Been four hours stuck in snow in kent

[Stuckinsnowinkent]

We have been stuck in Chatham now for four hours. Got about 7 miles maybe? Think we will be stuck in the car overnight now.

It snowed about 3-4 inches in one hour.

So I chose the wrong country as an example! But you know what I mean. All that "Oooh, you Brits can't manage half an inch of snow" stuff.

Some just can't think bout global differences in climates, it seems.

mydogisthebest

No one ever seems to believe me when I mention Sheppey being cut off and having to have supplies airlifted

I remember that, I'm from Newcastle and it was on the national news.

Or did you mean that Iceland has that kind of totally different funding and infrastructure needs? As yes, that would be a prime example of the different priorities.

Here we have a road that has slipped a bit and has, so far, been mostly closed for a year, expected to be closed for another year - it's a major route through too. But, like the A40 in Wales, it's too rural to be a priority, no matter how busy!

I’m E/SE and we rarely get snow. Seen a forecast of 100% snow several times and everywhere is blanketed except here. Yesterday it gave 30% chance but the snow arrived early and we got a good 4 inches of dry powdery snow that’s stayed. I can see how people got caught out.

twinmum2007 · Today 08:07
I'm in Kent too and you're right. Huge huge flakes that, because the ground was so cold, laid immediately instead of melting like it usually does. Within 20.minutes it was enough to build a big snowman. After an hour, my DS had built 3. They looked a bit spooky tbh. I was v glad to look out this morning and see them still in the same place and not any closer to the house. I may have watched too.much Dr Who as a child..

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@SamphiretheTervosaurReturneth Sorry yes I meant they have totally different infrastructure needs. In some areas the weather is so bad that roads can't be cleared and the roads are destroyed every year.
It's the same reason we don't have air conditioning everywhere as very hot countries have.

This app is really good.

I live in Iceland and it's only the highlands (which are uninhabited) that are closed for months on end in the winter. Normal mountain passes are sometimes closed for a day in extremis, but of course the money they put into salting and ploughing is in a different league to the UK! It's a different climate.

Studded tyres are awful for roads, they just tear them up and cause potholes like nobody's business. We drive on all-year tyres which are perfectly adequate for the majority of people in Iceland, so they would probably be a fine investment for people in Britain.

We also have the kind of weather where it snows, part-thaws and refreezes and many streets are skating rinks for much of the winter. For ice, which the UK also gets plenty of, all-year tyres do help a lot.

is called Weather Radar

Ooooh, @Puffinshop please please start an AMA thread about living in Iceland -am really fascinated by Iceland!!!! 😁😁😁😁

That’s the thing though, it’s possible but not probable so preparing for this kind weather isn’t really on the radar. A couple of days disruption barely registers over the span of decades

I’m in Suffolk and although we had snow last winter and the winter before that it had been about 5 years since we’d last had snow. Can you imagine the uproar if the council had spent thousands on snow ploughs for them to sit unused for years

This

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@Puffinshop do start that AMA thread 😃

We also have the kind of weather where it snows, part-thaws and refreezes and many streets are skating rinks for much of the winter. For ice, which the UK also gets plenty of, all-year tyres do help a lot.

It's a matter of the % of time we would need them. We don't get snow very often at all. Obviously with climate change we might but at the moment, we get snow for a few days every few years and it settles very few times. We don't have the need, the SOP etc.

Hope you have plenty of fuel for keeping the car idling so the heat stays on.

Don't do that. I was working for the emergency services one year when Telegraph hill in Exeter snowed over. It's notorious for it as it's a steep climb and you can see the snow line part way up. You can leave Exeter and everything is fine but as you get near the racecourse, you just get stuck trying to get up the hill. We had several cases of CO poisoning due to people idling their engines for hours. It's OK to switch the engine on occasionally, so long as the exhaust is clear, but don't just idle the engine.

Classic Medway. Always crumbles at the first drop of snow. So glad I don't live there.

We got home just before 2am. Leaving at 7pm for a 80 mile drive.

But we was very lucky that we wasn't one of the people sleeping in the car overnight which was looking extremely likely. We was at the top of bluebell hill and just decided after a hour to follow the only moving traffic down the M2. Another 300 yards and we would have been behind the exit slip road.

We had the phone chargers, water in the boots, always have foil blankets and I had snacks because, well 3 kids and the M25.

So lucky we we could also pull into a garage after 3 hours and five miles! Pulling over and sleeping at the side of the road with the other stuck people might have been more sensible but amazingly our car could get good traction.

I did one 4 years ago (different username), you can revive it if you like!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/3295729-Immigrant-in-Iceland-AMA

We have had no snow yet this year in Reykjavík so the UK is beating us there. Hope you got home safely, OP. And that it doesn't cause too much more chaos and you are all able to enjoy the snow a bit as well.

It was amazing how badly everything went 🤔true carnage! Police was about and ambulances did get through but my god. What a mess! The police just sat in their cars helpless at the carnage.

So many people was walking about at 10pm on a Sunday, couldn't get my head around that but everyone was so helpful pushing everyone else. That was lovely to see.

Errrm, we had to ditch our car yesterday and get into a friends 4x4 to get home. There were lots of hills that only 4x4 were able to get up, with all other cars getting stuck. Never actually wanted a 4x4 until yesterday!

There was a company 4x4 in front of us. Not a big Range Rover, just looked like a normal car. The driver and dh was pushing the car in front of him and we was very jelous. He was coping fine.

Please disregard apps for snow forecasts. Keep an eye on met office forecasts and warnings. www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-12-12

You can also use the mumsnet weather boards www.mumsnet.com/talk/weather where we were talking about potential for disruption for several days. I did put an additional flash warning on there too yesterday evening when it was clear what was evolving , but appreciate it was too late for many who were already out and about.

I can't guarantee that we will cover every weather event on there - it's not a paid job! But where time and opportunity allows, I and others like Gloria warn where we can.

Dh had two sets of wheels for a previous car - alloys for the summer and steel wheels with snow rated tyres on in the winter. Would usually switch end of November/April time.

Now we both have all weather tyres which are rated for snow. Not on 4 wheel drives or off road vehicles either.

In countries which have more snow and more frequently it is common to keep two sets of tyres, summer and winter. Garages will change them over for you if you cannot do it. Storage varies. You might have to pay for storage somewhere or store them yourself.