That schools should close tomorrow where it is snowyy...

[SunshineAndSummer]

I feel like we should be prepared for days where it'll be difficult for teachers and some children to get into school due to bad weather, so online learning can take place instead!

I'm in East Sussex. Our little town is gridlocked, the nearest big road is gridlocked. Trees down, trains cancelled. Many of the kids come in by bus.most teachers drive.
Given that my 15 year old missed at least 26 weeks of education due to covid with no catch up lessons whatsoever, I hardly think an extra day is going to make much difference

As a Scottish Highlander whose kids have sledged to school or walked in snow knee deep most winter I find it odd too. Our schools don’t close unless the staff are physically unable to get in due to deep snow (normally country schools whose roads get cleared later) or burst pipes due to freezing conditions. Th3 kids snowsuits and snow gloves are out and ready for tomorrow already so we can walk to school.

We live near the Cotswolds, schools have already arranged online learning for tomorrow (not a proper Snow Day IMO!) as the school buses won't run. The roads are bad here and I'm glad I'm not in work today or tomorrow.

I lived and worked as a primary school teacher on the Swiss/French border for 18 years. We regularly had snow. I only failed to get into work once and was late once. Both times we had rain falling on frozen ground giving us a 2 cm ice sheet covered in a sheet of water. As I shifted in my seat, the stationary car started to slide down the hill. Ordinary snow? no problem. The problem here is that many people don't know how to drive in slippery conditions and don't have the correct tyres for winter. In the UK we tend to have soft slushy slippery snow and very few people have winter tyres. It leads to chaos on the roads but I can understand why we don't want to invest in the infrastructure needed for snow considering how seldom we get it.

But both my husband and I HAVE to go to work despite the weather, which really isn't that unusual. So, where would you like my son to do this online working and who would you like me to get to supervise him?

Bingo!!
Was waiting for this exact comment! Not going to dignify it with an answer though.

New infrastructure in the Lake District can't do much about the lakes or the mountains. Both of which are tricky for buses.

Since you’re the one who wants schools to close, you should something OP.

@Rockingcloggs I suppose the same as you would do if your son was ill, take an unpaid day off or rope in family to help for the day.

SE London

We already have 4 inches of snow this evening so far

And I've just watched a Double Decker career off a roundabout off the road outside my house

They will have to shut the schools as not seen a gritter yet on A2 outside my house

Unbelievably treacherous out there, only an idiot would drive

We’re in a London suburb but DCs school is on edge of the country and at the top of a hill like Peppa Pig’s house, with access only up one way, the rest is fields. We’ve been told school will start later to give them a chance to assess how bad things are (which I suspect means whether teachers can get in and if buses are running). Think DCs will be home as have to get double decker bus which goes up and down three big hills between us and school but is 4 mile walk.

@MrsTerryPratchett It is frustrating, especially as right here the weather is a bit nothing so not sure why the closure is needed. I do think it is different in countries where snow is more common and preparations are more worth putting in place. When I lived in Germany we had to put winter tyres on and schools were still occasionally closed if it was snowy. It's a myth that it never happens elsewhere. In Spain they used to close just if it was too cold sometimes.

Our schools are all closed because the surrounding villages (including mine) aren’t gritted. It’s around 4 miles to the nearest proper (gritted) road.
I’m an NHS nurse and our hospital has an amazing group of volunteers with 4x4’s that come out and get staff so I’ll be going in. Luckily my dc are older so can be at home alone.

@Purplemagnolias @Greenshake countries that get a lot more snow have the infrastructure to cope with it and everyone knows what to do. snow chains/snow wheels on cars are normal when regularly needed, and the local authorities have all the contingency plans in place to keep things running throughout winter.

it's obvious that getting all this resource together and primed ready to go for the sake of one or two snow days typically one year in 3 by recent memory would be a massive waste of money for uk taxpayers. far more efficient for the economy to take a small hit of a day or two shut down if there's more snow than can be safely negotiated with no such adaptations, rather than having all the equipment and training in place to keep everything going which is obviously necessary anywhere where there is usually feet-high snow for months.

This. You would think Canada is always prepared for snow. We were there one winter in BC Vancouver for DP’s work event. It was in the main city. Snow fell only about a foot and it was nuts. Everything shut down because they don’t (like us in London) have the infrastructure to deal with snow shifting. And snow was quite uncommon there (like us in London). I heard they have lots in recent yrs since then and still no proper infrastructure. The news reports always say “why aren’t we prepared for this??” Here in Blighty We don’t have snow boots to deal with the ice, snow, black ice, sludge of this kind of weather. We just don’t expect it and before anyone says about buying the right equipment we can’t afford snow boots in anticipation of snow that might never come for kids whose shoes size changes every 4-6 months

We've had the email about snow closures but only had a bit of snow yesterday, main roads are clear, streets are like a skating rink. Doesn't help that alot of public grit bins have not been filled by the council as they usually would be.
I don't know if they've been caught short or just don't plan on refilling them. When they're filled then people take a bagful and grit the pavements and inner streets so it's safe for everyone to walk and drive.
School is thankfully open.

Severe winter weather is forecast across the country. Southerners are advised to stay at home. Northerners will need a big coat!!

It’s safer for those carers if there are less cars on the road?

Im assuming the country you grew up in had good provision and were used to snow as part of their lives.

We are not. We are not used to minus 4 degrees and icy snow, so it does get people talking and grinds some areas to a halt.

No school shouldn't close. If the kids can't get i, they miss a day of school. We could never get in when it snowed. We played out in the snow instead.

Teachers and TAs are running skeleton as it is, agency are hit and miss. If teachers cant get in, online classes wont be getting set up.

All Gloucestershire schools seem to be closed closures.gloucestershire.gov.uk/

We had snow last week. Wouldn’t occur to me that schools should shut. We’ve had winters (UK) where is has been snow from November to March - should it be shut all that time? In our local area in the past if the weather was really bad so teachers couldn’t get to their school they were expected to report to their local school instead

Here in Sweden life carries on with a bit of snow as we all have to change to winter tyres. It's not realistic to do the same in the UK as the snow disappears so quickly. We'll be stuck with it for months.

But with heavy snow we also grind to a halt for the first day or so. Then everything kicks in and we crack on.

Every year winter appears to come as a surprise to half the population.

It’s safer for those carers if there are less cars on the road?

Won't they be at home looking after their children whose schools are closed?

They won't be on the roads.

Neither will be the supermarket workers, delivery drivers and doctors. We know this because we've just been through it all and realised schools had to open for the children of keyworkers.

Oh ffs, in Russia schools close when it is minus 5Oc.