Snow

[JohnM20]

I have looked at the five day weather forecast but can anyone tell me if there is much snow on the ground in the Bridgenorth / Ironbridge area ? We are supposed to be taking the caravan there next weekend but I think I may be be wiser calling it off. The forecast is remaining very cold but not much more snow. Any comments would be welcome.
Thanks.
JohnM

 

[plotter]

I dont know if this helps but if you Google BBCRADIOSHROPSHIRE you can look at the traffic cameras live on the M54 at Telford (near to Ironbridge) their is some snow but not too much.
You can do the same with any local radio website,which is quite handy to check out the main roads.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

-10c under our carport at the moment

I spent a lot of money replacing plants I lost last winter. It's not going to happen again.
My cordylines all suffered last winter and the growing tips rotted off except one. I bought some small replacements and sawed through the trunks of the dead ones leaving stumps about five feet high. Surprisingly they sent out new growth at the base or further up the trunks which in time would look nice but due to this sudden freeze I fear the worse in the shoots not having time to harden off. I'm sure my new small ones wont survive. Fingers crossed, I have three palms putside but they seem to be faring ok including three more in tubs under the carport.
I also lost a sophora last year, a lovely shrub that has yellow pea like flowers and blooms for months, and replaced it this year. I don't hold out much hope for that either. The problem is these new plantings don't have enough time to get a root system established. It's -10c at the moment and has been a lot lower. It's like trying to grow your plants in the freezer

 

[Soozeeg]

I presume they've got their winter coats on, LB? (i.e. you've got them wrapped up with fleece or bubble wrap?). Don't know if it will help them survive, but it's worth a try, I guess (if it's not too late and they haven't already frozen to death).

I vaguely recall reading somewhere about entirely surrounding the plant with scrunched up newspaper, then wrapping the whole thing, pot and plant, up in fleece or bubble wrap, and lifting the pot up off the ground or putting layers of cardboard underneath it.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I'm not too sure about the bubble wrap Sooze. It doesn't allow the plant to breathe and also there is the problem of condensation which will cause rot. I have got some of the plants wrapped in fleece but don't hold out much hope. Some plants are way too large to wrap. Compared to this morning though the weather has picked up and is getting quite balmy. It's ony -6c now

 

[Guest]

Don't know about the 'tropical south' but here in the Central Belt it is forecast to hit -20 tonight. already -15 outside but I am not investigating too closely. The M8 is stillo closed for west bound traffic and the east side is slowly moving.

I know people enjoy winter caravanning but in these sort of conditons....I am staying at home.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I know people enjoy winter caravanning but in these sort of conditons....I am staying at home.

SL I hate winter full stop. Wild horses wouldn't drag me off in the caravan in this weather. Some on here say how nice it is to walk the dogs in the snow. I suppose it's what floats ya boat but trying to get snow balls out of the dogs fur in conditions like this ain't for me

I suppose it's ok if the dogs are huskies but the thought of our mini schnauzers coming into the caravan, soaking wet after the snow thawing, doesn't bear thinking about. It's far easier to open the back door and let them out in the garden on their own

 

[Parksy]

I have looked at the five day weather forecast but can anyone tell me if there is much snow on the ground in the Bridgenorth / Ironbridge area ? We are supposed to be taking the caravan there next weekend but I think I may be be wiser calling it off. The forecast is remaining very cold but not much more snow. Any comments would be welcome.
Thanks.
JohnM

There is freezing fog at the moment here in the West Midlands at the moment John with sub zero temperatures. The forecast is for this to clear with temperatures rising above freezing towards the weekend. There are no reports of snow covered roads and the Midlands seems to have escaped the worst of the snowfall. The traffic cameras show the M54 at Shrewsbury to be clear and local news is more about icy conditions than snow. Why not give the site where you plan to stay a ring?

 

[emmerson]

Talking of snow, I have to travel from GoC (South Wales, for new members!) to Peterborough tomorrow evening, and yes I'm afraid my journey is esential. Any body know how the weather is in the areas I'll be passing through, please? I'm assuming that motorways and duals should be OK, it's mainly the other end I'm concerned about.

 

[ShadySadie]

I saw the ITV program on the weather crisis earlier and as to why we are so poorly prepared. Scotland has it's own government so why so much fuss about what Westminster is doing.for the UK.
It is like we have multiple UK governments but when the going gets tough England has to sort out all the problems

if we hadn't wasted so much money on Welsh, Scots and Irish assemblies and EU Government we could have heated the roads, rail tracks and runways and kept the whole of the UK moving instead of being the laughing stock of Europe every time temperature goes sub zero and it snows.

 

[chrisbee1]

The police were advising last week that only “essential” journeys should be undertaken. How to you quantify which journeys are essential? Surly no one would go for a pleasure drive in a blizzard. Presumably every driver considered their journey “essential”

 

[Soozeeg]

I'm not too sure about the bubble wrap Sooze. It doesn't allow the plant to breathe and also there is the problem of condensation which will cause rot. I have got some of the plants wrapped in fleece but don't hold out much hope. Some plants are way too large to wrap. Compared to this morning though the weather has picked up and is getting quite balmy. It's ony -6c now

You're probably right about the bubble wrap, LB. I think you've got three choices really:-
a) Only buy plants (and pots!) which are frost-hardy
b) Don't buy any more plants
c) Move to a warmer climate
hehehe

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

You're probably right about the bubble wrap, LB. I think you've got three choices really:-
a) Only buy plants (and pots!) which are frost-hardy

I did Sooze but the palms for example are hardy down to -5c

So far they seem ok though.

 

[Guest]

The M8 was re-opened earlier today, but traffic is being 'managed'. There is talk of calling in the army to help clear Edinburgh as it is pretty bad. Some streets are still over 2 feet deep in snow, and it has frozen solid. There is supposed to be athaw over the weekend but more freezing weather next week.

As for a 'blame game' that is a bit pointless as all roads are controlled by each local authority Somehow I don't think I will get to check the caravan until 2011 now.

 

[JohnnyV]

Hi Scotch Lad - I was supposed to be up in E'burgh last week - cancelled and rearranged for this week - cancelled !
Ono of the buyers that I was supposed to meet described the situation as 'Apocalyptical' - he has never seen it so bad, its really affecting businesses as well - my customer reckons sales out after the 1st week were down £350,000 on last year - they had 5 x shops closed and 2 x more where the staff had to sleep in them overnight ! With Christmas the retailers busiest time it could spell disaster for some.

 

[Guest]

As mentioned the army was out today. No disrespect to our boys but trying to clear frozen pavements with aplastic shovel did not seem to be the best way to go about things. I thouight that the army would have brought along at least one tank. Funnily enough the pavements were being cleared today in force by all the Cooncil Workers. They may have been chased out of their bothy by the management because they have not been seen for 2 weeks.

It is supposed to thaw over the weekend, even a dizzy 6 degrees has been mentioned but next week, it is all downhill again with more snow and freezing temperatures.

Maybe we should import all the students from London. With all the hot air they have expelled today they coudl melt all the snow.

 

[emmerson]

Re my previous post about travelling to Peterboro on an esential journey: against advice, we did the trip> we did not encounter any snow, comparatively little traffic, and had a superb journey up on Wed, and back today. Was this a case of the authoriies crying wolf?
Or simply covering their backside?

 

[Dustydog]

All snowed up and can't go! About 3 inches and still snowing. Caravan ready but only a madman would tow in this. We'll wait till monday and hope things have cleared a bit.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Well Hereford is gridlocked from the snow. The police have just closed a main route out of Hereford because it's impassable with ice. My son just rang up from there and it's taken him over 2 hours to travel 3 miles. Just listening to the radio and one lady has been waiting to get out of a car park with her kids for over 2 hours. There is a 4 mile tailback on the A465 of traffic trying to get into Hereford. Report on the radio of 2 dogs found frozen to death in a shed at a house in a Herefordshire village. The temperature hasn't risen above -9C today and my pond heater is struggling to keep up with the encroaching ice. Doing my best to keep the birds fed but I've noticed the rats are back. A bossy blackcap tries his best to keep the smaller birds away from the feeders. The only benefit I can see of this weather is it freezes the dogs dumps making them easier to pick up.
An enigma that has puzzled me for ages is some people saying how they love and pray for snow. I fail to see anything nice about the chaos it causes and the cost to the country. I fail to see anything lovely about animals and birds either freezing to death or dying of starvation/thirst. I fail to see anything pretty about people with open fractures or lying on mortuary slabs.
Sorry but I think a shrink might help

Rant over, feel better now. Just think what I would have posted if I'd had to go out in it

 

[Big S]

Just got back in from a nightmare four and a half hour journey from Broughton, Lancashire with work. Major crash on the M6 which caused many of the roads in Lancashire to be completely gridlocked. Just hope those involved in the accident are all right.
-12
on the cars temperature reading as I was approaching home. Brrrrrrrr now that is cold !