Britain ground to a halt again due to the big freeze last week and these conditions are likely to last for at least another week. Roads, trains, airports and buses have struggled with the latest batch of snow and ice with temperatures of -28˚C being recorded in Scotland.
This has given the public a chance to complain about their favourite subject, the weather. Criticism has been rife for everyone from transport operators to road gritters to the government for being underprepared to face this situation which is estimated to have cost businesses £230million a day in lost custom and staff wages. Road gritters apparently are running out of the salt needed to stop the roads freezing over forcing local councils to ration the supply meaning minor and residential roads are not getting any attention.
Those responsible for this vital task say they carry enough to grit the roads for a week and this second batch of snow in a month has put huge strains on them. The Highways Agency, who deal with maintenance of all motorways and A roads, allegedly have enough supplies to last a fortnight, but now even those are running dangerously low.
Even before last week the public had complained pavements and residential roads were not getting any attention causing treacherous conditions and forcing elderly people to be house bound. Some motorways have been forced to close for periods with lorries and cars struggling to cope.
The lorries struggling to moving has caused other problems with produce rotting in warehouses because it has become impossible to transport them to the destinations. The most recent big freeze has only exacerbated the issue with salt now being diverted from Germany to help the worst effected areas in the North of England and Scotland.
Unfortunately the finite recourses means most back roads will have to wait for the snow and ice to melt away naturally. Another side effect has been the increased use of central heating causing another shortage scare with gas supplies running short, although this now to has apparently been solved.
Airports have struggled to cope with the icy conditions with Gatwick, Stansted and Luton being shut for periods of time and even Heathrow being forced to cancel flights. Train operators have been at the sharp edge of this with the obvious problems caused with electricity mixing with water.
The lack of contingency plans has been the focus of the complaints with many pointing out with the government’s staunch support of climate change theories why was this not foreseen. Others have been quick to respond saying if the government had announced spending money on such a scheme global warming sceptics would have raised hell about the waste of money.
However with this being the third heavy batch of snow to hit London in a year, after nearly 20 years without a heavy snow fall in the capital, the question is could this be proof of a seismic shift in the weather. Sporting events across the country were cancelled including many Premiership football games, which normally avoid being effected by the weather.
This has led to pundits discussing the option of a winter break similar to those on the continent and in Scotland. This has been quickly dismissed because of the unpredictability of the next cold snap.
Whether or not these spells of weather are caused by our carbon footprint or not this certainly looks like a situation we may have to get more used to.
Colin Rowe
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