Shock horror - Snow!!

[charlie]

It does happen occasionally although today was unusual in that it happened during the day and was very heavy, fortunately here it only fell for around 30 mins then immediately thawed

025 by charliepridham, on Flickr

026 by charliepridham, on Flickr

028 by charliepridham, on Flickr

024 by charliepridham, on Flickr

Hopefully the rest of you haven't suffered to much disruption

[kGarden]

Good job you weren't on the A30 :)

... we have winter tyres fitted to all the cars of family members; like night-and-day in winter conditions, let alone snow ... Doesn't help if every other idiot on the road can't move of course ...

[AndyC]

Good job you weren't on the A30 :)

He could have been having breakfast in the Jamaican Inn this morning if he had got stuck on the A30. Every cloud.....

Even less snow here than you had Charlie and all melted straight away. Down to 1C here overnight so still very mild. I picked a ripe fruit off the Cobaea scandens yesturday so hopefully good seeds for the new season of sowing.

[charlie]

Good job you weren't on the A30 :)

He could have been having breakfast in the Jamaican Inn this morning if he had got stuck on the A30. Every cloud.....

Even less snow here than you had Charlie and all melted straight away. Down to 1C here overnight so still very mild. I picked a ripe fruit off the Cobaea scandens yesturday so hopefully good seeds for the new season of sowing.

Be careful what you wish for! that Cobaea grows :)

[charlie]

Good job you weren't on the A30 :)

... we have winter tyres fitted to all the cars of family members; like night-and-day in winter conditions, let alone snow ... Doesn't help if every other idiot on the road can't move of course ...

What got me was the number of 4x4's stuck, why people buy them if the cant use them is beyond me?

[kGarden]

What got me was the number of 4x4's stuck, why people buy them if the cant use them is beyond me?

If road blocked with other vehicles then all bets are off ... but other than that 4x4 only helps you "go", not actually stay on the road - so cornering / stopping still a problem, but that is solved by Winter Tyres. Sports 4x4 often very little ground clearance, so a few inches of snow and all bets are off there too ... need the "drive across a ploughed field" flavour of 4x4 when conditions get properly tough.

Iv'e driven up an alpine road on packed snow in a front wheel drive (with winter tyres) and overtaken everyone on chains. Winter tyres are like night-and-day compare to Regular Tyres when the temperature is below 10C outperforming Summers on wet and cold, an no need to worry about the occasional patch of black ice etc. Well worth doing, best to have a set of cheap rims for the Winter but other than that having the Winters on for 6 months and the Summers for the other 6 means the rubber last twice as long, so works out the same in the end. Even though most winters we only get a dusting of snow here, when we do get something more substantial its the difference between getting home of an evening ... and staying in a village hall somewhere else ... although having to stay at Jamaica Inn would be a treat - only went as a kid, so can't remember it well, and my recollections probably bias by the book, so maybe having to overnight isn't scary? :)

[charlie]

Back in 2010 when we last had road problems someone told me about these snow socks https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Genuine-AutoSo ... 631&chn=ps
Not yet tried them but they sound like a good plan for those odd occasions you get caught out. Lots of different makes out there and they are flat pack and tucked away in the vehicle when not needed.

Too late for us, snow had all gone within an hour

[Paul S]

I've just changed cars - From a Skoda Yeti 4x4 to a VW T-Roc 4x4. My road is approx 1:5 and although the main road is gritted 300m away it may as well be 300 miles if I can't get to it. The 4x4 does help with traction going up or down hills but, as you say, not round corners! When the times comes to put new tyres on it I will get Michelin CrossClimate ones put on there. They are the best of both worlds, summer and winter, rather than a compromise on either. Just fit them and forget.

[John P]

I am lucky enough to not have to use my car when it snows. It is not the worry of getting stuck but someone sliding in to me .

John