The British attitude towards snow has changed a bit over the past decade or so. I think you could now sum it up by describing a series of stages :
1 - Anticipation of snowball fights.
This is where we look forward to playing in the snow and having a few innocent good fun snowball flinging matches with our friends.
2 - Thinking of time off work due to trouble moving on the roads.
Probably comes under stage 1, as I bet all of us would rather be enjoying ourselves outside of an office than being stuck inside the office. Probably depends on the job we're doing ;-)
3 - Uhoh - this snow's going to close the roads ...
... And make it really awkward to move around. I'm currently writing from home, as my sister and I decided not to travel due to anticipating trouble :
Met Office Severe Weather Page
The link is to the Met Office warnings page, currently showing "Be Prepared" for half of GB, with "Be Aware" for another 15%. It's subject to change though - the warnings will probably be gone tomorrow.
4 - And then we remember what being snowbound can be like ...
We look forward to snow over here, the influence of the Gulf Stream (and dare I say it - Global Warming) means it's been a long time since snow was a major factor in UK weather. But when the snow comes, we rapidly remember the problems it can cause. BBC have a few pictures of the snow's influence up on their news site.
I have to be honest and say all things considered, I prefer snow to the high winds we've been having lately. Snow is a tangible thing that you can see and touch. Knowing it's there means you can see trouble coming and have a better chance of avoiding coming a cropper. Wind though, leads to trucks being blown over or cars being pushed into the next lane. At least one building will be without a roof, people get flooded. Ice is nasty but you get warned by the steering going light, high wind is another order of danger though.
Hoping we don't get too many casualties over the holiday weekend. Wrap up warm people !
PS Think my boiler got the idea I was keeping an eye on it. Since I noted here that it was sulking on me, it's stayed lit :-)
Addon - sorry Carmi ;-)
ReplyDeletesnow
ReplyDeletewe had that
no more now, please
Happy Easter from michele.
No need to apologize: I smiled as I read this entire entry! I've always been fascinated at how people respond to drastic changes in weather. As a dyed-in-the-wool Canadian, I can't deny the appeal of an impending snow.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're keeping warm. Our furnace blew a major - and expensive - part last year just as winter dawned. It took close to 2 weeks for the part to be shipped...we had to get out of town to avoid freezing at night. Not fun.
Back from Michele's, and as always, it's been a joy.
So glad that the boiler is behavin' itself!
ReplyDeleteI think an Easter Egg Hunt in the snow would be great fun! As long as the eggs are colored.
Make a snowangel :)
In my first year at university, we had lots of snow :-)
ReplyDeleteSo we built a snowman. He was about 6 foot tall ... (we rolled balls of snow up and down a hill until they were huge)
Our snowman lasted 3 weeks after the snow melted and people were using him as a meeting point :-)