TOT about driving conditions the week

The MET office predicted a barbecue summer and a mild winter.. this is Murphy reminding us that their mathematical models aren't very good.

Reply to
dennis
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geoff gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

That'll be me, then.

Reply to
Adrian

Steve Walker gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Cheap. Even brand new factory steel wheels are rarely more than £30 a piece, but perfectly good used wheels are widely available.

Don't forget you save the wear on the summer tyres.

Hardly a big problem compared to the s**te most of us have stacked up "just in case"...

It's all about the increased safety margin throughout the cold weather, though - winter tyres grip much better even on cold, dry tarmac below about 5 deg.

Reply to
Adrian

Usenet Nutter gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Cape Wrath lighthouse...

It's the Tan Hill "Oh, no, we were stuck in the pub for three days" mob that I suspect of a hint of exaggeration...

Reply to
Adrian

journo's

Wow, thats news?

they got

Wonderful!

"Cut off" to me means you can't walk out in a hour or two, so soft snow depth > 18" and distance > 2miles.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Aye, they could have got out if they really wanted to, plenty of

4WD's in the aerial shots I saw. If they didn't have a shovel between them they need their heads looking at. I have a shovel in the car from Nov to Apr... Then of course you hear as an aside of the "news" story that the owner wants to sell...
Reply to
Dave Liquorice

The problem ain't the snow or the ice, it's the poor idiots who never got taught to drive on them. They just block every road with abandoned vehicles. The HGV mob are not any better at driving in it, but create bigger blockages. Even the Police don't understand it. Driving on ice is easy and fun, but without M&S or chains is more like flying than driving, you have to know where your momentum is going to take you. Where (and when) do you go in a typical British Year to learn the skills to do this? In The Cantons (also Eastern Europe, Scandi, etc.) you have a majority of drivers who were taught to drive on ice and snow, and know when not equipped to try.

R.

Reply to
TheOldFellow

Seems to have increased to 11" overnight, and still snowing.

Watch the news. Just heard dire things about M27, but it's not a motorway I use much myself.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Yes! That's why we never see them here. No sewers!

Reply to
TheOldFellow

Oops, make that 9" (misconverted from cm)

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

You have to admire t'govmint. Not many organisations would close a web site because of the wrong sort of snow.

Reply to
Peter Parry

Google Earth with the traffic layer turned on allows you to see, at a glance, what is going on with the motorway network and some A roads.

Reply to
Rob Horton

Whilst I may be in Switzerland and need winter tyres to comply with the law (and stay mobile) doesn't change the fact that a set of steel rims and winter tyres can be had for about £180 for a Vectra and then all of this hassle would go away - I put my wheels on in November long before I travel to CH and only swap back when convenient after my return in May as the tyres work in summer too (just wear a bit faster).[1]

4x steel rims = £40/50 on ebay from Alloy wheel using BarryBoys ;-) 4x 195/65/15 = £35/£55 each on etyres etc

Chains are only £40 in French supermarkets (Swiss are dearer)

The only time the tyre or wheel combination fails is when the snow is so deep the car airdam acts as a plough and stops progress [2]

- I guess that means that in the UK today it wouldn't work...

Neil

[1] I store them in my garage with all the other 'might come in' stuff [2] Reverse will get you a bit further...
Reply to
Neil

That message has been there for ever, not just over the snow period (aka 'Winter').

It is pathetic, though, that it's not been fixed.

Reply to
F

According to Trainline.com, an off peak single from Portsmouth to Preston costs £91.50 (as long as she can avoid travelling at certain times by the look of it - probably those times which hit peak evening London departure restrictions)). Not cheap, no, but the fuel for a 500+ mile round trip alone is not insignificant.

To pick an easy figure to work out, At 45 mpg it would cost over £50 in petrol - and many vehicles will do a lot less on that sort of trip, plus of course tyre wear and other wear and tear on the car.

Reply to
chris French

snipped

Eh?? Are you saying GE is in "real time" ?

Reply to
Usenet Nutter

they will, IF you can afford to get a set of winter wheels.

In continental Europe, such things are commonly available.

Here they are not.

This is not an annual event for us. In fact I've not seen it like this since 1963.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

And I may say that the 1963 conditions didn't stop me delivering newspapers (I had a long round from Crawley up to near Gatwick on the A23) *or* getting to school (which didn't close). Mind you, to be fair we had something like 8" on New Year's Day which then took until March to melt. And it was the wrong type of snow for snowballs as it didn't stick when you squeezed it.

Reply to
Tim Streater

The models are OK, but the solutions are chaotic.

They start to diverge from reality > 3 days out significantly.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Andrew Gabriel wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 09:28

Only 2" here in East Sussex, but still snowing. Closed all the schools in the county. Trains around Robertsbridge and Tonbridge are fast heading towards craptitude, though some are sort of moving.

National Rail website and East Sussex CC website (school closure list) much better than last time... Glad I got a Sainsburys delivery yesterday :)

Have coal, have carrot, will make snowman :)

Reply to
Tim W

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