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Right now!
Jan. 25th, 2013 10:24 pmWe've had some snow this week but it had nearly all gone by this morning--just a little left drifted into corners. Now this!
Different hemispheres, different seasons
Jan. 18th, 2013 01:10 pmSo here we are, with the first snow of winter, whilst Australia is struggling with record temperatures--Penrith, west of Sydney, 46.5C (115.7F).
Never kept a thorough diary before but after 2012's extremes, this year I'm keeping a weather diary.
Not as bad as other places in UK, just pretty.
Never kept a thorough diary before but after 2012's extremes, this year I'm keeping a weather diary.
Not as bad as other places in UK, just pretty.
17cm in 6 hours!
Dec. 17th, 2010 11:37 pm
Taken from the front door.
I admit this is nowhere near as bad as other parts of the country have had since the start of December but it's the first snow for our area and it's still snowing. Scotland has been suffering for two weeks.
Fits and starts
Jan. 17th, 2010 10:20 amThe call came on Tuesday evening--we'll be in work at 9am (not the usual 8.30) tomorrow, children in at 10 so Gav drove me to work on cleared roads until we got to the top of The Slope of Doom. Very tricky driving but he's an excellent driver and made it seem unremarkable. All dressed up like Nanook of the North, entered the warm (thank goodness) building, wished everyone a happy belated New Year then spent an hour preparing, wondering how many children would show.
Come 10 o'clock, 21 of my 22 charges turned up, eager to break the monotony of time off school. Many parents commented on the pathways through the estate still being treacherous. Snow began again so the decision was made to have lunch in school at 11.30 rather than 12.10, send the children home between 1 and 1.30pm and close the school to children on Thursday. The last few were collected about 2. First day back, class chatted and worked for 2 hours total and I was exhausted!
Phoned for Gav to pick me up, he not best pleased but came straight away, declaring that the dreaded slope was 'fine if you know how to drive, even going uphill'. Rest of the staff trudged up the slippery slope to their cars, which they had parked at the top.
Thursday, all staff in school to spend the day on anything that needed doing around the school. Productive.
Friday, the first full day since Dec 18th. Only 15 of my 22 showed up--I could get used to that. Did soooo much that day and had lots of fun. Took the bus home then walked in the road to reach our house because the pavements still icy.
Learned a child had died elsewhere in UK, slipping on ice on her way to school. I cannot begin to imagine the grief.
Rain has cleared the remaining snow and ice away.
Come 10 o'clock, 21 of my 22 charges turned up, eager to break the monotony of time off school. Many parents commented on the pathways through the estate still being treacherous. Snow began again so the decision was made to have lunch in school at 11.30 rather than 12.10, send the children home between 1 and 1.30pm and close the school to children on Thursday. The last few were collected about 2. First day back, class chatted and worked for 2 hours total and I was exhausted!
Phoned for Gav to pick me up, he not best pleased but came straight away, declaring that the dreaded slope was 'fine if you know how to drive, even going uphill'. Rest of the staff trudged up the slippery slope to their cars, which they had parked at the top.
Thursday, all staff in school to spend the day on anything that needed doing around the school. Productive.
Friday, the first full day since Dec 18th. Only 15 of my 22 showed up--I could get used to that. Did soooo much that day and had lots of fun. Took the bus home then walked in the road to reach our house because the pavements still icy.
Learned a child had died elsewhere in UK, slipping on ice on her way to school. I cannot begin to imagine the grief.
Rain has cleared the remaining snow and ice away.
Some schools, in the town where I teach, are open tomorrow but ours is still closed. The slope downhill is accessible by 4x4, with a lot of slipping and sliding, but almost impossible to drive up. Even if staff could get into school, there is the danger of children/adults slipping on site. Litigation, newspaper headlines etc. We can't take the chance.
Back to husband's accounts.
Back to husband's accounts.
OK so I know Canada, Scandinavia, Siberia to name but a few, have it a lot worse every year BUT this is special for UK this winter so I thought I'd share...
Frozen Britain seen from above | |
This striking image taken by Nasa's Terra satellite on 7 January shows the UK deep in the clutches of the current cold snap.  | |
Weather forecast
Jan. 6th, 2010 05:13 pmNo school today and, I've just heard, none tomorrow. I think we could struggle through with time and care spent on the journey, were it not for the last 100 yards or so. The final road leads from the main road (just passable) DOWNHILL to the school. The Head and one of the Governors went in his 4x4 today and found the slope was a 100 yard icy slide. In other words, quick to get to the bottom but impossible to drive back up again in an ordinary vehicle.
Freezing temperatures expected tonight: -7C expected here but -20C in the Scottish Highlands! Pity this poor woman and her husband!
Woman still stranded after going to buy Christmas turkey
Published on 3 Jan 2010
A wife who went to the shops to buy a turkey for Christmas dinner still hasn’t made it home after being cut off by heavy snow.
Kay Ure, 54, left her house in the remote Scottish Highlands on December 19 on a shopping trip to Inverness.
But thick snow and blocked roads have left it impossible for her to return to husband John and the lighthouse keeper’s cottage they share in Cape Wrath, Sutherland, at Britain’s north-western tip.
The cafe owner is stranded 11 miles away in Durness where she is staying in a friend’s caravan.
But Mrs Ure hasn’t given up on the idea of Christmas dinner with her partner of more than 30 years.
She told a Sunday newspaper: “I think it will be a few days yet as the road from our home is dangerous.
“Part of it is known as the Wall of Death so I don’t want John attempting it until it’s clear.
“I’m looking forward to a belated Christmas dinner but it might be Burns’ Night before I get to eat it.”
The couple run a cliff-top cafe in one of Britain’s most isolated spots.
Mrs Ure left for Inverness on an organised shopping excursion. Her husband drove her the 11 miles to a jetty where their boat is moored and from there they crossed the Kyle of Durness where she was picked up by a minibus.
On her return to Durness the heavy snow had blocked the route to the lighthouse and Mr Ure, 57, was unable to make the drive to pick her up.
The pair have spoken on the phone each night they have been apart and their Christmas presents remain unopened.
Mr Ure said he spent Christmas Day with their six Springer Spaniels and served two walkers who popped into the cafe.
The couple moved from Glasgow to Durness several years ago before moving further north to Cape Wrath.
They opened the lighthouse cafe in the summer.
Now that's a story!
No school today
Jan. 5th, 2010 09:25 amThe whole country is well and truly in the grip of very low temperatures (for the UK) and even our usually sheltered part of Lancashire is having its second persistent snowfall of the winter. We should have been in school today for INSET (training day) but it's closed. Children are expected in tomorrow. They'll be able to walk to school but most of the staff live further away.
The weather forecast is for continuing snow until later today then freezing temperatures tonight. Our road is passable but cars are leaving ruts and ridges in the snow, which will freeze into sharp edges. Tomorrow, the road might be impassable.
Needless to say, I have plenty of things to do to fill my time--schoolwork, Gav's accounts.
The weather forecast is for continuing snow until later today then freezing temperatures tonight. Our road is passable but cars are leaving ruts and ridges in the snow, which will freeze into sharp edges. Tomorrow, the road might be impassable.
Needless to say, I have plenty of things to do to fill my time--schoolwork, Gav's accounts.
