for one second that perhaps they might be better off staying at home. Look at Twitter and you'll see that plenty of people are still 'forced' to go to parties and see friends, then get stuck for hours. Was that an essential journey? A stark contrast to those who NEED to get to work or perhaps have a job helping others in the community.
One thing that those people 'in Europe' do know is that there comes a point where you let Mother Nature win. We really do seem to believe life carries on as normal and if the roads aren't cleared and all evidence of snow removed within minutes, the council isn't doing its job.
I can imagine the uproar if this weather become more common (as it may in the next 10-20 years for all we know) and the Government starts telling us we MUST fit snow tyres on our vehicles - and prosecute the idiots that drive in bad weather without them and get stranded or cause pileups. However, that would actually make a huge difference in keeping things moving.
Not exactly rocket science?
Plus the impact of somewhere like Heathrow affecting half a million people is quite newsworthy.
We should be bashing the whole country, its only a little snow. We should know that we're likely to get it, and should be better prepared. Russia/Finland etc function with more why can't we?
Absolutely right. When things go wrong, it can take hours (even days) to clear the backlog.
The fact is, when millions of people (literally) try to get around or into the capital every day, things will go pear shaped VERY quickly.
People need to think less of what others will do to help them and what they will do to help themselves. Part of that is making the decision on whether to travel, and what you'll do if things go wrong. And if you do get caught in exceptionally bad weather, just phoning the BBC to moan live on air isn't actually a solution.
... is the right answer.
There are always thousands of people trying to go somewhere, whether on foot, by car or by public transport. A minor interruption causes major disruption.
Also I think people don't quite grasp the density of the population (no pun intended). Our local council has to serve something like 300,000 people in an area only a few miles across. They sent the gritters out yesterday (Sunday) but I can't imagine they could cover every single road in the borough - it would just take far too long.
Because Russia/Finland get far more snow and are used to it and have also spent far more money on solving the problem.
In which case, we should also be bashing France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy as their transport infrastructure has been severely effected by the weather.
Have you seen the news? Even Moscow is virtually at a standstill due to the heavy snow and they're always prepared for it.
They also do suffer a great deal of disruption. But people are used to the disruption, and don't moan about it quite as much as they do here.
I firmly beleive that if the UK is gonna start having winters like this again then its about time to start spending some money winterizing your cars up with stronger more powerful batteries, antifreeze, better tyres, keep your winsdheild washer resevoirs full and add de-icing liquids like Prestone in it as well!! Also start carrying survival kits in your cars as well, like blankets, shovels, grit(even cat litter is usefull), first aid kit, emergency food and drink supplies, and for those who are on constant regular medication like insulin, make sure you always carry them with you cos you never know if you are gonna be stranded and for how long!!!
Its time to change our lifestyles now to adapt!!!:D:D:D
Heathrow and Gatwick are two of the busiest airports in the country, and they happen to be in the south. There'd still be the same issues with such busy airports if they were elsewhere in the country, it's just what happens when it's so snowy and planes aren't de-iced enough or runways aren't safe enough. Just as example, here is a picture from the SEASU helicopter of Gatwick Airport from above:
Gatwick Airport
There's no way they'd class that as safe enough to remain open (I certainly wouldn't want to be on a plane attempting to land in that!), and with major airports, closing them is going to cause huge problems for a long time.
This is also a view from the SEASU cockpit while they were landing. Now obviously an aeroplane is not the same as a helicopter. But you can still see how bad visibility is. And airports aren't going to take a risk with that.
The north is certainly having problems too (hence the delays with Amazon, who are struggling so badly partly because one of their main warehouses is in Scotland). Everywhere is struggling to cope, because we're not prepared for the amount of snow there's been (we had around 6-8 inches a few weeks back, and maybe 3-4 this time, but it's ice causing the problems, not snow).
There will be a lot of focus on the south of England, because our country's capital is in the south. But the problems certainly aren't just in the south - Cardiff's airport is shut, there are major delays in Scotland, Birmingham, I seem to recall hearing about major delays on the M6 this week, and if nothing else, the south has had a lot more than 1-2 inches in places.
I think sometimes it's just tradition for people to moan about the south as soon as there's any snow. Parts of the south are bad, parts are fine. Parts of the north are bad, parts are fine.
There was a reporter on the lunchtime news standing in a shopping centre car park which was perfectly clear. He seemed upset to report people were carrying on as normal.
Never mind last year, I spotted loads just a few weeks ago!