Winter continues

~ beetleypete

Just a couple of days since I posted about the snow and ice that hit the UK, and it is still making the headlines. Combined with the arrival of a storm from the west, most of the country is still in the grip of failure to cope. Rare ‘Red’ warnings have been issued, and we are still being told to stay at home. Charities are supplying accommodation and food to the homeless, churches are open, and everyone is being urged to look out for elderly neighbours who can’t get out.

(Hang on… I’m an elderly neighbour, so why hasn’t anyone looked out for me?)

The road outside our house is still frozen solid, and the local news is showing cars stuck in snowdrifts, or reporting how the train companies are cancelling all but inter-city mainline services. The rubbish collections have been cancelled, but there are no suggestions about how we should cope with all the extra garbage. At least our hardy postman made it through with the mail. I did feel sorry for him though, when it turned out to be two circulars that went straight into the bin.

We didn’t have anymore snow last night, but the snow that had already fallen is still here, now freezing hard. The supplies are getting low, but thankfully not critical, so I am not yet desperate enough to risk crashing my car to get to the shops. The heating is still working, so we are warm inside at least. The weather girl told us last night that temperatures should reach above freezing by Tuesday or Wednesday, once this icy wind leaves us. That seems a long way off.

At least we can joke about our inability to cope. We have always been good at self-mockery here.

80 thoughts on “Winter continues”

  1. The snow has completely vanished now in Chelmsford but I was very grateful last week that we live in the centre of town and I was able to walk only a few blocks to get the supplies we’d run out of. If we were further out it would have been a challenge. I was also glad I could work from home as I saw some real horror stories of people stuck on trains over night!

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    1. Fifteen hours overnight on a packed commuter train, in the company of strangers. A sobering thought indeed, Abbi. The snow has also gone here, but other parts of the UK are not so fortunate, it seems.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. In the south of England, it is rare. The last time it was like this here was in 2012. But the northern counties, Wales, and Scotland get bad weather almost every year. On this rare occasion, the whole country got hit at more or less the same time.
      Sun out today, and the snow is starting to melt…
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. It’s lovely until you have to drive, or your heating fails, or you can’t get to the shops. Everything tends to collapse here, when we get such country-wide conditions. My step-daughter had to cancel two University interviews, and people are losing money by not being able to get into work, or taking time off with their kids because the schools are closed. No rubbish collected, and delivery services suspended all over too. Not much fun.
      It is +1 C today, so hopefully the thaw is beginning. šŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. My partner is from St Helens and his Mum’s good friends from the UK just returned to the blizzards from Australia where I have lived since I was a baby (and to where my partner & his family migrated to, more than 20 years ago). I asked the visitors “What’s a blizzard?” as I’ve never even seen snow, least of all a blizzard.

    I continue to be astonished at how cold it can get where you are (and I worry over small thin creatures and people who don’t have central heating there or contacts to help them out) ….. being around 40 kg with a slight frame I can’t help feel that I would not last long in your winter. Perth Western Australia had very cold nights one of our Winters about 3 years ago (we’re Upside Down to you though) …. when I got up at 2.00 AM one of those days to go to the ladies it was so cold that I found I really didn’t need to go, so I jumped back into the warm bed. I think it was around 5 degrees Celsius.

    Keep warm and fed … will be visualising all in the cold weather to be safe.

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    1. St Helens is over 200 miles north of Beetley, so probably colder and even snowier.
      This winter is unusual in the south of the UK, but the north (and Scotland) gets this almost every year at some point. There are plenty of people who weigh the same as you here, they just have to wear lots of clothes to stay warm. šŸ™‚
      It must be strange to have never seen snow. I have a friend in the Philippines who has also never seen it.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. I have a host of local people telling me how bad it is back in England, then we all have a good laugh about it šŸ™‚ Hang in there Pete, as long as you don’t run out of wine and even the you can always take Ollie for a walk to the shops šŸ™‚

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    1. Eddy, scroll down to First Night Design’s comment. Sarah put up a great link to an amusing short article about other countries wondering what we are on about! šŸ™‚
      (Down to one bottle of red wine. I might have to consider drinking white!)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  19. Sorry to hear, Pete..Los Angeles is in the midst of a rare rainstorm, much needed to help with the drought, which showed up again since there hasn’t been any rain in almost a year…lots of snow surrounding LA as well, which means those going by car to Las Vegas are in for a hellacious trip…stay warm and hope your supplies hold out!

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  21. The snow didn’t start to settle until yesterday lunchtime and I was glad to be back home from the shops. Mind you, my fingers were so dead, I had to wait until my lovely neighbours were around to put the cover on my mob. scooter for me. Today, I swept my ramp and they swept the rest. I’m wondering whether my Tesco delivery will get through tomorrow. Isn’t it fun! This is the most amusing reaction I’ve seen: http://newsthump.com/2018/02/28/trans-siberian-express-cancelled-due-to-pissing-itself-laughing-at-british-trains/. Keep warm and safe. x

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  22. We had some crazy “Thunder Snow” last night.. It was rain, snow, Thunder and lightning all at the same time… Mother Nature is definitely not happy this month!! I’m glad you are safe and warm inside, hopefully things get critical before you have to start booking shoes for nourishment!

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  23. I don’t recollect any ‘Red Alerts’ when I was young and walked 3 miles in the deep snow to get to work. Schools were never closed either. Has everyone gone ‘soft’? Fortunately the snow is melting here and the bin men have been and gone, bless them, but we have leaden skies and it is still cold and the wind is bitter so I shall not be venturing out until I really have to! Hope yours clears soon, but then you’ll be left with more mud…

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    1. I have only ‘gone soft’ as regards driving around in it. Like you, I struggled into school or work in all weathers, including the ‘big freeze’ of 1962-63. I used to have to drive ambulances in the snow, and rode a motorbike to work with both feet on the ground! šŸ™‚
      But now I don’t ‘have to’, I stay safe.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Likewise. Driving to Sheffield in the ’90s was often tricky as where I worked always got the snow first and Sheffield is very hilly! Only once did I decide to turn around an return home when I could see that the snow was settling on the M1 even after the gritter had been. A bit of a slippery journey that one!

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  24. Iā€™m optimistic about our stocks lasting. Actually Iā€™m wondering if itā€™s an opportunity to defrost the deep freezer in the garage. No idea whatā€™s in there now. I could probably switch it off and save electricity.

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    1. Funnily enough, our back-up fridge-freezer in the shed outside has stopped working. I think it is because the air temperature is colder than the inside of the freezer! šŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. That does happen, Pete. Fridge freezers only work if the temperature is at least one degree. I switched the garage one off every time it got really cold but it died so it’s just a cupboard,now. I have to remember not to put chilled stuff in there when the weather gets warm!

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        1. Thanks for confirming my suspicions, Julie. I think we are going to have to give up on ‘outside’ refrigeration. It would be better to leave it out on the lawn at the moment. šŸ™‚
          Best wishes, Pete.

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  26. Elderly or not, you are still fit and well enough to walk your dog and I suspect that’s the crucial thing šŸ˜‰ Back in Somerset, my mother has had her front path cleared for her, despite the fact that she has no intention of going out. If she needed something, I’m sure the same friend would see that she got it.

    Here, it’s a bit warmer today (-1 at 2 pm), but snowing again. Duncan has been out to get some shopping, but I am staying put! The Met Office seems to think you may get above freezing tomorrow and that it will be warmer there than here on Sunday and Monday. After that, it looks like it may get a little more spring-like (though still not warm) for both of us!

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    1. I was of course joking about being an elderly neighbour, Ros. Though by coincidence, my slightly younger next-door neighbours are getting us some milk and bread, as they have stopped at the shops on the way back from a hospital appointment. šŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  28. Good to hear of your heroic postman. Here in Eltham, not often regarded as the middle of nowhere, I keep receiving emails from the Post Office/Royal Mail saying mums bungalow is inaccessible. Only this morning, mums 82 year old neighbour arrived in her car to take mum to Sainsbury’s. Off they drove only to return two hours later laden with goodies foraged in Eltham High St. Perhaps the Royal Mail should offer these hardy old ladies a job! One day my post will come! K

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  30. It seems to me that a genuine Canadian blizzard has finally hit the UK. From what you describe it is obvious that the various government agencies cannot cope with the onslaught. There is only one solution and that is to hope for a change in weather. Good luck, Pete!

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  31. First things first — You wrote, “(Hang onā€¦ Iā€™m an elderly neighbour, so why hasnā€™t anyone looked out for me?)– ” Well, my friend, nobody over here looks out for Jim and I either and we are elderly as Hell. Secondly, these “Winter” things always seem to want to have a couple of last-ditch-effort appearances and your Spring season will bloom suddenly and without warning one bird-singing morning! You are just experiencing what I call “The last dance of Winter.”

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    1. I’m sure you realise I was only joking, John. Most people around here are good at doing that sort of thing though.
      As for the emergence of Spring, it’s fingers crossed for that. šŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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