School closures

[Buckman]

I guess many of us are not affected by any school closure in your area. In our area most schools are closed, but all the private schools are open? Unfortunately once again the B road through our village has not been gritted yet, so I doubt if any pupils in our village will be able to go to school even if the school is operational. At the moment it would not be wise for the school bus to use the road.

Reminds me any years ago we lived in a town about 12 miles from OH's workplace. She managed to get to work without any issues, but people who lived within a mile of the workplace phoned in to say that they could not get to work due to the snow. Weird!

 

[RogerL]

I guess many of us are not affected by any school closure in your area. In our area most schools are closed, but all the private schools are open? Unfortunately once again the B road through our village has not been gritted yet, so I doubt if any pupils in our village will be able to go to school even if the school is operational. At the moment it would not be wise for the school bus to use the road.

Reminds me any years ago we lived in a town about 12 miles from OH's workplace. She managed to get to work without any issues, but people who lived within a mile of the workplace phoned in to say that they could not get to work due to the snow. Weird!

Local authorities seem to wimp out much more readily these days than when I was young - in the bad winter of '62-63 my school was open every day, although we lost one day when the contract bus failed to get through because the snow drifts were 6' deep in places - between 6am and 8am I also had a 6 mile paper round before I caught the bus!

Over my working life, I noticed that attitudes get softer as you go south - North East Scotland carries on as normal, Manchester slows a little, Birmingham slows a lot while London goes home if snow is even forecast.

 

[Buckman]

Local authorities seem to wimp out much more readily these days than when I was young - in the bad winter of '62-63 my school was open every day, although we lost one day when the contract bus failed to get through because the snow drifts were 6' deep in places - between 6am and 8am I also had a 6 mile paper round before I caught the bus!

Over my working life, I noticed that attitudes get softer as you go south - North East Scotland carries on as normal, Manchester slows a little, Birmigham slows a lot while London goes home if snow is even forecast.

Almost word for word what OH said this morning as at the time 62-63 she was living in Cardiff! She had to go to school and the school was open.

 

[GaryB]

North West Leicestershire here and all of our schools are closed. We had a decent amount of snow last night but I've just been outside and it does seem to be thawing so fingers crossed......

 

[JTQ]

IMO two of the factors that come into play are:

We all have varying driving abilities, in part from experiences, so whilst I would take on a decent icy road commute others would not, and dare I say some should not.

Times have changed, and a few decades ago if we tripped and grazed our knee in the school playground, our parents would not have jumped to making a mega negligence claim, the ice had not been cleared. Over stated yes, but making the point.
That culture has a significantly modifying effect on how those carrying ultimate responsibility act.
Something I know very well, having been personally on the receiving end of a frivolous claim, thankfully ultimately dropped after they took better council.

 

[Beachball]

So far no schools closed in North licolnshire today we had a lot of rain last night .

 

[Buckman]

North West Leicestershire here and all of our schools are closed. We had a decent amount of snow last night but I've just been outside and it does seem to be thawing so fingers crossed......

Here in Worcester we had a bit of snow last night at about 9pm. Not much wind. All in all despite red alert warnings not much different to most winter days. Problem with these knee jerk and over reaction warnings is that after awhile people start to ignore them and then when for once the Met is accurate they end up in difficulty.

 

[otherclive]

Here in Worcester we had a bit of snow last night at about 9pm. Not much wind. All in all despite red alert warnings not much different to most winter days. Problem with these knee jerk and over reaction warnings is that after awhile people start to ignore them and then when for once the Met is accurate they end up in difficulty.

You did not have a Red Alert warning that was only for the lower south west area.

 

[Woodentop]

From what I have seen of the snow on TV this morning most of the Midlands bar the Peak District have had one inch tops and almost everything is at a grinding halt, but if you have seen Bridlington - where snow was not even forecast! - they've had maybe 2-3 inches and everything (bar schools) is working AFAICS.

IMO the main issues about travel these days has three reasons:-
We don't teach people to drive, we teach them to past a test, plus they can drive anywhere at any speed immediately they have that piece of paper in their hands. We get far too little snow for newer drivers to learn how to handle it!

Far too many people have no concept of the size (especially width) of the vehicle they are driving. Just this morning a bus pulled up at a stop ahead of the Aygo in front of me. There is wide central hashing behind broken white lines (so you can legally drive on it) that is wide enough for another bus to pass without encroaching upon the other lane so what does the Aygo driver in front do? Pulls out slightly, effectively stopping me and other vehicles from overtaking and waits (maybe a minute or so) for the bus to move on. D'oh!

Finally - and perhaps the most noticeable - there is little or no driving courtesy any more. Vehicles shoot out of side roads when there is a gap no matter how small or even considering the speed of surrounding traffic. I blame the Interweb - specifically social media - for generating this 'speed matters' attitude.

Have fun.

 

[Dustydog]

Winter of ‘62/63 was thick snow and smogs in Surrey.
We had to walk down a steep hill and then up another hill to our primary school. It was freezing but Mum made us go every day.
The teachers in their old cars , Hillman side valve Minx and Wolseley 1500 were always there . No snow chains !
The school coal fired boiler roared keeping the radiators hot.
And back home we had the mandatory iced bedroom windows, no central heating.
It was a good life🤪

 

[Dustydog]

You did not have a Red Alert warning that was only for the lower south west area.

Was that for Cornwall? As a CRV,Community Resilience Volunteer I received the following

​ Weather warning​

	Yellow warning for South West England​
	Ice
	Between 12:00 (UTC) on Fri 9 Jan 2026 and 12:00 (UTC) on Sat 10 Jan 2026

Headline​ Partially thawed snow refreezing, accompanied by freezing fog and a few wintry showers, will bring the risk of ice overnight into Saturday

What to expect​

• Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces
• Icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths

What should I do?

---

Issued: 09:52 (UTC) on Fri 9 Jan 2026

Further Details​

Partially thawed snow during Friday will likely freeze overnight as temperatures fall below freezing, leading to a widespread ice risk. In addition, wintry showers will continue to feed into parts of Wales at times, perhaps also into the West Midlands. Whilst there is some uncertainty as to the extent of any precipitation, this falling onto frozen surfaces may also add to the risk of ice. Freezing fog patches are also likely in places, posing an additional ice hazard.

What Should I Do?

Keep yourself and your family safe when it is icy. Plan to leave the house at least five minutes earlier than normal. Not needing to rush, reduces your risk of accidents, slips, and falls.

If you need to make a journey on foot, try to use pavements along main roads which are likely to be less slippery. Similarly, if cycling, try and stick to main roads which are more likely to have been treated.

Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.

Be prepared for weather warnings to change: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.

​

​

---

This email was sentby: Met Office · FitzRoy Road · Exeter Devon EX1 3PB UK +44 1392 885680

​

 

[Buckman]

You did not have a Red Alert warning that was only for the lower south west area.

I never said we had a red alert. I was think of SIL who is in south Wales and is still waiting for wind and snow. I only used the term as a reference of what can happen. I apologise for my very poor use of the English language!

 

[otherclive]

Was that for Cornwall? As a CRV,Community Resilience Volunteer I received this today

On the Met Office app plus BBC Weather there was a Red Alert for the lower South West predominantly Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. Opening you link above just gives me a new draft email to UTCUTC 🤔

 

[Buckman]

Was that for Cornwall? As a CRV,Community Resilience Volunteer I received the following

​

​

On Tuesday we initially had the red alert for our area according to the news weather forecast. Later it was shown as further south.

 

[birdman101]

I think a lot of the problems nowadays is the distances that teachers live from the schools,why they close. In my schooldays in the 1940’s most of our teachers lived within a mile of our school .

 

[Dustydog]

On the Met Office app plus BBC Weather there was a Red Alert for the lower South West predominantly Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. Opening you link above just gives me a new draft email to UTCUTC 🤔

Is that still there? Is it a time zone thing?

 

[otherclive]

Th

Was that for Cornwall? As a CRV,Community Resilience Volunteer I received the following

​ Weather warning​

	Yellow warning for South West England​
	Ice
	Between 12:00 (UTC) on Fri 9 Jan 2026 and 12:00 (UTC) on Sat 10 Jan 2026

Headline​ Partially thawed snow refreezing, accompanied by freezing fog and a few wintry showers, will bring the risk of ice overnight into Saturday

What to expect​

• Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces
• Icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths

What should I do?

---

Issued: 09:52 (UTC) on Fri 9 Jan 2026

Further Details​

Partially thawed snow during Friday will likely freeze overnight as temperatures fall below freezing, leading to a widespread ice risk. In addition, wintry showers will continue to feed into parts of Wales at times, perhaps also into the West Midlands. Whilst there is some uncertainty as to the extent of any precipitation, this falling onto frozen surfaces may also add to the risk of ice. Freezing fog patches are also likely in places, posing an additional ice hazard.

What Should I Do?

Keep yourself and your family safe when it is icy. Plan to leave the house at least five minutes earlier than normal. Not needing to rush, reduces your risk of accidents, slips, and falls.

If you need to make a journey on foot, try to use pavements along main roads which are likely to be less slippery. Similarly, if cycling, try and stick to main roads which are more likely to have been treated.

Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.

Be prepared for weather warnings to change: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.

​

​

---

This email was sentby: Met Office · FitzRoy Road · Exeter Devon EX1 3PB UK +44 1392 885680

​

That is today’s alert. The one I mentioned to Buckman was yesterday’s for the far SW and that by 2200 last night the wind speeds were beginning to reduce.

 

[otherclive]

N

Is that still there? Is it a time zone thing?

No it’s not there, I said “was” not “is”. But most disappointingly I’ve still not been able to test my Goodyear Vector All Seasons to exit our close ☹️

 

[Jcloughie]

We were warned of wind and snow. All we got was a bit of rain. Not sure about the severity of the winds in Cornwall and the Channel Islands. But I get the impression that the rest of the country got off lightly compared to what was expected.

I wonder to what extent the media try to sensationalise and be the cause of over concern.


John

 

[JTQ]

I wonder to what extent the media try to sensationalise and be the cause of over concern.

Yes, but they face being "dammed if they do, even more dammed if they don't ", so have to opt for the one offering least risk to life.

I can't see a solution till the reliability of the forecast info is bordering on 100%

 

[Buckman]

Yes, but they face being "dammed if they do, even more dammed if they don't ", so have to opt for the one offering least risk to life.

I can't see a solution till the reliability of the forecast info is bordering on 100%

I think they still have the 1987 Michael Fish scenario in their minds? LOL!

 

[otherclive]

We were warned of wind and snow. All we got was a bit of rain. Not sure about the severity of the winds in Cornwall and the Channel Islands. But I get the impression that the rest of the country got off lightly compared to what was expected.

I wonder to what extent the media try to sensationalise and be the cause of over concern.


John

I was talking yesterday to a couple who were just hitching up their caravan and ready to depart to Spain from Portsmouth. They were not looking forward to the voyage down the Channel and through Biscay. Our dog got very excited when she saw the caravan……good time memories.

 

[GaryB]

I had to go out just now and the roads round here are up to the top of the kerb-stones. Main roads are passable but quite slushy. Tesco car park resembled a ski resort. I have to say I'm quite impressed with the Audi Quattro drive system after several years of RWD only cars!

 

[Jcloughie]

Yes, but they face being "dammed if they do, even more dammed if they don't ", so have to opt for the one offering least risk to life.

I can't see a solution till the reliability of the forecast info is bordering on 100%

I have no objection with factual forecasting and practical warning. Just the sensationalising for the sake of it. Reporters trying to outdo each other.

Just listening to today’s news and for many areas they are saying that the forecasts were not resulting in what was expected. Ie, Stafordshire got 50mm. 300mm was forcast.

John

 

[Dustydog]

A friend of ours lives in Falmouth. All power went off 9.00 pm last night. Latest news is power may be restored circa 7.00 am tomorrow. She's all electric so not a happy bunny