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Post by justmyopinion on Feb 3, 2009 7:09:08 GMT
..seem surprised that a once in 20 year event causes transport disruption.
Why?
A significant snowfall, the worst fro 20 years and we aren't prepared after three days notice. How could we be? Are we prepared to make the capital investment necessary to be ready in 2030?
Of course not. BBC Breakfast goes to Russia to make a ludicrous comparison. Visitors from Boston, annual ice storms in North America, seem surprised.
Drivers in Scandinavia have to fit studded tyres each year because it is so predictable that the snow comes and stays - they also, incidentally have a huge volume of damaged roads to repair each year and the most cracked windscreens that I have EVER seen as a result.
Get real folks.
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Post by Charles Martel on Feb 3, 2009 7:32:04 GMT
I've seen some outlandish headlines lately - like this one from the Telegraph last month when they said London was colder than some parts of Antarctica (which is currently mid-summer and the sun doesn't set till March): www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/antarctica/4126690/London-colder-than-Antarctica.htmlTemperatures and all that are relative. Londoners living in an island climate are obviously not used to extreme weather. During my time on News, I've seen the excitement of the British press when the temperature got to 38C. For me, it's like....well...big deal.....I've been as high as 48C and as low as -20C. But I perfectly understand for people who haven't see weather extremes, it all seems exciting. The NZ press behaves similarly too. ;D |
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ricklinc
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Post by ricklinc on Feb 3, 2009 7:51:11 GMT
Usual story around here. Warnings that the county is going to be under a mile of snow then we get less than an inch, it starts raining and it's all gone in less than a day.
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sushimo
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Post by sushimo on Feb 3, 2009 10:35:45 GMT
It's a British thing, no matter the weather, we have to have a moan about it. Been like that forever, and yes, it IS sad, very sad.
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Post by flatandy on Feb 3, 2009 10:38:11 GMT
Nah. It's not moaning. It's foreigners whingeing that we can't coep with a 1 in 20 years event. Bet even the Scandies would have problems if they had their heaviest snow for 20 years.
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Post by Libby on Feb 3, 2009 13:06:27 GMT
I agree with Sushi! It's a British thing to moan about the weather. We moan if it's too cold because we aren't prepared for it if heaven forbid it snows. Then we moan about the rain that washes it away because the drainage is bad. Then we moan about a heatwave because we can't handle that either. There is no pleasing us about the weather, it's an age-old habit i'm afraid. I guess it's because we have no control over it.
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Post by evenstar on Feb 3, 2009 13:08:41 GMT
I have no snow to moan about, so I am going to moan about having no snow, feking weather grr moan moan moan.
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Post by Libby on Feb 3, 2009 13:22:44 GMT
I rest my case lol!  |
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Post by Charles Martel on Feb 3, 2009 15:59:47 GMT
It's snowing outside my place again....only a little dusting at the moment, about half an inch to an inch, might get heavier later. Not cold though, only about 0C.
Libby - that's because your infrastructure is falling apart it's so old. That was the impression I got when I was in London. Parts of the city need to be completely rebuilt :-)
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Post by omnipleasant on Feb 3, 2009 16:03:11 GMT
Yeah I'm, strangely, going to defend Boris Johnson on this one.
He's understandably taking a lot of flak for his complete incompetence in letting London grind to a halt just because of a bit of weather.
But actually, there really was sh!t loads of snow. If roads or rail lines are impassable or dangerous because of snow, I don't know how people expect transport to run.
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Post by puffin on Feb 3, 2009 18:28:45 GMT
Weather has always been a good topic of conversation for Brits. It's something to start a conversation that's pretty safe and fairly uncontroversial.It is also prety variable so we can talk about it. If it was the same every day for months on end it would probably be a bit different.
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Scooby Do
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Post by Scooby Do on Feb 3, 2009 19:15:15 GMT
The BBC and various others say its the worst snow for 20 years.
Where exactly do they mean?
We had snow worse than this 5 years ago (UK)
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Post by puffin on Feb 3, 2009 19:20:04 GMT
More widespead, more persistant, longer lying and more disruptive?
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Scooby Do
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Post by Scooby Do on Feb 3, 2009 19:21:40 GMT
More persistant, longer lying? After two days?  |
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Scooby Do
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Post by Scooby Do on Feb 3, 2009 19:22:27 GMT
I think what the Beeb means is, London had a bit of snow.
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Post by Libby on Feb 3, 2009 19:22:31 GMT
It's snowing outside my place again....only a little dusting at the moment, about half an inch to an inch, might get heavier later. Not cold though, only about 0C. Libby - that's because your infrastructure is falling apart it's so old. That was the impression I got when I was in London. Parts of the city need to be completely rebuilt :-) I have to defend us Brits here Charles. In London's defence a lot of old buildings remain, but that is our heritage and important we keep those parts that way. To be fair, we are not used to heavy snowfall, so when it happens we are always literally "snowed under". Libby fiercely sticking up for the Brits here! |
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Scooby Do
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Post by Scooby Do on Feb 3, 2009 19:24:58 GMT
Just as an aside. Last year the day after St Patricks day we had about 6" over night here.
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Post by Libby on Feb 3, 2009 19:36:09 GMT
The UK didn't come to a griding halt then did it, from memory last April when it snowed quiite heavily, we all coped really well. Nothing like as bad as it has been the last few days.
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Post by justmyopinion on Feb 3, 2009 21:04:51 GMT
It's snowing outside my place again....only a little dusting at the moment, about half an inch to an inch, might get heavier later. Not cold though, only about 0C. Libby - that's because your infrastructure is falling apart it's so old. That was the impression I got when I was in London. Parts of the city need to be completely rebuilt :-) No offence Charles, but I believe that the infrastructure of most of America is in much worse shape than that of London. Bridges rusting and corroded, road surfaces breaking up due to HAC etc |
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Scooby Do
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Post by Scooby Do on Feb 3, 2009 22:25:40 GMT
The UK didn't come to a griding halt then did it, from memory last April when it snowed quiite heavily, we all coped really well. Nothing like as bad as it has been the last few days. Last few days? What, Yesterday and today? |
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