UK weather: Snow falling as Siberian blast hits UK

[shenmue]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43190440

From the article:

Heavy snow is expected across southern and eastern England overnight on Monday - with warnings extending into the Midlands, Scotland and Wales on Tuesday morning.

Many areas have been hit by freezing temperatures, with a wind chill making it feel like -15C in some places.

[Control-Z]

1. I know zero about weather in England,

the Midlands, Scotland and Wales. Is this unusual weather for these areas?

[shenmue]

2. I'm not super familiar either, but they mentioned -15C, which is 5 degrees Farenheit

Kinda nippy, even for late February.

[msongs]

3. not unuusal. some winters are fairly mild and some more snowy but snows every winter nt

[T_i_B]

5. Not really no

The most unusual thing right now is how changeable it is. It's not all that unusual to have cold weather and a light dusting of snow in late February.

The whole media hype about weather is increasingly tiresome, and interestingly, the worst hysteria about it tends to come from the likes of the Daily Express, who accuse everyone else of being soft "snowflakes".

[LeftishBrit]

6. Unusual in not being everyday weather...

but most years there are a few days of it, especially in more Northern areas. It more often happens in January, but is very unpredictable.

I'm not a fan of cold weather, but at least when it happens at this time of year, you know there's an end in sight.

Bad weather here tends to be sensationalized by the media - every year it's the worst EVER.

[T_i_B]

4. The Beast from the East....

The "Beast from the East" was supposed to give me several inches during the night.

In the event it hasn't got up this far yet!

[Denzil_DC]

7. A mini-blizzard here in the west of Scotland, in the Firth of Clyde

It's mainly been very fine, dry cold-temperature snow, so it's blowing around and hasn't settled to any depth yet here, but we're in a mild microclimate, so it'll be far worse elsewhere, and the flakes are getting progressively bigger.

I did a pre-emptive shopping run yesterday and I work from home, so as long as the leccy doesn't go off (as it did when we had our last big dump), I'll be OK for a day or so, then my boiler fuel runs out if the delivery doesn't make it through (it's supposed to ease off a bit later tomorrow and Friday).

There are widespread school closures, and the morning commute will have been fun for those attempting it (from the tracks on the road, it doesn't look like more than one vehicle has ventured out on our street, and that might have been the nearby farmer's ATV getting fodder to his sheep).

A Red Snow Warning has been issued for Southwest Scotland, Lothian Borders, Strathclyde, Central, and Tayside & Fife Regions (which actually comes into force later in the day).





Some live updates, pics and GIfs of it all at https://twitter.com/WindyWilson88 and the hashtag #beastfaetheeast.

We'll get through it somehow.

[Denzil_DC]

8. Not long after I wrote this,

I was out gritting our near-45-degree incline barely more than single-track road in the hope the smokeless fuel delivery might make it through. I'd done a pretty good job of the road junction at the bottom and the first 20 or so yards up the hill, when the lorry appeared from the top, which hadn't been gritted at all yet.

It was quite scary watching the lorry skate slowly down to level with our drive, and a relief when it stopped, but I'm eternally grateful the lads made the effort to get through. Hopefully they'll make it home OK. Me? Short of a power cut (in which case the Kelly's kettle comes out again and we're down to candles and the cat for heat), I'm now all set.

[T_i_B]

10. Heard a few snowy horror stories from Scotland at work today.

The best way to get around in my local area during this spell has been by train, but then there's yet another railway strike on Saturday!

[Denzil_DC]

11. People don't heed warnings!

Many were stranded overnight in cars and buses on the M80, the train service has been severely curtailed in many places, and some folks had to camp out overnight at Glasgow airport after they abandoned all flights.

I have to say, this is the most extreme cold snap and snow dump we've had where I am for quite a few years (I mentioned it's a mild microclimate, being low-lying land on the west coast and we're surrounded by the sea in the Firth of Clyde). I'm effectively snowed in, nothing's moved on our street all day - including the farmer and the tree surgeon across the road, who started his Land Rover then evidently thought that was quite enough for one day - though I made it down to the village shop on foot with a little difficulty (much more so on the way back up the hill), and very limited traffic seems to be managing the main road, which has at least been heavily gritted. Can't criticize the gritting. I've more or less given up trying to shovel snow, as 15-20 minutes later it's been as if I'd never bothered.

It doesn't rank with a cold spell we had in the late 1990s when we had minus 20 or so and clear skies for a week or more (again, rather dry snow, so it wasn't as unpleasant as it might have been, though living without running water on our whole street was an experience), but it doesn't look like it's over yet, as we've a foot or more lying, and sporadic heavy showers continuing during the day with more to come tomorrow!

I'd love to have gone out and played in it, but I had to work, and anyway, it's bleedin' Baltic!

[T_i_B]

12. Worst snow I've known was 1st December 2010.

Walked out of the house straight into knee high snow. I did make it to work, before all the public transport in Sheffield stopped but it was an interesting day.

We have had 13cm of snow where I live, and 6cm in the low-lying area where I work. (Yes, I am anal enough to use my tape measure to check the depth of snow!)

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Peterborough players use 'sweeper system' to clear snow

Two Peterborough United players turned sweepers to clear the pitch of snow during the club's League One victory over Walsall.

Defender Steven Taylor and forward Junior Morias grabbed brooms to clear the snow obscuring the 18-yard box at the ABAX Stadium on Tuesday night.

The weather almost forced the match to be abandoned as conditions deteriorated 15 minutes from the final whistle.
...
"The referee came over and said we have five minutes to clear the lines. The players are grabbing the brooms and brushes and shovels, the staff came out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-43226537

I haven't heard of that before.

[Denzil_DC]

13. Inevitably, lots of pics of the snow out there.

Here are a few from https://twitter.com/CountrysideBen - he's in Fife (north of Edinburgh, across the Firth of Forth):









Plenty more at his account.