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Snow related questions, answers observations and experiences and snow jokes !
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 4 Dec 10 at 17:00
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Really heavy snow in Darlington last night, so much that it was nigh on impossible to get the car out this morning.
I decided to “slum it”* and get the bus in this morning, to get to the main road where I would have got the bus. Was absolutely treacherous even the bus struggled on the main road itself
Looking out of the office now it’s a whitewash blizzard
*Joke
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It's snow joke. Arcticulated trucks sliding everywhere, it requires true grit from those that are the salt of the earth.
Last edited by: Dave on Thu 2 Dec 10 at 11:13
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17 dead bodies found in Poland so far. All drunks who passed out in the snow.
Might lay off the vodka for a while...
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...17 dead bodies found in Poland so far. All drunks who passed out in the snow...
Were any naked?
I only ask because of something similar which happened just outside Durham City a few years ago.
The partly-clothed body of a young woman was found on open ground.
It had been a bitterly cold night and she had been walking home after a few drinks.
Everyone presumed it was a sex attack, but it turned out she died from hypothermia.
It is quite common, apparently, for people to remove items of clothing in the minutes before they are overcome by cold.
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That same thing happened up here last year, think it was in Carluke.
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>> It is quite common, apparently, for people to remove items of clothing in the minutes
>> before they are overcome by cold.
Unless it's Newcastle, when they never put the clothes on in the first place.
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Don't tell Dave that for gawds sake!
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>>>Unless it's Newcastle, when they never put the clothes on in the first place.
They spend their money on booze so have little left for clothes..
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Don't knock it till you've tried it :-)
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Sign in launderette:
"Please remove clothing when light goes out"
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I've been there. The light comes back on and someone's nicked your clothes :-(
John
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A few people in my village haven't got a clue about driving when the roads are clear, wet and temp is +2C. driving about 15 mph with their white knuckles showing thru their fleecy gloves; visibilty something over 20 miles and fog lights on too!
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"fleecy"? "string backed driving" surely?
John
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Tooslow - you are obviously a stranger to the sartorial backwaters of rural Lincolnshire! String is for vests, baling machines and parcels! They grip the wheel SO hard that their knuckles show thru the fleece!
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I now consider myself ejicated on such matters. :-)
John
ps - surely string is also used for holding up trousers? I'm just comparing with Wiltshire which seems to have a similar sartorial code.
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String is not used for trousers in Lincolnshire. The yokels never know when they might get caught short or get lucky! Speed is of the essence!
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String is used to tie the sheep up in Lincolnshire..Too valuable fot trousers..
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To tie them up with what in mind? Oh no - that's Wales!
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...they don't need to be tie up here Perky...
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Wales - where men are men and sheep are nervous, it is said.
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I've got a cracking photo somewhere, I'll dig it out if I can. Not saying more than that other than it would be considered pornographic in some places ! (not only Wales I hasten to add)
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...it would be considered pornographic in some places ! (not only Wales I hasten to add)...
I can't resist cracking an old joke.
What do you call three sheep tied to a lamp-post in Wales?
A leisure centre.
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You may be nearer the truth than you can imagine iffy !
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Just been phoned by t'company to come into work at 4am tomorrow morning, fly an empty Airbus to Gatwick, and then catch a taxi home to Manchester. Current Gatwick forecast? Snow, a bit more snow, some light snow, and some freezing fog thrown in for good measure.
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Can I come ? I'll bring a flask.
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you can put your trolley dolly outfit on and serve the breakfast en route,
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You've been through my wardrobe haven't you ?
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TAXI!!!
Can't they find you a standby seat on BA or whoever else flies sched LGW/MAN???
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Pilots don't fly between jobs, it's too dangerous :-)
Last edited by: gmac on Thu 2 Dec 10 at 16:32
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...TAXI!!!...
Does he work for the BBC?
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BBC 6 o'clock news - reporter standing in front of 3 gritter/snowploughs in Godstone telling us what a massive effort has been made to keep the roads clear. Only problem - 6 inches of snow on the blades and no tracks in snow to show they had moved since snow fell. Why aren't they out gritting/ploughing???
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And it's still chucking down big meaty flakes of snow at Gatwick on the BBC News tonight. DOOOOMED, Mr Mainwaring, DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED.
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And now the news is full of excuses saying "unprecedented" weather - well, apart from December 2009, January 2010, January 2009 - not to mention 1947 and 1962/63!
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Interesting?
eureferendum.blogspot.com/2010/12/were-they-misled-by-met-office.html
Guess I'm too obsessed by "the weather" having driven to Surrey/Sussex/Norwich yesterday and Northants/Cambridge/Lincoln today. Car I picked up in Lincoln had about a foot of snow on the roof!!
Tea and a glass or 2 of red call now so I'll lay off the subject (much to your relief!!)
Phil
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...Car I picked up in Lincoln had about a foot of snow on the roof!!...
It would be covering a dent underneath in certain sections of the motor trade.
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-12°C when I got in the car this morning. First time in two years of owning the 406 HDI that I've seen the glow plug light. Took a few attempts to get it started.
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No trains running north of Glasgow or Edinburgh, you would think we've never seen a bit of snow before. Transport in Scotland over the past week has been a joke.
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Our council (Fife) may just be beginning to get its act together, one of my daughters who lives nearby had her street JCB'd yesterday evening, the two feet of snow has been shifted and left polished ice and snow on a steep slope. :-)
With luck we will be dug out soon. There is an ASDA within walking distance so we won't starve, and I one good thing is that I haven't used any diesel this week, shame about the heating bill though !
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 3 Dec 10 at 08:27
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Just read a facebook entry from someone in Brittany... seems the French have troubles as well... The N12 was shut... perhaps we are not quite as bad as the press would have us think...
And it still all goes round to the question of whether we would be prepared to pay for all the extra equipment to cope with a few days of snow per year... or just muddle through like we are...
Give it a couple of weeks and it'll have gone and we'll have forgotten about it...
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Listening to a radio report - apparently the committee set up by Gordon Brown to investigate last winter's failings still hasn't concluded.....
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>> Give it a couple of weeks and it'll have gone ..........
I can't wait two weeks. I've got to get to the surgery for a blood test on Thursday and then to the hospital on Monday to see the Haematologist to hear the results. Some hopes at this rate.
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>> >> Give it a couple of weeks and it'll have gone ..........
>>
>> I can't wait two weeks.
Typical impatient member of the population then... ;-)
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Edit:- Ref the heating bill, It is -6.5C outside at the moment, glad I trebled the loft insulation a couple of years ago.
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Weather in Wales - wind has shifted to the West this morning, the slightest dip in the barometer for the first time in a week or more - change in the air. Need to use the MX5 tonight...looks good.
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Need to use the MX5 tonight?????
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Looks like it - BMW is being used for my wife's commute - which is substantially further and if I get stuck where where I'm going I can get a bus or taxi home..
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>> Our council (Fife) may just be beginning to get its act together, >>
Progress, this afternoon the council sent a guy in a transit van to asses our road for clearing, he promptly got stuck and had to summon a JCB to dig and tow him out. The JCB has cleared about a third of the street and should get to us tomorrow, (if it comes back !).
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 3 Dec 10 at 19:42
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>> Progress, this afternoon the council sent a guy in a transit van to asses our
>> road for clearing,>>
My OH walked past the said stuck transit carrying a SLR camera with a serious sized lens, (taking photos of nearby farmland for a calendar), and was asked if she was taking photos for a complaint about the lack of road clearing.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 3 Dec 10 at 20:06
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>> No trains running north of Glasgow or Edinburgh, you would think we've never seen a
>> bit of snow before. Transport in Scotland over the past week has been a joke.
Well, they got rid of the class 37's with snow ploughs. When they first brought out the DMU replacements, they were squealing around the tight curves on the west highland railway, because the bogies couldn't cope.
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The presenter of the lunchtime program on bbc radio cornwall put out an appeal for 4wd owners to help folk stuck in their homes for the last week.
One story was of an elderly couple under 1 mile from me but in a totally un-gritted rural location, he is 82, on Warfarin, and a carer for his disabled wife, a good samaritan turned up to their house at 9-00am the next morning to take the chap to the shops for provisions.
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Since it started snowing , all my wife has done is look through the window and moan.
If it gets any worse I’ll have to let her in.
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ARGH! Slithered to work in the BMW at 2.45am only to sit on the ground for the next 9 hours in -12C, and was then sent home by the company due to ATC slot restrictions. On top of that, because I only get paid when I fly, I effectively gave the company £200 for the privilege of acting as an A320 security guard.
Last edited by: Alfa Floor on Fri 3 Dec 10 at 12:50
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3 firsts for me today
just driven down the motorway and a bird on a street light fitting in the central reservation dropped off its perch and fell to the ground dead
never seen that before ,big bird it was too
next thing going down an A road had to drive over a lump of frozen snow,it hit the floor underneath so hard i wont be surprised if it hasnt ripped the floorpan,fortunately it was drivers side so i knew fuel and brake pipes ok although i check the brakes to confirm
helped a stricken bmw driver out of the dvla car park at leeds he looked like a sales manager for a dealership and i had to laugh when he said guess where all the 4x4 are? and he went on to say all the salesmen had nabbed them before he got a look in
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That bird was sleeping...
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Fuel shortages in some areas now being reported - BBC earnestly advising people to be sensible....oh yes.
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I've used much less fuel in recent days than I would otherwise have done.
It's hard to judge, but the roads seem to have been quiet, so I reckon the country will have used less fuel as a whole.
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I looked up into the night sky and was amazed at the wonderful sight before me - the stars, the galaxies and wonders of the universe...then I thought I really must get a roof put on the outside bog.
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I've just been checking my car's Owner's Guide to find out where the towing eye screws in. All I've got to do now is find the towing eye! And I've got to remember that it has a left-hand thread ~ although for the life of me I can't think why.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 3 Dec 10 at 13:53
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>> And I've got to remember that it has a left-hand thread
Perhaps your car was built in the southern hemisphere?
Last edited by: Alfa Floor on Fri 3 Dec 10 at 15:11
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>> >> And I've got to remember that it has a left-hand thread
It's in case you need to be towed backwards.
New 1st for me too, got stuck on a city centre street, all 4 wheels turning but wouldnt move.
Slight uphill, but not the North Face of the Eiger !
Let her roll back and went another way.
Car showing minus 6 this morning. Ever tried doing up shoe laces when yourr thumbs won't work ? Scissors were a problem too....had to use both hands
Took a 2 litre bottle of very hot water out with me and warmed my hands on it from time to time.
Ted
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>> All I've got to do now is find the towing eye!
Usually somewhere near the spare wheel?
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Barometer still dropping S/W wind picking up an it's raining, snow melting before my very eyes...
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Just been out to bank. Still perishing cold in central London.
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>> Just been out to bank. Still perishing cold in central London.
>>
So it seems - current observation (15.20) -3C at City airport
www.xcweather.co.uk/
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SW wind and rain forecast for East Midlands tonight, falling on to ice cold roads, makes my drive to work in the morning a joyful prospect!
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Just started raining in Cornwall - luvly, luvly rain, I'll never moan about you again :)
What's the betting it freezes over night :(
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In Bristol for the weekend, sunny and not
A flake of White stuff anywhere
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The glacier that was the front lawn has retreated - I wasted my time clearing the drive to get at the MX5 - rain's done it....
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"In Bristol for the weekend, sunny and not
A flake of White stuff anywhere"
Nice Haiku.
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-11C this am. Warmed to -3C by lunch. Now snowing heavily.
Gotta feel sorry for those without heating (or global warming).
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I went away for a 5 day weekend last weekend, didn't leave the heat on as I don't have any water tanks in the loft. When I got home the temp in the fridge was +5C (correct) and in the lounge it was +6C. Even though I relate to penguins this was too cold and my dodgy heating boiler took a bit of a beating!
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-7 according to my car at about 4.30 this afternoon. That's quite cold for these parts. Foggy too, with a dim sun just showing before it vanished. The roads were noticeably worse than they were yesterday, but still driveable, just about.
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Is that in La Belle France AC?
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>> West Sussex PP.
>>
A friend out on his rounds in his van reported -14 at Storrington earlier. That's a tad nippy even for round there. A positively balmy -7 this side of the Downs this afternoon though.
I can hear lumps of snow sliding down the roof, so it must be thawing a little now.
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"with a dim sun just showing before it vanished."
No doubt to be followed by a Yong Chow Fried Rice.
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Latest forecasts indicate that blocking high which is directing cold air our way is unlikely to shift before new year
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MX5 for a 20 mile round trip - almost tropical in town at 6 C - still at 2C in the sticks no snow anymore..
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Its a bit of a mess here now mainly caused by the cold temperatures. I wish I could escape to Australia for a few months!
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I think it got as cold as 1c in Bristol
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Currently a heat wave here, its 0c.
We are getting heavy rain tomorrow which will clear the snow but I just hope it dosn't all freeze over.
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Looking at temperatures I'd say it is quite probable the rain will freeze. It's not getting warmer for a bit longer.
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Great so we will end up with an ice rink :(. I would much rather have snow.
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The snow can be a pita for those of us needing to travel, really the pita's are those who by ill preparation and incompetence cause the hold ups.
I get really sad when the beauty of the snow covering gets washed or melted away, especially love the form of hundreds of bare tree branches covered in thick frost.
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I just hate it. While I admit it is pretty and lovely to look at it just causes so much problems. I don't want to think am I going to crash everytime I get in the car, I got out of that a long time ago.
I don't want to think am I going to slip everytime I walk to the shops - I did last year and broke an elbow.
I am too old for snow.
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"am too old for snow."
Ahh that's sad.
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Not really, being a grumpy old man suits me a lot more than being a youngish 28 year old :D.
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Snowing here again Rattle.... and a teenager and friends walking past just now and one of them was wearing shorts! A bit cold for that I think. Overnight temperatures if they are to be believed are quite low next week up until Wednesday.
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Thought there was a lost and doomed moth outside the front doors, not so it's snowing like billio outside.
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Nothing here at all but you're a little bit closer to the Pennines than I am. In fact the sky is clear but looking south and east it is not.
Not sure if I am going to risk going out tomorrow night. Just don't trust myself not to slip if I have had a few.
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>> >> All I've got to do now is find the towing eye!
>>
>> Usually somewhere near the spare wheel?
>>
Yep, it was in a recess in the layer of foam which makes up the difference in thickness between my optional extra full size spare and the standard slim-line spare.
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Ah, good, glad to see that some manufacturers do the same thing!
I've a feeling we'll be seeing frozen roads tonight, though at the moment its misty (pessimists would say fog, but its not that bad!)... but I'm on my long weekend so don't really care...
BTW anyone travelling north of Brum on the trains today towards the NE will find XC are running only hourly to Edinburgh... You have been warned!!
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Grey leaden skies here - most of the snow has gone - what is left on the pavements has frozen whilst partially thawed yesterday and very slippery. All roads are normal even the minors. Feels warmer. Barometer has dropped again and is hanging at just above the 1000mb - suggesting change.
Invested in a Min/Max thermometer had one of these years ago when I used my bike as primary transport to work.
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All thawing here this morning. Just heard a layer of snow slide off the roof. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but temperatures will still be cold at night leading into next week, so Monday morning might be interesting.
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...All thawing here this morning...
Pah, not in the still freezing frozen north east.
Main roads are OK, but there still just as much snow on the minor roads as there was a week ago.
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Caravan OK iffy ? You had problems with the gas in the last freeze didn't you ?
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...caravan OK iffy?...
Managed to get there earlier this week - same day as the fuse box plug fell off the CC3.
I hadn't drained the caravan fully, and the water inlet pipe was frozen, which I expected.
Car anti-freeze washer fluid already in all the cisterns, drains etc.
The main thing is the water is turned off, so if something does burst, there's only a couple of pints to spill into the caravan.
The central heating/hot water boiler is a Worcester combi, same as in a small house.
It has its own anti-freeze protection and fires itself up as required.
The gas - propane cylinder - should be OK, although it can freeze.
Not much point in going back to the caravan until it's thawed - you can't drain and pump out frozen pipes.
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The JCB has dug its way along the street to the junction just past our house and has now driven off, a well deserved lunch I would think, he hasn't stopped all morning. The next problem is the snow on the roof thawing and the water freezing as it hits the drive, That should increase the braking distance to the garage door. :-)
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The specific gravity of freshly fallen snow is 0.16, so when the snow melts it will produce 0.16 inches of water for every inch of snow; 1.92 inches of water for every foot of snow. Approximately.
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I was taught 1 foot of snow = 1 inch of rain, but I wouldn't argue.
We could incorporate this thread with the climate change thread in one stroke. Here goes;
Isn't it fortuitous that ice floats? Just think of the consequences if it sank.
John
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Apparently it can vary. www.crh.noaa.gov/images/dvn/downloads/backgrounder_DVN_Snow_Melt.pdf
For simplicity I used the specific gravity of freshly fallen snow.
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SNOW (Drift No 2) - Redviper
