Snow!

[Honest Saints Fan]

The forecast 2 days ago said it was going to thaw today!

2 days ago - Last night

Bit o' a difference likes.

[Disco Duck]

If its as icy as it is here, thats a distinct possibility.

But aye, good luck getting home Disco Duck!

Thanks xbl.

[Wee Bully]

For various reasons that I don't particularly feel like disclosing to ShortManSyndromePersonified, I had to go into work today having been unable to do so all of last week. There were no trains or buses running that I could get there or home.

And I (obviously naively) assumed that the Councils, who were trumpeting last week about the supplies of salt they had bought for this winter, might have got their fucking act together.

Naively. Especially if you are expecting a Council to be gritting a Motorway. But feel free to keep disclosing. It might make you realise what a f***wit you really are.

[Fife Saint]

NEWSFLASH - ANGRY COUNCIL WORKER SLATES STRANDED MOTORIST

[Smurph]

Spent the last five minutes with the window fully open watching the fog gradually set in from the east. It looks really eerie.

It's going to be a cold night. I should probably move my CD collection from in-front of my radiator.

[Disco Duck]

Naively. Especially if you are expecting a Council to be gritting a Motorway. But feel free to keep disclosing. It might make you realise what a f***wit you really are.

I really don't care who should be doing it, but someone should and it sure as hell ain't me. But you keep posturing, I'm here all night. I'm too bored to get annoyed at people like you.

[Andy Dufresne]

They are so stupid,our cat is the very same.

He is away back out again

[xbl]

I'm not sure why Wee Bully is having a go, I can understand Disco Duck's frustration, although I obviously think that the authorities coped as well as could be reasonably expected today, but it seems a bit of a needless attack.

I was helping someone pack for a visit to family abroad today (20 bags of chocolate peanut clusters from Aldi!), and so I spent a fair amount of time outside doing good deeds, and that snow is not good snow. I don't know about anywhere else, but in stirling, it was just a foot of ice powder, and its really, fucking cold. Its going to freeze solid, and people are going to die.

At least the main routes through town are pretty much cleared, so as long as it doesn't snow again (not on the forecasts so far), then the roads will be fine, but everywhere else will be impassible death.

[fueradejuego]

I drove into Hamilton just before 10am this morning. The M8 and M74 were starting to get bad around that point and there were no gritters etc out and about. I am sure that Amey are resposible for the Motorways and some A class roads in the Glasgow / Lanarkshire area?

Hamilton was carnage by 10:30am. People started leaving works early and the schools were already confirming early closure adding to the chaos on the roads.

No gritters were going to get through the traffic by that point. Whether gritters should have been out overnight is an issue worth exploring.

Some guys said it rained overnight and grit could potentially be washed away. No idea about the accuracy of that.

[Merkin]

I'm not sure why Wee Bully is having a go, I can understand Disco Duck's frustration, although I obviously think that the authorities coped as well as could be reasonably expected today, but it seems a bit of a needless attack.

I was helping someone pack for a visit to family abroad today (20 bags of chocolate peanut clusters from Aldi!), and so I spent a fair amount of time outside doing good deeds, and that snow is not good snow. I don't know about anywhere else, but in stirling, it was just a foot of ice powder, and its really, fucking cold. Its going to freeze solid, and people are going to die.

At least the main routes through town are pretty much cleared, so as long as it doesn't snow again (not on the forecasts so far), then the roads will be fine, but everywhere else will be impassible death.

You don't happen to be the guy who writes up risk-assessments for Scotrail are you?

Does anyone know if there has been any information about how the trains are going to be tomorrow morning? They must have some idea even at this stage what number of trains they're going to be able to run, but there never seems to be any info given to passengers until 15 minutes after their train was meant to have appeared.

[xbl]

No gritters were going to get through the traffic by that point. Whether gritters should have been out overnight is an issue worth exploring.

Some guys said it rained overnight and grit could potentially be washed away. No idea about the accuracy of that.

Also, if gritters and ploughs had gone out over night, would they not have been pretty much useless, because it didn't snow until 9am or so, meaning they would have spent pointless hours scraping and gritting already clear roads, only for the snow to completely smother the grit and block the roads anyway.

[yoda]

The fog was really cool earlier on when I was out. It was glistening in the cold air, looked like there was thousands of tiny diamonds glittering away. As I said before, cool stuff.

[theentomologist]

I sympathise with your plight, but I doubt there is much that could have been done. It was exceptional and unexpected weather. As has already been said, a hellish amount of snow, dropped out of nowhere, during rush hour. Sometimes, these things happen. Hope you get home soon though!

exceptional yes. unexpected I have to take issue with. met office as well as BBC weather weather warnings were in place.

can I just point out the transport sec.'s poor performance on newsnight. no apology. 'first class performance' by authorities and couldn't give assurance that it would be cleared by tomorrow.

now I understand that given he and his people failed to pick up on the weather warnings etc and act accordingly -and even if there had not been these in place, there's been plenty of white stuff in the north to anticipate this would come- and thus he can't apologise without opening himself up to legal action for compensation if anything fatal/less than lethal but unpleasant happens as a result of this ineptitude. but to actually use the line 'first class performance' and then not positively affirm that the roads would be made passable for tomorrow was shocking.

[fueradejuego]

You don't happen to be the guy who writes up risk-assessments for Scotrail are you?

Does anyone know if there has been any information about how the trains are going to be tomorrow morning? They must have some idea even at this stage what number of trains they're going to be able to run, but there never seems to be any info given to passengers until 15 minutes after their train was meant to have appeared.

First Glasgow and Arriva have updates on the services which they hope to provide tomorrow.

There is some Scotrail info at:-

http://www.journeych.../firstscotrail/

Quite a few services already completely withdrawn.

My fucking car is still in Hamilton and no idea how I will get to it tomorrow

Edited December 7, 2010 by fueradejuego

[theentomologist]

BBC website forecast light snow in Falkirk last night,It was very very heavy snow.

ah, that'll be the transport sec.'s next deflection, "the wrong kind of snow" snow is snow, it melts and then turns to ice, its a hazard and should have been dealt with.

[Cityfan]

Hamilton seemed to be one of the worst affected areas, it sounded like a bit of a warzone! My girlfriend couldn't get back from her work so abandoned her car and is staying at her mums for the night and is dreading going back to dig her car out tomorrow as the car park was carnage. I know someone who was stuck in their car during the gridlock on the M74 for 13 hours and has only just got home.

Seeing some mental stories on the girlfriends facebook about people who abandoned their cars and walked distances such as Wishaw to Larkhall and Hamilton to EK, crazy stuff!

Edited December 7, 2010 by cityfan

[xbl]

ah, that'll be the transport sec.'s next deflection, "the wrong kind of snow" snow is snow, it melts and then turns to ice, its a hazard and should have been dealt with.

How would you have dealt with today snow?

[MP_MFC]

Some lassies from my work got put up in a hotel, they refused to let anyone go home claiming it was "too dangerous" but yet you were expected to come in:rolleyes:

Took me about 2 hours to skate home tonight from near the SECC to Hampden, whilst I understand why the roads haven't been done, there is no excuse for the pavements to not have been gritted, even in the city centre, the ice was a good few inches thick, I skited numerous times and decked it in a spectacular two legs up in the air simultaneous fashion just outside the Carling Academy.

[flyingscot]

Some guys said it rained overnight and grit could potentially be washed away. No idea about the accuracy of that.

A couple of people I spoke to have indicated this is the issue. Gritting was done this morning at prior to 6am and rush hour dealing with ice and potential for snow/freezing rain. Unfortunately when I left the house at 7.30 it was teeming it down with rain/sleet and that will have washed away/diluted any salt.

They sent the gritters back out but they got clogged in rush hour traffic and the snow then fell at 9am. Before any roads guys would have a chance to recover, traffic was slowed down, people having bumps and they couldn't get the gritters back to depots to be re-filled and properly located. They roped in private companies to help- Radio Scotland said Silverburn were clearing M77 J2 and Pollok area as they were right area, right time if you will.

FWIW I doubt anyone could have dealt with that today. It was disgraceful but if I look at it now, it was a perfect storm of weather conditions, timing and accidents/stuck vehicles. When I was moving around the roads were passable, it was just a few folk stuck out of hundreds that caused the congestion. I was stuck for 2 hours in Crooftfoot with a single stuck bus in the way holding up hundreds. They sent a gritter apparently but they got stuck in traffic. I passed 7 gritters in total and 5 of them were stuck in traffic. I've also read that 'several' gritters were stuck on the M8 trying to clear Harthill but a lorry jackknifed and blocked traffic before they got there.

My cousin in Montreal states that they are largely the same when such heavy snow fall comes at peak hours, it is chaos- this clip shows that.

Once you live there the 'they can deal with it' is a bit of a myth- more used to it and have more stuff but at times.....

[Disco Duck]

at least he's home - I'm still on the M73, been sitting in my car for 13 hours now. great fun.