does anybody understand why the uk comes to an abrupt stop with bit of snow and cold?
was in germany last week with 1 metre snow and -11c no probs and everything open and working
i bet the germans, danish, swedish and the like are laughing at the uk closing schools and airports councils running out of salt and transport services seemingly useless
The schools never closed when I was at school, we just put on a pair of wellies and a thick coat and off we went… 
Because SOME people cant drive I think is the main reason for gridlock…
Because we have a useless government and equally useless local authorities…
Think that covers it 
I too have driven thru europe in “treacherous” snow and ice and life goes on people have a different mind-set…
The germans lay towels out in preperation, cos they expect it to be busy by the pool…Baden Powell would be proud of our German cousins, “Be Prepared”!!!
Jumpers for goalposts and coal for breakfast
lol a friend of mine now lives in calgary, they had a light dusting of snow the other day, about 18inchs and carried on reguardless lol
Schools do close in Europe…This sort of thing only happens once every 20 years, whereas in Scandinavia it happens every year, so they have the infrastructure to cope with it, they also have the proper machinery to cope, because it happens every year, and yes they DO have caos on their roads when then snow first comes.
I think that the Highways people deserve a big pat on the back for getting the roads open so quickly, NO i forgot this is the UK we only ever see the negative side of everything…
I have only ever been stuck in snow 3 times, once in France, once in Austria and once i Spain (Burgos)
NEVER in the uk!!
Worked in Canada in the early 80s and even then they were well set up for the weather they had charging points at parking lots!!! But the weather there is no surprise is it, unlike the weather we have had this week.
Schools closing nowadays unlike when I was at school is because of the blame & claim culture.
If I went to school in the snow and slipped in the school premises there was no thought about a claim but nowadays it seems people are looking to do just that in order to make money so the schools cannot take the risk.
I dont think its the highways people who are at fault its the people higher up who have failed
heard someone on the radio earlier saying, “we have prepared for bad weather and prepared for abnormal weather but this is exceptional” what a stupid comment, surly abnormal weather and exceptional weather would come under the same bracket, at which point does abnormal become exceptional.
Deepinvet:
Worked in Canada in the early 80s and even then they were well set up for the weather they had charging points at parking lots!!! But the weather there is no surprise is it, unlike the weather we have had this week.
they got charging points at most parking lots in uk too called meters i think car drivers have to put money in 
they got charging points at most parking lots in uk too called meters i think car drivers have to put money in
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Sorry not very clear 
, you pulled out some jump leads to start your vehicle 
Think the lack of salt could be to do with council budget cutbacks…saving the money so the BIG Chiefs can get better wages.
But still pump up the council tax (For Essential services, so they say) so they can go on foriegn trips !!!
Isnt keeping the road infrastructure open a essential service ? 
I think the main reasons are, too may vehicles on the road, a high proportion of which have no or little experience of proper snow and a poorly designed road network, meaning a lot of stop start traffic. Also, we seem to have to rely heavily on road salting which has gone pear shaped in many places recently.
soft southerners thats all, worst winter weather for a decade my arse because there is one day of snow in southern england its the worst winter anyone can remember. Get a life come up north any winter a wee bit of snow is normal
Has anyone actually seen any bad snow? The worst I’ve come across is about 4 inches! I did get stuck though when I had to stop on a hill because a car stopped in front of me, I had to reverse back and start again!
The reason we don’t have a fleet of snow ploughs and hundreds of gritters available from councils is that it just isn’t financially viable to have them all on standby just in case. We could have them ready for next year but your tax bill and council tax bill would go up by a lot to cover the cost. The local authorities have done a cost versus benefit analysis of the situation months or years in advance. They have to guess how bad it will be and budget accordingly. Now over the last few years we have, on the whole, had fairly mild winters with no long sustained periods of snow and ice so, quite reasonably, the councils have cut the budget on salt and ploughs so they can spend on schools and other essential stuff.
Many many of our European cousins fit sensible stuff to their cars like winter tyres and or snow chains. They also have the cast iron guarantee that they will get massive snow fall during the winter. That makes it very easy for a council official or employee to justify the massive expense of snow blowers and extra salt etc. We however do not.
The simple reason is that the English have become a load of pansies, everyone’s scared of their own shadow today.
The reason other countries don’t suffer in the same way is because they carry on as normal, nobody slows down here in the rain & that reduces friction, but a little bit of snow in the fields & you may as well walk along in front with a red flag & I include a lot of lorry drivers in this, some of you lot too, probably the same ones who are too scared to do a u-turn in an artic
Driving along a dual carriageway or motorway at 50/56mph in the snow is no more dangerous than doing it in heavy rain, the stopping distance is pretty much the same & the fact that, as you’re used to the rain, you’re probably more alert in the snow, it may even be shorter in real terms, if the road is icy then that’s a completely different thing altogether, but that won’t happen if people keep moving at a reasonable pace as the heat from the tyres keeps the road surface warm enough to prevent ice building up in the first place 
Another reason is vehicle spec, the Germans for instance run mainly 4x2s with an 11tonne drive axle or tag axle wagon & drags & the Scandinavians use a tag on any multi-wheeler, they also make sure they have decent tyres, a 6x2 with a steering non lifting 2nd axle on a set of drive tyres that have been cut to within an inch of their life will always be hard work to get the power down 
I have winter tyres on my unit at work loads of grip
The simple answer is that heavy snowfall in the south of England is very unusual these days, no Council can justify spending fortunes on the kind of extreme weather equipment they have in Scandinavia. They need to keep that money to finance printing council literature and producing informational DVD’s in ten different languages.
You know what?
When something [zb] happens in Slovakia, like when they close a road for some major roadworks and then there are some major delays or when it snows and roads are not cleared properly, many many people go on to say “this can only happen in [zb] Slovakia, in the West, they…blah blah blah”
The fact is, it happens all over the world.
yes it snows in most of Europe every year and regularly, people are used to it and still [zb]happens. For example when major snowing comes in rush hour, roads can not be cleared properly for example because of cars parked all over, when it’s windy and snowy, freezing sleet or rain, someone makes a cockup at big junction… Traffic grinds to halt, people moan and swear and complain and the media have something to write about. Just like here…
The difference is - England is not used to snowing. It’s get snow once in ten years. So it’s one or two day disaster - something you can survive together with moaning about it.
But to be honest, I found few things ridiculous. Like that school close. And not only schools - shopping centre in Peterborough was closed yesterday. I left work early to sort out some thing at HMRC - office closed “due to bad weather”… Geez… surely at least one or two employees made it to work, could not they run some reduced service? Half of my colleagues did not come to work yesterday - all Peterborough and around. Two guys that commute from London made it. This is not about weather, more about personal attitude.
In Europe, when all roads are clogged up by snow and traffice, you can still rely on trains. Trains only stop when avalanche falls on track or trees fall down under heavy snow and tear power cables. In England, train companies are first to report troubles when it snows… I don’t get it… I also don’t get how people try to drive their cars in snow without winter tyres, lights off, side windows covered with snow, use brakes just as if it was dry road and then skid into lamp post and moan “there was no warning the road is not gritted”… And those who decided not to drive yesterday and took taxi instead… do they think a pakistani cab driver has better snow driving skills or what…
All in all, it is not that much different here… only a little bit over the top.
Mr B:
Has anyone actually seen any bad snow? The worst I’ve come across is about 4 inches! I did get stuck though when I had to stop on a hill because a car stopped in front of me, I had to reverse back and start again!
had a bit of snow first thing this morning
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still snowing now !!