Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel this country should be able to cope with snow fgs?

197 replies

QueenEagle · 02/02/2009 08:14

Why does everything come to a standstill in this country when we have a bit of snow?

We don't even have half of what we had when I was a kid when we just got on with it even when we got snowed in for days on end.

Are we soft or what?

OP posts:
Habbibu · 02/02/2009 08:57

Speak for England if you must - Scotland copes just fine with snow. We just haven't bloody got any.

Thunderduck · 02/02/2009 08:58

There's quite a bit of snow in this part of Scotland, though at present it can be measured in inches not feet.

tumtumtetum · 02/02/2009 08:59

I would happily go to work but can't as there is no public transport. All the buses are cancelled and the tubes are down.

None of the roads have been gritted I have watched 2 cars nearly crash outside my house in the last ten minutes.

If the transport worked everyone would carry on as normal - but there's not a lot you can do otherwise is there. So not the people's fault but the infrastructure.

My work have said I will have to make the hours up, as will everyone else

MABS · 02/02/2009 08:59

we have 10 inches in our garden!and is snowing again now. school is open but i can't get the car out, road totally blocked.

throckenholt · 02/02/2009 09:00

the problem is we have heavy snow so rarely (Scotland excepted !) that we are not geared up for it.

And most people would object to much of their council tax being spent on snow precautions most of the time.

I think it is exceptional in Surrey and London at the moment. Much safer for people to stay at home if they aren't essential workers.

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 02/02/2009 09:01

And don't even get me started on the TWATS who drive as though it was a clear sunny day How stupid do you have to be, to speed through snow and ice, and not think hmmm, best slow down a bit here. The other week it was VERY windy and frosty and slippy. I was driving down the road, I had to stop for a moment because there was an accident blocking one side of the road. I got past and about a minute later a car came ZOOMING past, overtook me sharply and sped down the road at about 70!

She had just gone past the accident, same as me. She saw the same road conditions I did. And she still thought it was wise to drive like that.

I was really expecting to turn a corner and find her wrapped round a tree. I was thinking about what if and couldn't decide whether I would help, or pull up, yell SERVES YOU RIGHT YOU TWAT and drive off!

tumtumtetum · 02/02/2009 09:01

It must be a bit worse than usual - TFL have stopped the entire bus network which is definitely not normal for a bit of snow...

loobeylou · 02/02/2009 09:02

well we are in rural kent and our school is open but we live in a village 4 miles away and i am not taking them in with weather set to get worse and warnings locally of black ice too.

part of the reason "we" cannot cope adequately is that thousands of silly sods will ignore the advice and warnings, will clog up the roads for those who really DO have to go to work (emergency services etc).

Scenario:
OK, no trains into London, so I will try and drive in today. I won't pack a coat, blanket or flask and will expect to be rescued promptly should i break down/have an accident. Meanwhile someone elderly falls/has heart attack in their home and the ambulance cannot get to them

tumtumtetum · 02/02/2009 09:03

hecate

Habbibu · 02/02/2009 09:03

Where are you, Thunderduck? We're in NE Fife, and there's a light dusting. Gritters were out last night.

Thunderduck · 02/02/2009 09:04

East Dunbartonshire, well pretty much the border between E.D and Stirlingshire.

serenity · 02/02/2009 09:05

It doesn't snow like this in London every year. We aren't prepared for snow like this, because it doesn't happen often enough for it to be worth being prepared for it.

This is the first time my DCs have ever had to be off just because of snow (can't get my car out, too far to walk, and all London buses have been suspended)

Oblomov · 02/02/2009 09:08

It was like this a few years ago. The M25 came to a comeplete standstill. Infact most of the south has come to a standstill today.

Even today junctions of the M25 have closed, including J9 at Leatherhead - just down from us.

As others have said, we've been predicting this for days, so why the shock ???
Really gets on my nerves.
We show ourselves up. Other countries manage just fine.

loobeylou · 02/02/2009 09:09

re: medics etc going to work, of course there are some journeys that are essential, but when thousands of others clog up the rds with NON essential journeys (including those who might usually walk/cycle/use public transport which has been cancelled)then this only makes it harder for them. They don't get stuck because of the weather, just the volume of traffic!

when all the news flashes are saying "only make essential journeys" they are not talking about cancelling your trip to the cinema or hairdressers, they are saying, is it VITAL you get the car out/try to get into work.

wheresthehamster · 02/02/2009 09:10

Agree with looby. London is slightly different to Scotland in that if the av people per sq mile in Scotland(65-ish) decided to go out and cause havoc the emergency services could possibly cope. In London where there are over 10,000 people per sq mile it's a recipe for chaos. So it's best if we stay at home

OrmIrian · 02/02/2009 09:10

I guess it depends on how often we get this kind of weather.

If it happens regularly it would be worth spending a lot of time and money on it. If it happens perhaps once every 2 or 3 years for less than a week perhaps it isn't. We could have expensive earthquake provision if we chose to, but I think most people would think it was a bit OTT.

And every time it snows someone makes the point in the OP. I assume that those who can make these sort of decisions have decided that all in all it's not worth it.

tumtumtetum · 02/02/2009 09:10

My DH went off to work at 6.30, sliding down the road, he has been told he is expected to stay all day, which is fine, apart from I'm worried he'll get stranded there if it carries on coming down like this

SlackSally · 02/02/2009 09:12

I'm in Brighton, where it doesn't sound as though it's quite as heavy as London (maybe 6 inches?) If anyone knows Brighton, they'll know it's very hilly, and it really is rather dangerous.

Walking up or down hills is a nightmare, especially as it's hard to tell where the pavement ends and road begins.

Thankfully, the few cars I saw were driving very cautiously.

Webstermum · 02/02/2009 09:14

YANBU at all! We who live in the wilds of Scotland have to cope with it often yet the minute a tiny speck falls South of the Border all hell breaks loose

GrapefruitMoon · 02/02/2009 09:15

Because we don't get much snow usually

a) Most people don't have snow chains, 4wd, etc

b) Councils can't justify spending money on snowploughs

It is the problems getting around that cause schools, etc to close.

herbietea · 02/02/2009 09:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MABS · 02/02/2009 09:18

25 mins from brighton in west sussex village, we have 10 inches and snowing again heavily!

midnightexpress · 02/02/2009 09:18

What habbibu said. It is pathetic. 'Arctic conditions' my arse. It's a couple of centimetres of snow ffs. I lived in rural S.E. England as a child and we used to get feet of snow in the winter and the school buses still managed to get through.

I blame the media - there's so much flippin news space to fill that they make the slightest drama into a mahoosive crisis. They were tallking last night about how this is 'only the start' and how 'there's much worse to come', while if you look at the weather forecast they're saying the air will get milder on...erm...Tuesday and it'll all turn to rain.

And don't get me started on the weather forecasters and their 'weather events'. WHAT???

Sorry, and feeling a little out of sorts this morning.

Thunderduck · 02/02/2009 09:19

Judging by some of the photos people have posted it's more than a few cms of snow in many areas.

midnightexpress · 02/02/2009 09:20

not exactly Siberia though Thunderduck?