Freezing start to the year!, more snow

Big chill to blow in for New Year

Revellers across the country are facing a fresh blast of snow and freezing weather for the New Year, according to forecasters.

Temperatures are set to plunge to minus 3C in most of England and Wales on Thursday night, New Year's Eve, and minus 8C in Scotland, with widespread snow showers also predicted.

New Year's Day will also be chilly, with the northern half of Britain's struggling to get above freezing during the day, while London will do well to reach 4C ...

Full piece, Ananova, 26/12/09.

Sounds like the snow will be up north though so that's ok.

Sub-zero conditions are continuing to sweep across the UK with many roads affected - and forecasters have warned conditions will continue well into January.

Temperatures are not likely to get much above 0C across many areas of the country over the next 10 days - and in some parts may plunge to -15C.

Motorists have been warned of dangerous driving conditions in the North West, with snow causing problems on the motorways.

There are poor driving conditions on the M62, M60, M602, and the M66, a Highways Agency spokesman said.

Snake Pass, which runs between Manchester and Sheffield, has also been closed.

"The very cold, wintry weather is making driving conditions difficult, particularly in the North West of England ," said a spokesman.

Many Britons woke up to a white Christmas as the country shivered through its coldest December in more than a decade.

Forecasters say we can now expect fresh snowfall, severe frosts and icy roads.

From Tuesday until next weekend there is a chance of heavy snow showers in the North, London and eastern England.

Weather warnings have been issued for the eastern side of the country.

Temperatures could drop as low as -15C in some parts of Scotland and northern England over the next 10 days.

The South will struggle to see anything warmer than 1C.

Seven people died last month as snow, avalanches and sub-zero temperatures wreaked havoc across the UK.

A friend of ours went to visit his in-laws for Christmas in the Durham area, he is still there as it is too dangerous to drive back (they live in Suffolk)
Apparently the weather there is terrible with no sign of letting up, he is worried as he's supposed to be going back to work on Monday...

We've had no snow here but it is very cold, if it rains it will likely turn to snow. I am getting really fed up with this cold weather now, it is very expensive to keep the heating on too.

snow up date

I have actually booked a day off work tomorrow. Unless there is a drastic change in the weather I am not moving out of my house.

Britain is preparing for the coldest night of the winter so far as the deep freeze gets deeper.

Temperatures in parts of the Scottish Highlands, Lancashire, Cheshire and Oxfordshire could fall as low as the minus 20s - as cold as Moscow.

The Met Office has issued widespread warnings, with the conditions already proving lethal.

A man's body has been found under ice in a lake at a Surrey country club.

A teenage boy was killed and his mother seriously injured when they were hit by a lorry in North Yorshire late last night.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service has also paid tribute to firefighter Gareth Wyn Rees who died after he slipped and banged his head.

The North East Ambulance Service says the conditions are putting it under immense pressure.

Director of Ambulance operations Paul Liversidge said: "The driving conditions and volume of traffic on the road have made it difficult for our crews to get through to patients, particularly on residential estates."

Forecasters say the country can expect the arctic conditions to continue for another two weeks.

Sky's weather presenter Sarah Pennock said: "Ice is still a real problem across the UK and temperatures will just plummet. Most places will struggle to get above freezing even in the afternoon sunshine."

Four thousand homes are without electricity in the south of England after snow brought down power lines.

The National Grid has issued another gas balancing alert as supplies are squeezed, but says ordinary consumers are not affected.

Sky's Amy Lewis reported from the M3 near Chertsey. She said: "It's very quiet on the roads as motorists appear to be heeding the warnings, but the RAC is still expecting around 11,000 call-outs today."

Some major roads have been affected, with the M275 in Hampshire, the A20 in Kent, the A1(M) in County Durham, and the A2628 in Derbyshire all closed.

Motorists in Wales are being warned that conditions on the M4 are particularly poor, and many mountain roads in Scotland are closed.

Sky's Scotland correspondent James Matthews reported from the cut-off village of Pathhead in Scotland. He said: "In the rural areas people are being left largely to fend for themsleves as authorities struggle to keep up with the worsening conditions."

Supermarkets are reporting panic buying as the ice tightens its grip.

Many councils warned that their stocks of grit were running low, with councils in Cornwall and Scarborough in North Yorkshire revealing they are using sand from beaches to grit pavements.

North of England correspondent Gerrard Tubb said: "The pavements here are absolutely full of ice. It's so dangerous, but the council can't grit everywhere."

John Riby, of Scarborough Council, said: "Unfortunately at the moment I'm afraid demand for salt is outstripping supply, so we're having to prioritise."

Emergency measures to alleviate the gritting crisis were put forward to allow Britain's biggest salt mine Winsford to supply the country day and night.

Sky correspondent Michelle May said: "The mine is working flat out 24 hours a day, with 25 lorries an hour leaving to get the salt out to where it's needed. But it is getting harder and harder to keep up."

In repsonse to the salt shortage the Government has activated "Salt Cell", a central group which allows officials to instruct suppliers to send salt where it is most needed.

The transport minister Sadiq Khan MP told the House of Commons the Government was doing "everything possible" to keep the roads moving.

On the transport network rail services struggled to return to normal, with many operating revised timetables and suffering delays.

The Eurostar is running a restricted service and is telling customers to cancel or postpone their trip if they can.

A train broke down in the tunnel and had to be towed to safety just weeks after thousands of passengers were stranded inside the cross-country link because of the bad weather.

Gatwick Airport's runway was reopened on Wednesday night after being shut all day with more than 240 flights cancelled, but bosses warned passengers to expect delays and some travellers were left trapped on landed planes because of the conditions.

Heathrow airport says it has had a similar problem, with passengers on a small number of flights having long waits to get off their planes.

British Airways and easyJet have cancelled a number of flights at Heathrow and Gatwick.

Many councils shut their shcools, with around 10,000 closed across the country

***

We really do not cope well do we BUT thinking logicly what else can you do but close Schools, not fly airplanes etc .. Cannot use a car if it is dangerious ..

It is a difficult situation. Sadly, in some cases, there has been tragedy.

The problem is that this sort of weather is very rare in this country. So we do not have the procedures in place, and the equipment that goes with them, that they do in those countries where weather like this is far more common.

HERO OF THE ICE

A hero teenager who crawled across a frozen lake in a desperate bid to save three drowning brothers said last night: "We pulled one out - but I'm gutted we couldn't get the other two."

Brave Daniel Hamilton, 18, didn't hesitate to risk his life when he heard hysterical screams for help.

He fearlessly slithered across the ice, even though it was cracking beneath him ...

Full story, the People, 10/01/10.



Terrible tragedy.

My deepest sympathies to the loved ones of those that lost their lives in this incident, as well as all the others that have lost someone in this very awful weather.

Terrible incident, it seems every time it freezes we get a story like this, some people don't understand how dangerous icy lakes are.
A few years ago someone went through the ice in Cambridge (river Cam) unfortunately he didn't survive either, very sad

3m motorists had accidents in UK Big Freeze

More than three million motorists were involved in accidents during the UK Big Freeze, it has emerged.

This means one-in-ten motorists pranged, scraped or crashed their cars during as the UK was hit by the the coldest temperatures in 30 years.

While the average bill for the damage was £320, researchers found one-in-three people failed to leave their details after hitting another motor.

However, some of these drivers were traced by the footprints they left in the snow as they ran away from the scene.

A study of 1,000 drivers also found that 30 percent of motorists admit hitting the road without being able to see out of their windscreen properly .

Tim Bailey of Continental Tyres, which carried out the poll, said: "This is a shocking amount of accidents in a two week period and shows how many people are unprepared for driving in these conditions.

"We are not even necessarily past the worst yet, as further snow and ice could yet arrive, bringing yet more hazardous driving conditions.

"The stress of driving in bad weather conditions can lead people to make mistakes, such as driving too closely to the vehicle in front.

News Lite, 21/01/10.



I was appalled by some of the ill-tempered driving and speeding that I saw during the snowy/icey period.

Many of our drivers should not be on the road and many need to take refresher courses in how to drive.

More snow on the way in new weather warning

South-east England and northern Scotland are likely to see the worst of the snow and sleet over the next few days.

Up to 15cm (6in) of powder could fall on higher ground and most of the country will see overnight temperatures plunge below freezing ...

Full piece, Metro, 15/02/10.

The freezing start to the year continues and it is nearly Spring.

More ********** snowmen.

The freezing start to the year continues and it is nearly Spring.

More ********** snowmen.

Warm weather seems like a distant memory... this winter has been so long... it feels like we've all moved to Narnia!!