What weird weather we’ve been having! When we were forecast the worst snow for 18 years I was thinking, “Yeah right, it’ll all be gone in a day!”
It started snowing heavily Monday lunch time, and it was quite thick by the evening when we built a snowman in the back garden. There was a fine dusting of snow during that night, and by Wednesday it was all gone!
During Wednesday night it snowed again! And again Thursday night! Some places had up to a foot of snow!
Driving Thursday and Friday was hazardous, as no roads had been gritted, but the motorways had been ploughed.
There was also a lot of fuss about low grit and salt levels, with supplies in Bristol, South Gloucester, and BANES not having enough grit to grit all the roads, with reports that the supplies wouldn’t last till Monday!
It got so desperate that South Gloucester council had to use table salt instead of rock salt to grit the roads with!
Friday was the worst day of all, as the snow just settled on top of the snow left over from Wednesday night.
Friday was also the worst day for school closures, as all schools in South Gloucester and BANES were closed, as were most schools in Bristol.
During Saturday the snow stayed around, and conditions were icy.
Today (Sunday) it has been raining most of the day which has cleared all but the thickest deposits of ice and snow from the roads, but the forecast is for more snow for either tonight or Monday night.
I have posted some photos on Flickr, but I do have a few more to upload which I will do in the next couple of days.
News stories on the snow:
Heavy snow and low salt supplies may turn UK roads into ‘death traps’ – guardian.co.uk
In pictures: Snow in Bristol – BBC Bristol
Snow latest across the UK – BBC News
Where does road salt come from? – BBC News