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uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) (uk.sci.weather) For the discussion of daily weather events, chiefly affecting the UK and adjacent parts of Europe, both past and predicted. The discussion is open to all, but contributions on a practical scientific level are encouraged. |
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#1
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The pictures testify to the depths of snow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25949795 Thank goodness It's not just areas of the UK that grind to a halt with 3"" of snow. *)) |
#2
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In article ,
Dawlish writes: The pictures testify to the depths of snow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25949795 Thank goodness It's not just areas of the UK that grind to a halt with 3"" of snow. *)) As the article says: "Barely 3in (7.6cm) of snow caused havoc in a warm-weather region where many cities do not even have snow ploughs or fleets of salt trucks." The amount that it's worth spending on anti-snow precautions has to be linked to the frequency and severity of such conditions. By that token it's unrealistic to expect the UK to be as well-prepared as Canada or Switzerland, but we ought to be better prepared than the US Deep South. -- John Hall "He crams with cans of poisoned meat The subjects of the King, And when they die by thousands G.K.Chesterton: Why, he laughs like anything." from "Song Against Grocers" |
#3
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On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:23:43 -0800 (PST)
Dawlish wrote: The pictures testify to the depths of snow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25949795 Thank goodness It's not just areas of the UK that grind to a halt with 3"" of snow. *)) Here's another take on the story - http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...o_bla me.html -- Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. Mail: 'newsman' not 'newsboy'. The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with. - MARTY FELDMAN |
#4
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On 29/01/2014 20:27, John Hall wrote:
In article , Dawlish writes: The pictures testify to the depths of snow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25949795 Thank goodness It's not just areas of the UK that grind to a halt with 3"" of snow. *)) As the article says: "Barely 3in (7.6cm) of snow caused havoc in a warm-weather region where many cities do not even have snow ploughs or fleets of salt trucks." The amount that it's worth spending on anti-snow precautions has to be linked to the frequency and severity of such conditions. By that token it's unrealistic to expect the UK to be as well-prepared as Canada or Switzerland, but we ought to be better prepared than the US Deep South. It has to be said though the idea that the SE grinds to a halt over a couple of inches of snow is highly exaggerated. Looking back to the significant snowfalls in December 2010 traffic was still moving around my area on the main roads, shops were functioning normally and people were carrying on as normal. It was only on untreated rural country lanes that people were struggling and even then it wasn't everywhere. The problem is that the media shoot a few pictures of localised areas where there are severe problems and people then think that that those localised places are somehow representative of entire counties. Heathrow tends to suffer simply because it is running at pretty much maximum capacity, and capacity here means capacity on a benign weather day. As soon as anything even a little disruptive occurs the theoretical maximum capacity drops, the airport becomes super-saturated and the only thing that can happen then are delays and cancellations. I suspect that airports in countries with routine heavy winter snow do not try to operate them at the capacity that Heathrow does. |
#5
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On Wednesday, 29 January 2014 23:34:49 UTC, Adam Lea wrote:
On 29/01/2014 20:27, John Hall wrote: In article , Dawlish writes: The pictures testify to the depths of snow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25949795 Thank goodness It's not just areas of the UK that grind to a halt with 3"" of snow. *)) As the article says: "Barely 3in (7.6cm) of snow caused havoc in a warm-weather region where many cities do not even have snow ploughs or fleets of salt trucks." The amount that it's worth spending on anti-snow precautions has to be linked to the frequency and severity of such conditions. By that token it's unrealistic to expect the UK to be as well-prepared as Canada or Switzerland, but we ought to be better prepared than the US Deep South. It has to be said though the idea that the SE grinds to a halt over a couple of inches of snow is highly exaggerated. Looking back to the significant snowfalls in December 2010 traffic was still moving around my area on the main roads, shops were functioning normally and people were carrying on as normal. It was only on untreated rural country lanes that people were struggling and even then it wasn't everywhere. The problem is that the media shoot a few pictures of localised areas where there are severe problems and people then think that that those localised places are somehow representative of entire counties. Heathrow tends to suffer simply because it is running at pretty much maximum capacity, and capacity here means capacity on a benign weather day. As soon as anything even a little disruptive occurs the theoretical maximum capacity drops, the airport becomes super-saturated and the only thing that can happen then are delays and cancellations. I suspect that airports in countries with routine heavy winter snow do not try to operate them at the capacity that Heathrow does. The fact the TFL stopped buses in December 2010 was more to do with all their revenue being taken in passes and Oyster cards. I worked on London Transport in the winter of 78/79 which was infinitely as a winter far worse then anything we've experienced since and yet I can not recall one bus route being stopped-delayed yes but stopped no. But remember then all London buses collected the bulk of their fares in cash. These things are important to know when someone tries to revise history by saying the December period of 2010 was so bad it stopped some London bus routes. Pish I say: The lazy money already grabbed *******s took some time off as the money had already been collected. Up the workers eh? Poor sods had to walk. |
#6
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In article ,
Lawrence Jenkins writes: The fact the TFL stopped buses in December 2010 was more to do with all their revenue being taken in passes and Oyster cards. snip I knew that Boris (a Conservative) took all the buses off the roads in the heavy snowfall of February, 2009. Were buses stopped in December 2010 too, or were you thinking of the earlier occasion? But it's a fair point that if a service has had much of its revenue prepaid there could be less incentive for it to try to operate in marginal conditions. -- John Hall "He crams with cans of poisoned meat The subjects of the King, And when they die by thousands G.K.Chesterton: Why, he laughs like anything." from "Song Against Grocers" |
#7
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On Wednesday, 29 January 2014 20:23:43 UTC+1, Dawlish wrote:
The pictures testify to the depths of snow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25949795 Thank goodness It's not just areas of the UK that grind to a halt with 3"" of snow. *)) Why 'thank goodness' ? Why do you think its good the rest of the world suffer the chaos often seen in the UK? The only problem is peoples stupidity. If they bought chains/snowsocks/winter tyres we wouldn't 'grind to a halt'. |
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