It's snowing

Epic trip back to Sheffield from near Bakewell last night. Very glad of my winter tyres but was in convoy with family that didn't have them. Lent my old snow socks to my sister and she went round collecting people that had got stuck. Everyone back home in the end but 2+ hour journey for one that would normally take half an hour.
 
So people are complaining the roads service isn't doing enough.

NgKVUSg.jpg


Yup that's right, it all someone else's fault that you're stuck.
 
The UK's lack of preparedness for snow always makes me chuckle. I always think that the councils will be more prepared the next year and they invariably never are. :(

Oh well, I moved to California and it's a rare day when it goes below 5 degrees C. :) It's expected to hit 20 degrees C today.

I'm currently in Montreal, Canada, visiting family friends for the Christmas break. Canada has snow clearing and salting down to a tee.
 
jon86 said:
The UK's lack of preparedness for snow always makes me chuckle. I always think that the councils will be more prepared the next year and they invariably never are. :(

Oh well, I moved to California and it's a rare day when it goes below 5 degrees C. :) It's expected to hit 20 degrees C today.

I'm currently in Montreal, Canada, visiting family friends for the Christmas break. Canada has snow clearing and salting down to a tee.
Click to expand...

Dealing with the heavy snow is part of life in Canada so they are bound to be prepared. Snow in the UK is a rare and unpredictable occurrence, so they cant afford to grit the roads every day just in case.

But yeah, omg we are so un prepared!!! Someone needed pushing up a hill in a reliant robin (which probably needs pushing uphill even when it isnt snowing) its the end of the world.
 
Mark A said:
Dealing with the heavy snow is part of life in Canada so they are bound to be prepared. Snow in the UK is a rare and unpredictable occurrence, so they cant afford to grit the roads every day just in case. ...
Click to expand...

Whilst it is true that it is somewhat unfair to compare the UK to countries that deal with heavy snow as a matter of course, like Canada, Finland, Sweden, etc, I am somewhat surprised that people don't do more to prepare themselves and their cars. Everyone can do a few simple things like putting a shovel and a torch in the boot of the car in the winter months. It's what I did when I lived in the UK and it helped immensely when my car got stuck in snow.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
So people are complaining the roads service isn't doing enough.

NgKVUSg.jpg

Yup that's right, it all someone else's fault that you're stuck.
Click to expand...

Gritting roads like in the photo would likely have sod all effect anyway. It probably was gritted. The initial snow the grit does melt would just wash it away, leaving it untreated for the fresh snow, which starts to lie and fresh grit then has next to no impact.

Grit is better suited to ice or low levels of snow. It has little effect on more than an inch of snow sustained over a period of time.

Of course, if you were to grit continually (like some A roads are) it would, but that's implausible due to a number of factors, namely cost and the fact that the gritters themselves sometimes end up stuck or stuck behind the idiots who can't drive in the snow.

Of course heated roads would help, but that would be an enormous waste of money over here. Even winter tyres are poor value for money for most people here, but at least that's up to the owner.
 
jon86 said:
Whilst it is true that it is somewhat unfair to compare the UK to countries that deal with heavy snow as a matter of course, like Canada, Finland, Sweden, etc, I am somewhat surprised that people don't do more to prepare themselves and their cars. Everyone can do a few simple things like putting a shovel and a torch in the boot of the car in the winter months. It's what I did when I lived in the UK and it helped immensely when my car got stuck in snow.
Click to expand...

Always surprises me - we always used to keep a shovel, torch and spare batteries, blanket and some mats (to put under the wheels) in the car once winter hit when I was a kid though to be fair my parents are used to much more wintery winters than we've had of late.

But I do find the lack of even basic preparation or ability to deal with the conditions strange - people trying to drive like they do normally when the surface is very obviously slippery/snow clogged does my head in.
 
I'd carry a shovel if I could see a point in one, I've had snow up to the bonnet and just driven off :confused:

A bag of grit might be useful, but I normally carry all the other stuff anyway.
This year I've added a tow rope, a can of tyre sealant, more blankets and some paracord.
 
this_is_gav said:
Gritting roads like in the photo would likely have sod all effect anyway. It probably was gritted. The initial snow the grit does melt would just wash it away, leaving it untreated for the fresh snow, which starts to lie and fresh grit then has next to no impact.

Grit is better suited to ice or low levels of snow. It has little effect on more than an inch of snow sustained over a period of time.

Of course, if you were to grit continually (like some A roads are) it would, but that's implausible due to a number of factors, namely cost and the fact that the gritters themselves sometimes end up stuck or stuck behind the idiots who can't drive in the snow.

Of course heated roads would help, but that would be an enormous waste of money over here. Even winter tyres are poor value for money for most people here, but at least that's up to the owner.
Click to expand...
It had been raining in Sheffield prior to the snowfall. The temperature dropped and the rain turned to snow. Grit is near useless in those conditions as the salt just washes out.
 
MrMarvelous said:
Quick question. If there are weather forecasts predicting such weather, why aren't the gritters out doing anything about it? Or any clean up for that matter?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that as the models showed this being a short blast of snow that was mostly over in a few hours before milder weather moved in they didn't bother.
 
jon86 said:
I'm currently in Montreal, Canada, visiting family friends for the Christmas break. Canada has snow clearing and salting down to a tee.
Click to expand...

Well yes, of course they do. I lived in Michigan where we had months and feet of snow...everything carried on as normal. What is the point of spending millions and millions of pounds to clear a few days of snow a year here in the UK?
 
MrMarvelous said:
Quick question. If there are weather forecasts predicting such weather, why aren't the gritters out doing anything about it? Or any clean up for that matter?
Click to expand...

Local authorities don't have as much money as they used to.

I've heard of a few private gritting firms setting up recently, maybe have a chat with one of them? We usually pay one to clear the road to our log cabin if we go to visit it in the winter.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom