AIBU to drive....

[lalasnowman]

...from Oxford to Manchester today for a concert? I have a pretty small car and the snow is looking pretty heavy? Smart not to go, or am I being a drama queen..snow is just snow?

Good call, OP. You probably wouldn't enjoy the concert anyway because of worrying about getting home.

Apologies for hijack, but does anyone know what it's like between Stoke/Derby/Nottingham? Supposed to be picking daughter up from uni today. Thought the journey would be OK because it's all major roads, but am thinking maybe not now

Cancel the cheque!

🤣

Good decision. I used to live in the alps, so I have plenty of experience of driving in the snow etc. What bothers me isn’t the conditions, it’s the muppets that have no bloody clue & are a danger on the roads. No non essential trip is worth it (& ‘essential’ ...is it REALLY essential?).

⛄️❄️

Oddmollie- I think M6 Staffordshire is down to one lane because of accidents. We're in Bham, we've had 5 inches, and it's still coming down. I'd have thought Derby would be snowy because of the altitude.

Nope.
I'm not even driving 8 miles for a kids party

Thanks KingsHeathen. We'd heard the forecast and knew it was likely to be bad - why didn't we go yesterday?! (Oh yes - because dd wanted to go out last night Hope it was worth being stuck in her student house for another week!)

Is it Mariah Carey? I'm in Notts and debating the same thing!

willdoit

Have you ever driven in snow with winter tyres? It makes a shit ton of difference and apart from Mercs and BMW’s, they are far better than any 4x4 with summer tyres.

It's really thick here Odd but the A50 may be ok?

it’s the muppets that have no bloody clue & are a danger on the roads

Completely agree. DH has just walked to the local shop for bread and milk. The number of idiots driving too fast, revving engines, wheel spinning, not leaving enough room, is just stupid.

Advice about driving techniques, tyres etc is all very well.
But you can't do anything about the idiot right behind you who drives like it's a summer's day.

Well, I think it's those that have gone out in ordinary cars, and driving at 2 mph that are causing obstruction to 4x4s going at 10 mph ... seems to be the situation round here. No buses are running though, and I'm v close to city centre.

Waves to fellow heathen.

I'm enjoying a tiny bit of told you so smugness this morning, as MIL insisted that we'd be fine for coming over to Christmas gathering today. We're the closest, but they're still across town, the snow had plenty of time to build up in the night, but she insisted all the major roads would be fine.

It's almost never about you, it's about the one in a thousand cars that skids and causes a blockage that everyone has to carefully negotiate. Even if the roads were clear, driving in falling snow on the motorway is no fun.

Buses all cancelled here whilst they get more gritters out, apparently.

Snow where we are has been and gone apart from on side roads and I'm not going to risk it on those! I parked on the main road nearby - why risk damaging the car, claiming on insurance etc. It will only be a couple of days.

I thought the same TheZeppo but have just looked on Twitter and apparently the A50 is now closed at Uttoxeter because of a jackknifed lorry. Some people are tweeting that they've been stuck without moving for 2 hours so I'm glad I checked before setting off. Dd will just have to subsist a bit longer on pasta and cup a soup.

Between Manchester and Oxford lies the West Midlands.

They've stopped all buses round here and there's a lot of snow which gritters haven't dealt with.

: Birmingham Community Alert message - Heavy Snow / Cold
The Met Office warning for snow is still in force, there is widespread heavy snow in Birmingham. Please keep warm and safe only travel if really necessary. Check on friends and neighbours. Currently issues with bus rail networks and flights see local media for traffic and weather updates. Sent by Birmingham Community Alert

There is a lot of snow on your entire route. It will be a journey from hell with the traffic too. Lots of accidents already - i personally wouldn't

Absolutely right that it's not just your driving you have to worry about - we've just watched a 4x4 with full offroad tyres being fishtailed down a residential street by a twit who had no idea what he was doing. We've cancelled a trip from one part of Oxfordshire to another part of Oxfordshire today (some motorway driving but also lots of B roads), there's no way I'd consider trying to get to Manchester.

You may find the event gets called off. We have only had a small amount of snow and my DDs martial arts class has been cancelled. I definitely wouldn't drive. Disappointing though.

M40 near Warwick currently closed anyway!

Thank you all!! It is reassuring to know I have made the right decision!!!

My show in Birmingham was cancelled anyway, that's how much snow there is in the West Midlands. They wouldn't do that lightly

Not sure ours will be cancelled because it's in Manchester...but not going to be able to get past Birmingham from the sounds of things...

Well I did a drive in weather worse than this from Germany, through the Netherlands and Belgium and then through France. The only problems I encountered was when I got to the UK. The Germans were still doing 90mph on the Autobahn in heavy snow.

They're not doing 90mph today...