A Front Just Blew In From Russia

[poliphilo]

I believe London is shut down this morning. No trains, no tube. At least that's what Ailz tells me. And she got it directly from Terry Wogan.
 
Up here, of course, in the hardy north, we don't let a little thing like this discourage us.

Comments

[jfs.livejournal.com]

It's pretty much shut down. No buses, trains delayed by 30 minutes or more and in many cases not running at all.

London depends on public transport, and this is (apparently) the heaviest snow we've had in 30 years. The networks aren't (and shouldn't be) prepared for this.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Of course I was bragging emptily about the north being able to cope. There's a warning out to stay indoors.

And the snow continues to fall

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

We would be glad, here, if that's all the snow we had. We've had over 120 inches this season, and a good share of it is STILL on the ground.

It's hard for me to imagine that people can't find a way to get around in that little bit of snowy, but if it's unusual, then of course the country would come to a standstill.

sissies! (teasing...really!)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Britain comes to a standstill whever there's heavy snow. We just don't have the infrastructure.

And it's still snowing...

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Our problem here in the UK is that we get snow for a couple of days per year, and normally it's just a flurry. Investing in serious snow-clearing equipment that sits idle for 363 days of the year is not something local councils can afford to do.

The news said this is the worst snow for 18 years. The last time we had serious snow must have been the year I took the photo in the icon, which was early 90s.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Apparently there is a foot of snow in Guildford / winchester / Basingstoke etc. I flew out to Philly before it started.

Over in the US there are mini snow ploughs you can buy to bolt on to the front of a pick-up truck, and the hotel car parks and shopping mall streets get cleared that way. And there are guys who will come and clear your drive - the same people who cut your grass in the summer.

We just don't have that in the UK. But, everyone in my office can work from home using a Virtual Private Network if they have a broadband link, so why don't we work from home all the time?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I just went out and measured our snow with a ruler. It's four inches deep- and still falling.

It amuses me the way the country grinds to a halt every time this happens.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I'm betting that there are some people excited about the snow! You know that to us that is nothing to worry over. *grin*

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Excited about the snow? Me for one. I see it as a photo-opportunity.

I just watched a bunch of the neighbours throwing snowballs at one another in the road.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I wish we still had that kind of enthusiasm.

You are not having power problems, right?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No, not that I've heard. Things are certainly OK round here. It's just transport that's all snarled up

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

We had about 8 inches of snow in Colchester over about a twenty-four-hour period. By teatime yesterday it had stopped snowing and started raining though, then we had the big freeze overnight, and we now have an ice rink instead, which is way more dodgy than fresh snow, so having a stay-indoors day. Yesterday was fun, snowballing and so forth. We are lucky in that because we don't have to live with snow for more than a day or so usually, and often it is barely a dusting, we get to enjoy it when we do get a decent amount.
London was closed down from what I heard. No buses moving, and no trains into London from Colchester.