Why does the UK grind to a halt with a little snow?

robbiemc · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:49

tb2000 said:
Whereabouts is this/are you located jbod?

In in Woking, Surrey and it's exactly the same depth here.

JBod · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:49

tb2000 said:
Whereabouts is this/are you located jbod?

Coulsdon, Surrey. For the record I did try to get to my local station early this morning and it looked like this:

philjohn · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:50

Meh, I work from home all the time so it isn't affecting me.

Maybe this will make more companies see the benefits of telecommuting.

Hate · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:50

Was meant to be my first day of a new job today, but got told to stay at home.

Love having a 4WD car

wiltonson · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:52

Me and a colleague tried to get to Guildford from Reading and we start our journey at 6.30am. While driving out of Reading we almost hit a bus at a roundabout, almost hit the kerb couple of times. When we heard about the road closure at Guildford, we gave up and drove back as it has taken us twice the time to get on the M25.

MrMoonX · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:52

i cant even get out of my road in Guildford, Surrey let alone attempt the 6 miles to work, work is in the back end of beyond so will be 10x worse there

Kennysevenfold · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:53

because its like 1/2 days a year we get snow like this so theres no point in going over the top in preperation for a little drop of snow, theave that to the poles

mohawk · 2 Feb 2009 at 11:57

At least when this happens it makes my job easier, all the schools close and we get no phone calls from them because of it.

i had no problem getting to work, donned my snowboarding gear and walking boots cleared the car off drove without any problems in a bout 3-4 inches of snow, parked and walked the rest like i normally do.

not sure why so many people have issued around this area, the roads werent dangerous at all.

Maxi Marra · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:00

This was Basingstoke's bus service this morning, stacking like dominoes. most of the cars had slipped to a standstill.

cars & buses had blocked the other end of the road to so our whole street was blocked in.

They did get a tractor with a plough so far, but gave up when he couldn't get through and left a baracade of snow across the road haha.

Langlest · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:00

there was a car outside my house thismorning and the wheels were just spinning

i enjoy a bit of snow tho, makes me want to run outside and start building a snowman

view from my bedroom window

Sankari · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:02

JBod said:
And this is what happens to the "heroes" who think they still drive:

It helps if you clear the roof and windows first. Simple, really.

Pudney · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:02

That picture just reminded me of traffic reports this morning. Apparently about 30 lorries got stuck on the A12 at a hill, they couldnt get up and where just stationary. Made me giggle in my car.

Chimerical · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:04

ignore

theNude · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:05

i am in EC3 at the moment and the city is pretty dead. i didnt have to que in Subway.

its a mixture of laziness and poor preperation but mostly as we dont get much snow, a colleage lives 3 miles from the office - walking distance but it is quite cold out.

Dracata · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:05

Whilst I agree with how ridiculous it is that the country is bought to a standstill, it's not the "measly 3 inches of snow" you mentioned in your OP, at least not where I live.

On the backroads near our flat, everything is covered in ice, which is covered in a huge layer of snow. I saw multiple car bumps/nudges as I drove to work this morning, it was reaaally bad to drive in.

stone_cold_Jimi · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:06

I love it. Every time we all adopt the practical response to a short weather inconvenience, the self-flagellants wheel themselves out wailing "Why oh why can't we deal with a little bit of <insert inconvenient weather here>...". Get over it. Enjoy a free day's holiday. Celebrate the fact. Keep you barbed whip away from me.

Nice pic of Coulsdon South btw, that's a keeper. Everything is just as it should be. Enjoy

ScarySquirrel · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:08

NathanE said:
The UK is probably the hardest working in Europe. We have fewest national holidays and it's only recently that the EU has started trying to balance things out for us by introducing more compulsory holiday days (25 minimum now).

Are you serious? Have you got a link to this because I only get a measly 20 days holiday a year, 3 of which get taken for Christmas by default!

Mull3t · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:09

I get 25, 4 of which get held back for Xmas, and I think some other holiday, and then I get 21 to take as I please..

Pudney · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:10

ScarySquirrel said:
Are you serious? Have you got a link to this because I only get a measly 20 days holiday a year, 3 of which get taken for Christmas by default!

Do you get bank holidays off? They count as part of the 25 so if you have all UK bank holidays you only get an additional 15 days (I think it's 10 bank holidays).

ScarySquirrel · 2 Feb 2009 at 12:12

Pudney@work said:
Do you get bank holidays off? They count as part of the 25 so if you have all UK bank holidays you only get an additional 15 days (I think it's 10 bank holidays).

Oh right, yeah I get bank holidays off as well.

I just read this though:

Every worker – whether part-time or full-time – covered by these regulations is entitled to 4.8 weeks (24 days if you work a five day week) pro-rata for those working part-time. This will increase to 5.6 weeks (28 days if you work a five day week) from 1 April 2009. This includes workers who are subject to the Road Transport Directive.

So will we see an increase?