Let it snow, let it sn..ok we've had enough now!

We've had rather peculiar weather over the past couple of months here in the UK. It started with the flash flooding which was particularly bad in the northwest of England. Cockermouth and Workington were probably worst hit as the RAF airlifted people from their homes. Bridges collapsed which resulted in the death of a police officer, Bill Barker, as he fell into the water and was washed away.

But this was only the beginning. Less than a month afterwards, the heaviest snow to affect us for decades, began to fall nationwide. In the Southeast where I reside, for example, we had about 20cm of snow at one stage.

Snow can be wonderful. Certainly for the first day that we had snow, everyone appeared to be in a great mood. Neighbours whom I'd never spoken to or even seen before, were outside their homes attending to their drives and commenting on what a lovely dog Marley was. There were kids sleighing down hillsides and having snowball fights - absolutely everything was covered in white. I must have taken hundreds of photographs that day as it was truly a beautiful sight.

But then day 2 came, day 3, day 4 and so on... I guess the first real problem is that the UK, and in particular England, has absolutey no idea how to deal with snow. The slightest bit of white stuff on the ground and everything shuts down. Trains stop running, airports close, people cannot make it into work, so businesses do not open. Even several days after the snowfall had finished, trains were still facing long delays and cancellations as a result of the ice. The Eurostar on multiple occasions got stuck in the Channel Tunnel overnight, where passengers were left stranded for hours, some without any food or drink being offered to them!

So the snow soon turned into ice. There was a massive salt shortage, so only main roads were gritted and cars were skidding all over the place. However roads were still a lot less slippery than pavements! Pedestrians were found roaming the streets. At first I wondered why they would risk this when cars were barely in control as it was, but then I experienced first hand how treacherous it is to walk on the pavements. All the snow had been heavily compressed into ice. It was actually impossible to walk on pavements without falling over. As I crossed a bridge in the town centre where I live, I clung on to the railing as tight as I could as my legs flailed in every direction. I practically dragged myself across that bridge with the strength of my arms!

Eventually the snow lessened and it began to rain which washed away the remnants of the snow and ice. Finally things could go back to normal around here! But then a mere few days later, it snowed again! This time it did not just snow for one night, but it snowed for several days in succession. Once again, the country shut down. Hundreds of schools had to be closed and exams were majorly disrupted as a result. Roads were once again chaotic and trains stopped running. As a consequence, I did not manage to get into London to see a concert that I had really been looking forward to. Curse you weather!

Needless to say, enthusiasm for the snow waned very quickly. It would not be so bad if the UK had any inclination of how to cope when it does snow, but sadly this country and its infrastructure is not built for dealing with such extreme weather. Because it happens so rarely, the government and local authorities do not feel that it is worthwhile to make adjustments so that we can adapt more easily to such conditions. Let us hope, in that case, that this weather is only going to be a rare occurence from now on! The snow is finally melting again. Hopefully within the next week, all traces will have gone and preferably for good this time. We've had enough of this nonsense weather for one year!

In the meantime...at least there's one fella that is loving the weather...