TOT about driving conditions the week

[Dave]

Ah! So you are just a pup then :-)

Dave

[Steve Firth]

Umm no, it's a Ford. And it's not a tractor. My tractor doesn't have wheels.

[Dave Liquorice]

The air may only be 0C but the ground can be several degress lower. This is why cars fitted with ice warning kit trigger it with an air temp around 4C. The ground radiates heat and with no cloud cover it just disappears into outer space and the ground gets colder and colder. 10 degrees below air temp is very possible. Clouds absorb the radiated ground heat and radiate it back warming the ground. Not without losses of course which is why it cools at night.

That as well. The tyres I had on until I bought a set of proper winter tyres(*) had noticeably less grip below about 5C on dry roads, wet and it was bit dangerous as they became unpredictable. As for their performance on snow the car might as well have been fitted with slicks!

(*) Blooming glad I did with 18" of snow outside... Magic, snow covered 1:7 up hill, no problem. B-)

[ARWadsworth]

My girlfriend calls me old.

Adam

[ARWadsworth]

1963 and a few other years here.

government should make winter an annual event. That way the journos would not have a fit when it turns cold.

Adam

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jules formulated on Wednesday :

The loss is that the parent(s) have to change their plans and maybe not go into work.

[Dave]

I groan in anticipation :-)

Dave

[Dave]

RAOTFLMAO

What is it about Portsmouth that brings this up with such regularity?

I have seen more night life in Manchester than I have in Pompey.

Dave

[Dave]

Dave

[Dave]

I am tentatively going to try and bring her back home. The slightest hitch and I will do a U turn and come back home myself.

I'm getting too old to be doing this sort of run.

Dave

[Dave]

I reckon that a ticket on the day will cost well in excess of £200-00. I Can't see her paying that, as she thinks of me as a free lift back.

Dave the mug.

[Dave]

Noted and printed, as they are coming through too fast.

Dave

[Dave]

No, but it has become a family duty :-(((((((((( Do I need to go on?

Dave the survivor.

[Dave]

Prolly the M27

The problem with the Southerners is that if they see a flake of snow they whinge about being snowed in.

Dave

[Dave]

It's not like you to call them divots. Are you well and OK there?

So that is what I might have to put up with tomorrow then.

Dave

[Steve Firth]

Umm, it's the home of both the Navy and the Marines. Does it need more than that to set the scene?

[tony sayer]

ISTR that it was Jan 30 ish 2005 . A mate of mine was manning a small local radio station on that night giving out a lot of essential local info for people who were stranded after the mobile networks broke down and fell over etc...

Problem was on that night that the gritters weren't out soon enough and were stuck -in- Cambridge!. M11 jammed up and traffic built up on roads out of town. Like it does now most of the time - even without the snow and grit;!.

[Steve Firth]

Yeah, I'm fine thanks Dave. I had a long trip home yesterday. Close to four hours to go 15 miles. The problem was the divots. The A32 rises and falls as it crosses the Downs and people driving too fast and too close had numerous smashes leading the roads being completely closed. I sat for a time in a queue until I worked out that something was badly wrong then I turned around and took to the lanes running parallel to the main road. These are even steeper than the 'A' road and drivers had tried using the routes in cars that couldn't make it up the hills.

I ended up taking numerous diversions including green lanes to get around the areas where drivers had simply walked away from their cars leaving them blockign the road. Incredible selfishness IMO.

I offered to tow a couple of people out of their self-imposed misery but the first one refused any help and the second didn't know how to attach the towing eye to their car. I ended up pushing it up hill with the aid of a couple of farmers. Our motive wasn't entirely altruistic, we wanted to get past. Even then the driver was thoughtless as she turned the rear windscreen wiper on and showered us with snow, and she was unable to grasp the concept of starting in second gear and being gentle with the clutch so it wasn't going anywhere fast. In the end we pushed it into a passing place and suggested she walk home since she said she lived just

800 yards away.

Be careful early morning since the temperature is now dropping at 0.5C per hour and there's still a lot of snow on the roads. Also in some places the wind is creating large drifts which the council don't seem to be clearing. But in general the roads are pretty good. Once I had cleared the suburban streets at the coast the main routes were clear. The M3 was free-flowing but the A3 northbound was still closed.

If you want to be safe(r) pack sleeping bags, a shovel, some water and something to eat, but the forecast is no more snow until Saturday.

[Tim W]

Dave wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 19:30 the place with half a dozen staff and merge down to 3 classes if they

In the old days of course, the caretaker often had a cottage on site, so he was there regardless...

But, surely there could be a simple handover procedure of codes if bad weather is anticipated the previous day?

It's not that I mind the school being closed - doesn't inconvenience me; just take the sprogs to the meadow and build Squidward shaped snowmen (we're weird like that).

But all the people who work and don't have childcare arrangements (and many fellow parents here are self employed and work locally, thus are normally unimpeded by snow) have to look forward to a costly day off and pissed off customers.

Even if they just turned the school into a creche for the day and let the kids play and do drawing with bare bones supervision it would be helpful to many.

[chris French]

As has been pointed out, no it won't - unless she has to travel in the more expensive times of the day. She could have had a walk on return fare for less than the price of the petrol for the double trip (assuming you took her down)

Ask her to fill up the tank before driving back ? :-)

No comment :-)