Snow: Causing travel chaos. Photo credit: ARendle, http://flic.kr/p/boYM4K
Britain has succumbed to the deep freeze gripping Europe, with plunging temperatures, snow and icy winds from Siberia accompanied by the obligatory travel disruption. The UK had been basking in one of the mildest winters since records began – but that came to a brutal end as Snowmaggedon struck.
The big freeze has claimed at least 250 lives in Eastern Europe, said Bloomberg, with temperatures dropping to minus 38.2 degrees Celsius in the Czech Republic and 16 towns cut off by snow in Serbia.
Unfortunately – or fortunately, if you’re a thermal underwear manufacturer – the UK is probably in it for the long haul: “The biting temperatures, snow showers and overnight frosts” could last until the end of February, reported The Telegraph.
Planes, trains and automobiles. Snow and ice saw half of all flights cancelled out of Heathrow, said the BBC, and hundreds of drivers were stranded in their cars along stretches of motorway, with some opting to overnight in their vehicles. Train and Tube services were also disrupted, and there was a surge in 999 calls to the ambulance service.
Formula One to the rescue! Former Formula One driver David Coulthard has offered advice to motorists unused to icy conditions, wrote James Foxall in The Telegraph. Most important: Don’t panic. “As soon as drivers feel the car starting to slide they freeze then ram on the brakes. That is about the worst thing they could do,” said Coulthard, reported the paper. According to Coulthard, drivers should instead “allow all the wheels to keep turning” and only drive “at a speed that they can recover from if the tyres start sliding”.
Flight delays are snow joke. The Daily Mail’s Peter McKay was unimpressed with the Heathrow flight cancellations: “Elsewhere in Europe — where they get more snow than we do — they seem able to operate without difficulty while it’s snowing.” BAA, which is responsible for the airport, said that flights were cancelled because cold weather causes delays and therefore congestion; McKay suggested the answer was therefore to expand the airport, and slammed the UK government’s opposition to building a new runway at Heathrow. However, McKay said that even if a miracle happened and the expansion happened, the airport owners would just find another excuse for delays: “In darker moments, I wonder if, as a nation, we’ve lost the ability to perform tasks which wouldn’t have stretched us in the past.”
Snow benefits. Miles Brignall provided a guide to cold weather questions in The Guardian, including whether it’s possible to be sued if someone slips on your driveway after you’ve it of cleared snow (no), whether you can successfully sue the council if you have an accident on an ungritted road (maybe). Brignall also pointed out that the snow isn’t bad news for everyone: “Supermarkets are coining it, with shelves cleared of cooking and dishwasher salt, as people try to keep paths clear. Stores selling outdoor wear, including wellies, hats and gloves, have reported brisk business.”