to be totally over Snow

[Ladyanonymous]

AIBU to think we as a mation are being totally pathetic when it comes to the "cold snap"

Europe must be pissing itself laughing at how a little bit of bloody snow cripples us - every year. Its not like it wasn't forcast.

Why do we not grit roads and have winter tyres?

Both schools my DC's attend today are closed and so it the school I was due to go and do an assembly in

Also AIBU to want to kill my twat of an ex who has the kids on a Weds night (hes a driving instructor so perfect conditions for him to work in ) who texted me this morning saying "I'll have to drop the kids back as school is closedf and I have to work".

As do I.

[Ladyanonymous]

Apologies for typos...

[Hulababy]

Whilst it is so deep we need some snow ploughs out before they grit. When they did grit here the snow quickly covered it again, rendering it useless.

The country isn't geared up for it, unlike countries where this is the norm. But it costs a lot of money to keep things moving normally - I guess it is the opportunity cost of buying in everythign we need to keep Britain moving to the cost of an odd snow day each year.

I may consider winter tyres at this rate -but my little Fiat 500 is not going anyway right now - it is entriely covered.

[Ladyanonymous]

Its not just a few days though - last time in Jan I think my OH's work was closed for a whole week (hes shore based Navy).

Why can't they put the grit bins back?

What is the point of forecasting the weather if we don't prepare for it?

[cory]

I can totally understand why the roads aren't open yet and why people aren't driving in to work: most Scandiavians would be reluctant to drive without snow tyres too.

The bit that gets me is the "oh we can't let precious little Johnnie out to play in the snow because he might slip and hurt himself".

While I can understand that British roads are different and British tyres are different, I really cannot get my head round why British children are supposed to be designed in a different way from everybody else.

[frenchfancy]

"Europe must be pissing itself laughing at how a little bit of bloody snow cripples us"

What makes you think it is just the UK?

We had snow overnight - about 4cm. Schools are closed, roads are impassable. There is no grit anywhere in the department.

Stop thinking that the UK is crap with the weather and everywhere else just gets on with it because it simply isn't true.

[Ladyanonymous]

Ok so where else does this happen?

[cory]

Northern Europe gets on with it better, but not totally: rural districts are closed off in Sweden atm and school buses are not running. Towns are supposed to keep functioning though. But then they have budgets for that sort of thing.

[badgermonkey]

Even in Switzerland schools shut and there are traffic problems in heavy snow. In parts of Canada significant snowfall is rare enough that it gridlocks the city when it comes. A friend in Belgium tells me there is a lot of disruption during snow there. Why do we self-flagellate about not coping terribly well with what is statistically a very rare event? It doesn't happen every year and to devote a lot of money to snow preparation would be, on the whole, a waste.

[ccpccp]

Northern Europe handles snow better, but they have twice the budget and gritters/clearers are working day and night during cold snaps to keep the roads open.

Also - they all switch to winter tyres on their cars, and this makes a huge difference when driving. Most of the road snarl ups in the UK at the moment are where cars/lorries have lost control.

Fix that, and the country would pretty much be running as normal.

I dont understand the airports all being closed though. Perhaps theres some special winter landing qualification that no-one has, because it cant be hard to clear a runway of snow?

[ilovehens]

Now that's cold

Check out the buses!

[badgermonkey]

It's not hard to clear a runway of snow once but if it keeps snowing it's pretty difficult Also snow tends to affect visibility - not to mention the fact that lots and lots of people move around aiports on fire engines, luggage trucks, fuel tankers, shuttle buses, etc etc etc. There are huge car parks to be cleared and so on.

[iTigress]

YABU.

On an individual level, I as a teacher can't get to work as the buses aren't running. Most other teachers also can't get in, so the school is shut. Cue lots of angry parents complaining.

On a bigger scale - no it's not worth the UK investing in the sort of infrastructure of say Canada, because it's relatively rare for us to be so incapacitated by it.

So STFU and go build a snowman

[cory]

I was prepared to trudge for 2 hours through the snow to get in and teach this morning. But I wasn't exactly outraged when I got the email saying that the university was closing. Now my garden sports a beautiful snow lantern instead. And my children have got to spend the morning in the fresh air, which certainly wouldn't have happened if they'd been at school. What's not to like?

[iTigress]

My DH and I are going to build an IGLOO this afternoon!

Who needs kids?