Have you ever been stranded in snow?

[sparrowhawkhere]

Have you ever been stranded in bad weather in your car? I’ve always wondered what would happen if you were snowed in and stuck in your car.

Yes, years ago.
I was at work and my boss was really shitty when I said I needed to leave or I'd never get home in the really heavy snow that was coming down. Consequently I left it far too long to leave and got my car approximately a mile down the road to a supermarket car park which was as far as I could get. It was ten miles home through countryside with hills and I started to walk. Luckily I was in boots, a heavy coat and scarf and gloves and very used to hiking.
I got about 5 miles in when DH managed to pick me up in his van. We got a few miles from home and got stuck for about 5 hours in a jam of stuck cars. We had food and drinks I had got from the supermarket my car was stuck at. Eventually got home in the dark, had to abandon DH van at the bottom of the hill in our village and walk to the house. It was a bloody long day!

We very nearly did once. DH and I both left work at lunchtime because the snow was absolutely dumping. The journey to my parent’s house to get the kids in DH’s VW golf should only have been about 15 mins but took 2 hrs.

My Land Rover was parked at my parents house as I had dropped the kids there and got the train into town. We made the decision to swap to that, leaving the VW at my folks and drive the 15 mins home as we were confident driving in the snow in the Land Rover as we regularly got snow as we lived at the top of a hill. What we hadn’t accounted for was other drivers in cars not suited for snow. The roads were absolutely gridlocked with abandoned or struggling cars. We tried to help a couple of them but we just couldn’t help everyone.

we ended up avoiding the main roads and driving on the snow bound side streets to get home which took us a good while.

we’re always very prepared with snow shovels, blankets, food etc in the car.

several people we know got stuck for hours and their poor kids stayed overnight at nursery.

Did some staff stay too?! I guess they would have access to hot drinks and bedding! I would tuck myself up in a display bed or have a pretend dinner party and try on all the perfumes

They're called a TravelJohn, it's a disposable urinal!

Yes, some years ago I came out of the office to find that there’d been heavy snow and I had a 17 mile drive home.
I managed to get to my parents 9 miles away, it took 2 hours in dreadful conditions. I was then stuck there for two days. DH had to abandon his car and walk 3 miles home.
I hadn’t realised it was snowing because the office windows had a strange finish that negated bright sunshine and in the winter it effectively made it impossible to see outside.

We drove 300 miles for a wedding when I was a child. Really bad snow after the wedding and we ended up staying in a stranger's home for a few days!!! The groom had to travel from one side of Scotland to the other, we got there before he did!! 🤣🤣

Working on a nature reserve in north Kent in the late 1980s we were cut off for a week. The RAF dropped food parcels. The drifts were 12' deep.

More recently, car got stuck in the snow on a bridge that had a sharp bend on the approach. Luckily a kindly farmer yanked us out with his Land Rover. I used to carry a shovel and emergency bits but have got lax lately.

@shellyleppard did the strangers just offer? That was kind of them.

A ‘snow dump’, over Devizes, presumably 2009 as others have mentioned.

@Kitterkitkat it was a distant relative of either the bride or groom...we were extremely thankful!!

Yep, thankfully only a couple of miles from home, so abandoned car and walked home - thankfully I was dressed appropriately!

Wow! Just returned to the thread and seen all the replies. Thank you! I find it really interesting. Especially how prepared some of you are.

Ive never been stranded but once when the snow was heavy I had to get to work (key worker, expected to be in) and had to drop off my children at their nursery. The roads the nursery was in was inaccessible so I had to pull them on a sledge at 7:30 in the morning, pitch black, with them holding their little bags. At the time I found it really stressful but now it’s a lovely memory.

Yes, at 8 years old. My mum asked me to clear the back window of the car (she meant from the inside with a sponge). This was before we set off for school. I got out of the car without her knowing & started clearing the snow off the window from outside. She was so distracted & didn’t know I’d got out. I then watched her drive away with my sister while I stood in the road. Half way to school she turned to ask why I was so quiet & I had vanished! I love how my sister didn’t say a word.

I was stranded for 6 hours getting home from work once (a 30 minute journey) because of sudden and unexpected snow that fell on top of ice and just caused road chaos. This was about 25 years ago and pre-children. I don’t think my bladder would last out now! I think I had an apple left from my lunch to keep me going.

I was stuck on the M25 in snow when I was 8 months pregnant…..

Many years ago (I think it was 1989, but I'm not sure). Driving from Cornwall with (then BF), back to Bristol. It started snowing heavily on Bodmin. We ended up staying at Jamaica Inn for the night. What should have been a 5 hour journey (this was the days before the road got upgraded), took around 18 hours.

What happens on motorways when people get stuck ? Do the police always get to people I'm suprises we dont hear of any deaths with all sorts of people stranded

@Dontcallmescarface that must have been atmospheric

Winter 2008 with a baby and a 2 year old. The clutch on my car went as we were driving on a dual carriageway. We had to wait at the side of the road in snow and freezing temperatures for what felt like forever. The Breda k down services made us a priority and took us home but it was several hours because they were snowed under (!) with other jobs.

Was that on the M25 and did you spend the night at Clacket Lane?

Not me, but my colleague got stuck on the M5 overnight due to floods somewhere, not snow. I would have been terrified and not very well prepared, but he was OK and happily told everyone about his adventure.

There was a power cut so it was a bit spooky....not helped by a sudden shriek from the darkness, which turned out to be the owner's parrot. It's fair to say I slept with 1 eye open that night. 😱

Almost but not quite a few times!
About 23 years ago I was at my local shopping centre and the snow started coming down heavily - I made a v quick exit and was ok but people ended up trapped overnight - think they stayed on the beds/sofas in John Lewis!
About 8 years later a friend gave me a lift to a party. Probably shouldn’t have gone re the weather but felt bad for our friend as we knew people would cancel. Getting there was ok but getting back was a nightmare. My friend did really well driving back but I had to stay at hers on the sofa as going the further distance to mine was just too much! Dh rescued me the next morning- left the DCs playing snowmen w the neighbours!