TOT about driving conditions the week
Dave
home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
conditions please?
Dave
JimK
train?
most "proper" such websites I checked today were bust or text only....
ps what happens on sat?
JimK
Malcolm
area with more further north and it's still snowing. The snow is 'wet'
on the ground so unless the roads are cleared it will be very slippery.
Malcolm, living in Fareham but brought up and taught to drive in Co. Durham
The Natural Philosopher
Frankly Sally Traffic on Radio2.
BUT you are in deep shit.
Whole Northwest is fucked. Already.
> Dave
mark
"Dave" <dave...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:oImdnY2wh-LvO97W...@bt.com...
Might be easier to get a replacement missus.
mark
Andrew Gabriel
JimK <jk98...@googlemail.com> writes:
> On 5 Jan, 20:51, Dave <daven...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>> home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
I would change your plans.
In my bit of Hampshire, we had 5 inches in 3 hours this evening.
It's slowed down now, but I suspect nothing is going to move for days.
>> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>> to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>> conditions please?
>
> train?
>
> most "proper" such websites I checked today were bust or text only....
>
> ps what happens on sat?
Full moon not until Sat 30th, apparently...
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
Dave
> On 5 Jan, 20:51, Dave <daven...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>> home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>
>> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>> to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>> conditions please?
>>
>> Dave
>
> train?
When was the last time you booked a train ticket at the last moment? It
would cost her an arm and a leg to get home.
> most "proper" such websites I checked today were bust or text only....
>
> ps what happens on sat?
It's her younger sisters birthday. And she desperately wants to be
there. Neither of us expected this weather for the North west. We
usually get a mild winter.
Dave
Dave
Thanks for that. Daughter lives on the border between Southsea and
Eastney, on the coast.
> Malcolm, living in Fareham but brought up and taught to drive in Co. Durham
Ah! So you know about snow? Not many do these days. :-)
Locals are clueless, they think the faster they can spin the driving
wheels, the faster they can get up the hill. It makes it very difficult
for any decent driver to follow them.
Dave
Neil
Oh come on guys
Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without recourse
to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
neil
<re-lurk>
Dave
> In article <c8e40acb-4eeb-47e3...@34g2000yqp.googlegroups.com>,
> JimK <jk98...@googlemail.com> writes:
>> On 5 Jan, 20:51, Dave <daven...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>>> home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
> I would change your plans.
> In my bit of Hampshire, we had 5 inches in 3 hours this evening.
We had that much this morning. I nearly didn't get out for my real ale pint.
I found out one thing about my old Rover 45, it could cope far better
than a BMW due to my front wheel drive :-))
> It's slowed down now, but I suspect nothing is going to move for days.
You worry me. What roads are you talking about?
My route will be Preston M6 to the M42 to the M40 to the A34 to the M3
to the M27 to the M275 and then through Portsmouth main roads to Southsea.
Can you expand a bit please? Or am I now getting too worried?
Dave
Dave
That is what I thought, but how do you tell a woman that thinks that you
can sit in a car and drive anywhere?
Might teach her a lesson if I can't though :-)
Dave
Dave
Mmmm, I considered this for a few moments, but how long would it take me
to train her in sexual education?
Dave
Dave
Saw a great one at lunchtime.
Very young, hung on my every word, very attractive, Very good figure.
In my younger days...
Why have I got so old?
Dave
Malcolm
the gritters can get through the main roads will be OK but as for the
minor roads... The one positive thing is that the south of Portsea
Island is very much influenced by the sea so there may be very little
snow there, and if there is it should disappear relatively quickly.
Surely you can get reports on the last part of the journey from SWMBO.
CEEFAX can give you an overall view of the main routes
Malcolm (not intending to drive tomorrow)
F
> can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
> conditions please?
Try http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic/traffic.aspx
--
F
![george [dicegeorge]'s profile photo](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/ALV-UjVy3egmWxdo6kgdNwXDn-6EE54MDMuR9kO5wF-DhVhewlzxjNY=s40-c)
george [dicegeorge]
turkey,
and hasnt got home to her husband yet.
[g]
(thats what she told him and he believed it!)
george [dicegeorge]
geoff
<dave...@btopenworld.com> writes
will give you real time speeds for the m6, m1 m25 etc
lets start with the m6
http://www.frixo.com/m6-south.asp
--
geoff
Steve Walker
> <de-lurk>
>
> Oh come on guys
>
> Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
> in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
>
> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
> most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without recourse
> to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
>
> neil
>
> <re-lurk>
Yes, but with the cost of another set of wheels and tyres for the winter
and somewhere to store them for the summer (for each car in the household).
In 25 years of driving, I've never encountered weather where I've actually
needed snow tyres to get through before - I'm in Manchester BTW. Even today
I got to work okay (nine inches of snow), but ended up coming home again as
other people got stuck on the access roads and although I managed to get
into the carpark, I didn't know whether the road would be completely
blocked with abandoned cars by the time I came to leave otherwise.
For the rare occasions that we get weather that makes driving difficult for
more than a couple of days, it's just not worth the whole country being
geared up to the kind of weather that many other countries have to cope
with either frequently or for long periods. Yes it makes the news from one
part of the country or another every year, but most of the country doesn't
see anything like it for decades at a time.
SteveW
geoff
<neil_...@yahoo.co.uk> writes
><de-lurk>
>
>Oh come on guys
>
>Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
>in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
>
>M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres)
Winter tyres are for foreign girlies ...
>will get an ordinary car most places, add snow chains and everywhere is
>possible without recourse
>to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
Lesson learned a long time ago
chains are not much use sitting on top of your wardrobe in Milan when
you're stuck 100 metres from the top of the St Bernadino pass
>
--
geoff
The Medway Handyman
I've found metcheck.com very good. It was down for a while today though,
due to sheer volume.
Seems accurate - I use it when planning decking jobs.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
The Medway Handyman
<SNIP>
> Yes it makes the news from one part of the country or another every
> year, but most of the country doesn't see anything like it for
> decades at a time.
Watching the London news tonight made me laugh. Reports from journo's all
over the UK all basically saying "its snowing". A few claimed "the area is
cut off" which makes one wonder how they got there.
Jules
> Watching the London news tonight made me laugh. Reports from journo's all
> over the UK all basically saying "its snowing". A few claimed "the area is
> cut off" which makes one wonder how they got there.
They're journalists - they travel through the sewers...
dennis@home
"Dave" <dave...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:NKOdnUa7rPpmXN7W...@bt.com...
> We usually get a mild winter.
The MET office predicted a barbecue summer and a mild winter.. this is
Murphy reminding us that their mathematical models aren't very good.
Andrew Gabriel
Dave <dave...@btopenworld.com> writes:
> Andrew Gabriel wrote:
>> In article <c8e40acb-4eeb-47e3...@34g2000yqp.googlegroups.com>,
>> JimK <jk98...@googlemail.com> writes:
>>> On 5 Jan, 20:51, Dave <daven...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>>>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>>>> home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>
>> I would change your plans.
>> In my bit of Hampshire, we had 5 inches in 3 hours this evening.
>
> We had that much this morning. I nearly didn't get out for my real ale pint.
Seems to have increased to 11" overnight, and still snowing.
> I found out one thing about my old Rover 45, it could cope far better
> than a BMW due to my front wheel drive :-))
>
>> It's slowed down now, but I suspect nothing is going to move for days.
>
> You worry me. What roads are you talking about?
>
> My route will be Preston M6 to the M42 to the M40 to the A34 to the M3
> to the M27 to the M275 and then through Portsmouth main roads to Southsea.
>
> Can you expand a bit please? Or am I now getting too worried?
Watch the news. Just heard dire things about M27, but it's not
a motorway I use much myself.
TheOldFellow
Neil <neil_...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> <de-lurk>
>
> Oh come on guys
>
> Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
> in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
>
> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
> most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without recourse
> to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
>
> neil
>
> <re-lurk>
>
The problem ain't the snow or the ice, it's the poor idiots who never
got taught to drive on them. They just block every road with
abandoned vehicles. The HGV mob are not any better at driving in it,
but create bigger blockages. Even the Police don't understand it.
Driving on ice is easy and fun, but without M&S or chains is more like
flying than driving, you have to know where your momentum is going to
take you. Where (and when) do you go in a typical British Year to learn
the skills to do this?
In The Cantons (also Eastern Europe, Scandi, etc.) you have a majority
of drivers who were taught to drive on ice and snow, and know when not
equipped to try.
R.
TheOldFellow
Yes! That's why we never see them here. No sewers!
Andrew Gabriel
and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk (Andrew Gabriel) writes:
>
> Seems to have increased to 11" overnight, and still snowing.
Oops, make that 9" (misconverted from cm)
Peter Parry
>
>Try http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic/traffic.aspx
"To meet the current high demand, ... the map has been disabled."
You have to admire t'govmint. Not many organisations would close a
web site because of the wrong sort of snow.
Rob Horton
> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
> home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
> to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
> conditions please?
>
Google Earth with the traffic layer turned on allows you to see, at a
glance, what is going on with the motorway network and some A roads.
Neil
law (and stay mobile) doesn't change the fact that a set of steel rims
and winter tyres can be had for about �180 for a Vectra and then all of
this hassle would go away - I put my wheels on in November long before
I travel to CH and only swap back when convenient after my return in May
as the tyres work in summer too (just wear a bit faster).[1]
4x steel rims = �40/50 on ebay from Alloy wheel using BarryBoys ;-)
4x 195/65/15 = �35/�55 each on etyres etc
Chains are only �40 in French supermarkets (Swiss are dearer)
The only time the tyre or wheel combination fails is when the snow is
so deep the car airdam acts as a plough and stops progress [2]
- I guess that means that in the UK today it wouldn't work...
Neil
[1] I store them in my garage with all the other 'might come in' stuff
[2] Reverse will get you a bit further...
F
> "To meet the current high demand, ... the map has been disabled."
>
> You have to admire t'govmint. Not many organisations would close a
> web site because of the wrong sort of snow.
That message has been there for ever, not just over the snow period (aka
'Winter').
It is pathetic, though, that it's not been fixed.
--
F
The Natural Philosopher
> <de-lurk>
>
> Oh come on guys
>
> Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
> in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
>
> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
> most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without recourse
> to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
>
they will, IF you can afford to get a set of winter wheels.
In continental Europe, such things are commonly available.
Here they are not.
This is not an annual event for us. In fact I've not seen it like this
since 1963.
Tim Streater
And I may say that the 1963 conditions didn't stop me delivering
newspapers (I had a long round from Crawley up to near Gatwick on the
A23) *or* getting to school (which didn't close). Mind you, to be fair
we had something like 8" on New Year's Day which then took until March
to melt. And it was the wrong type of snow for snowballs as it didn't
stick when you squeezed it.
--
Tim
"That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted"
Bill of Rights 1689
The Natural Philosopher
The models are OK, but the solutions are chaotic.
They start to diverge from reality > 3 days out significantly.
Tim W
wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 09:28
> In article <hi1ka7$pq$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk (Andrew Gabriel) writes:
>>
>> Seems to have increased to 11" overnight, and still snowing.
>
> Oops, make that 9" (misconverted from cm)
>
Only 2" here in East Sussex, but still snowing. Closed all the schools in
the county. Trains around Robertsbridge and Tonbridge are fast heading
towards craptitude, though some are sort of moving.
National Rail website and East Sussex CC website (school closure list) much
better than last time... Glad I got a Sainsburys delivery yesterday :)
Have coal, have carrot, will make snowman :)
--
Tim Watts
You know you need more insulation when the snow blanket on the roof makes
the house 3 degrees warmer...
Tim W
wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 10:42
> And I may say that the 1963 conditions didn't stop me delivering
> newspapers (I had a long round from Crawley up to near Gatwick on the
> A23) *or* getting to school (which didn't close). Mind you, to be fair
> we had something like 8" on New Year's Day which then took until March
> to melt. And it was the wrong type of snow for snowballs as it didn't
> stick when you squeezed it.
I vaguely recall that my school was probably only closed for about 1 day
ever due to people not being able to get in. It did close a few other days
in bad weather, but that was due to the heating breaking down (ah, council
maintained boilers....)
These days, it seems to be several days each year. Trouble is half the staff
in our local school live miles away and the half that live locally can't
open the school, presumably because they can't technically cover all the
required functions. It's such a little school that they could run the place
with half a dozen staff and merge down to 3 classes if they *really* had to
(less than a hundred pupils total, covering ages 5-12).
The Natural Philosopher
> On 06/01/2010 10:38, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> Neil wrote:
>>> <de-lurk>
>>>
>>> Oh come on guys
>>>
>>> Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I
>>> have in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get
>>> about-ever!
>>>
>>> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
>>> most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without recourse
>>> to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
>>>
>>
>> they will, IF you can afford to get a set of winter wheels.
>>
>> In continental Europe, such things are commonly available.
>>
>> Here they are not.
>>
>> This is not an annual event for us. In fact I've not seen it like this
>> since 1963.
>
> And I may say that the 1963 conditions didn't stop me delivering
> newspapers (I had a long round from Crawley up to near Gatwick on the
> A23) *or* getting to school (which didn't close). Mind you, to be fair
> we had something like 8" on New Year's Day which then took until March
> to melt. And it was the wrong type of snow for snowballs as it didn't
> stick when you squeezed it.
>
- EVERYBODY in our little suburban cul de sac got out the shovels and
started digging their cars out, and the bit of road in front. No moaning
to the guvmint or council.
- all the cars on narrow crossplys worked.More or less.
- there was no law against snow chains, and some people had them.
- every shop cleared the pavements in front of it.
- lots of coal ash got laid as well.
In fact things worked BETTER because people did NOT expect the
government to be in control of the weather, and accepted that if YOUR
car was stuck, it was YOUR job to pull it out, with the help of a
neighbour or two, who had chains, or a tractor.
the railways HAD snow ploughs, and used them. electrics were pretty
badly fucked for a few days - we were on a third rail system, and they
took a couple of days to get going. Steam and diesel were OK, though a
lot of lorries waxed up and needed attention.
But people just accepted that the whole country needed to get off its
arse and get itself moving, so we did.
Today, they just sit at the end of 100 meters of snow covered road and
complain they cant get to Tescos.
Get shovelling you lazy bastards!
tony sayer
<t...@dionic.net> scribeth thus
>Tim Streater <timst...@waitrose.com>
> wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 10:42
>
>
>> And I may say that the 1963 conditions didn't stop me delivering
>> newspapers (I had a long round from Crawley up to near Gatwick on the
>> A23) *or* getting to school (which didn't close). Mind you, to be fair
>> we had something like 8" on New Year's Day which then took until March
>> to melt. And it was the wrong type of snow for snowballs as it didn't
>> stick when you squeezed it.
>
>
>I vaguely recall that my school was probably only closed for about 1 day
>ever due to people not being able to get in. It did close a few other days
>in bad weather, but that was due to the heating breaking down (ah, council
>maintained boilers....)
Same here just the day .. there was snow around 10 odd feet deep but
everything worked;))..
>
>These days, it seems to be several days each year. Trouble is half the staff
>in our local school live miles away and the half that live locally can't
>open the school, presumably because they can't technically cover all the
>required functions. It's such a little school that they could run the place
>with half a dozen staff and merge down to 3 classes if they *really* had to
>(less than a hundred pupils total, covering ages 5-12).
>
If the boiler broke down at our old school the answer was very simple,
run on the spot and keep your overcoat on!...
--
Tony Sayer
Cicero
> JimK wrote:
>> On 5 Jan, 20:51, Dave <daven...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife
>>> back home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>>
>>> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>>> to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>>> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>>> conditions please?
>>>
>>> Dave
>>
>> train?
>
> When was the last time you booked a train ticket at the last moment? It
> would cost her an arm and a leg to get home.
>
>> most "proper" such websites I checked today were bust or text only....
>>
>> ps what happens on sat?
>
> It's her younger sisters birthday. And she desperately wants to be there.
> Neither of us expected this weather for the North west. We usually get a
> mild winter.
>
> Dave
================================================
It probably isn't the answer you want to hear and it may sound a bit harsh
but the plain truth is that 500+ mile round trip in the almost universally
bad weather conditions isn't worth it for a birthday party.
Common sense suggests that you should postpone the trip until conditions
improve as it really isn't an 'essential' journey. It might cost you more
than 'an arm and a leg' if you try it.
Cic.
--
=================================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
=================================================
F
> Watching the London news tonight made me laugh. Reports from journo's all
> over the UK all basically saying "its snowing".
You mean they noticed *and reported* there's a whole country outside of
the M25 car park?
Next you know they'll be sending Attenborough out to do a couple of
documentaries on the natives...
--
F
dennis@home
"The Natural Philosopher" <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:hi1peb$vmc$4...@news.albasani.net...
The models are bad, they don't know the starting conditions well enough.
The best they can do is run lots of slightly different conditions and see if
they diverge or not.
>
Stuart Noble
Where would we be without the BBC? Apparently snow comes out of the sky,
but you're only affected if you're "out and about". Also there's a
danger of ice *and* frost. Heaven help us
ARWadsworth
"Tim W" <t...@dionic.net> wrote in message
news:hi1q7p$gln$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
I remember my secondary school sending everyone home at dinnertime in
December 1986.
The heating worked it was just the snow.
Adam
Owain
> > Might be easier to get a replacement missus.
> Mmmm, I considered this for a few moments, but how long would it take me
> to train her in sexual education?
Pick the right one and she would be able to train you! ;-)
Owain
Tim W
wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 11:46
>
> I remember my secondary school sending everyone home at dinnertime in
> December 1986.
> The heating worked it was just the snow.
>
> Adam
I do believe the 80's was the start of national gayness. It just got worse
since then,
george [dicegeorge]
the younger sister should be phoning and begging her not to risk her
like (and yours, and others)
making an unnecessary journey.
[g]
george [dicegeorge]
> If the boiler broke down at our old school the answer was very simple,
> run on the spot and keep your overcoat on!...
(if you remembered to bring yur PE kit)
[g]
GB
> The problem ain't the snow or the ice, it's the poor idiots who never
> got taught to drive on them. They just block every road with
> abandoned vehicles.
Too damn right! Actually, they sadly don't abandon their vehicles. They just
sit there spinning their wheels and turning the snow into ice.
Terry Fields
Dave wrote:
>I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
>Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>conditions please?
>
>Dave
What did you decide to do: attempt the journey or suggest YBH comes
home by train?
F
> Where (and when) do you go in a typical British Year to learn
> the skills to do this?
Find a large, snow covered, *empty* car park. Easier said than done, I
know, but that's what I was encouraged to do when I learned to drive.
Great fun!
--
F
GB
> I do believe the 80's was the start of national gayness. It just got
> worse since then,
I was really impressed today that our Postie came out and delivered our post
in this weather. The newspaper did not make it, but he did. Nobody else was
out.
--
Electric cars are very healthy - when the battery runs out you have to
walk home.
Roger Mills
Dave <dave...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife
> back home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I
> have to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to
> date, quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the
> weather conditions please?
>
> Dave
No, but have considered getting her to travel back by train to save the
double road journey in potentially difficult conditions?
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!
Steve Firth
> can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
> conditions please?
OG
>I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have to
> please?
To be honest, with the weather the way it is, you would be well advised to
consider other methods.
A train leaves Portsmouth & Southsea on Thursday morning (10:52), due to
arrive Preston at 15:38 (via London Waterloo and Euston) with a single
ticket costing �91.60.
To avoid your having to drive 500+ miles there and back it sounds like a
bloody bargain.
If you insist on driving (you have been warned!), Jamspy is good.
(www.jamspy.co.uk) It takes feeds from the BBC database of reported traffic
delays, and presents them on a map.
If you have a portable device with web browsing capability, Moto service
stations have free wifi, which will allow you to check on motorway closures
as you head towards them.
Steve Firth
> chains are not much use sitting on top of your wardrobe in Milan when
> you're stuck 100 metres from the top of the St Bernadino pass
Ancient Italian philosophers say, anyone taking San Bernardino pass in
winter deserves everything that comes to him.
OG
"OG" <ow...@gwynnefamily.org.uk> wrote in message
news:7qhuq7...@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Dave" <dave...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
> news:oImdnY2wh-LvO97W...@bt.com...
>>I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>>home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>
>> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>> to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>> conditions please?
>
> To be honest, with the weather the way it is, you would be well advised to
> consider other methods.
>
> A train leaves Portsmouth & Southsea on Thursday morning (10:52), due to
> arrive Preston at 15:38 (via London Waterloo and Euston) with a single
> ticket costing �91.60.
>
If your wife is going in the other direction; same day; the 10:17 from
Preston arrives P&S at 15.28 for the same price.
Dave Liquorice
> can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date, quite quickly,
> on road conditions and closures due to the weather conditions please?
http://www.trafficengland.com/
Does the motorways and major A rodas reasonably well. For some
strange reason it's overloaded tonight and the mapping side is
disabled.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Adrian
sounding much like they were saying:
>> It's the Tan Hill "Oh, no, we were stuck in the pub for three days" mob
>> that I suspect of a hint of exaggeration...
> Aye, they could have got out if they really wanted to, plenty of 4WD's
> in the aerial shots I saw.
Then there's the subtle detail that Tan Hill have (or had) a Hagglund -
in Old Peculier livery...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3765741613_1f3c4f25da.jpg
> Then of course you hear as an aside of the "news" story that the owner
> wants to sell...
You're surely not suggesting it's a publicity stunt! No!
Steve Firth
> how long would it take me
> to train her in sexual education?
About five minutes if you leave her around Portsmouth.
Dave Liquorice
>> Watching the London news tonight made me laugh. Reports from
journo's
>> all over the UK all basically saying "its snowing".
Wow, thats news?
>> A few claimed "the area is cut off" which makes one wonder how
they got
>> there.
>
> They're journalists - they travel through the sewers...
Wonderful!
"Cut off" to me means you can't walk out in a hour or two, so soft
snow depth > 18" and distance > 2miles.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Steve Firth
> Someone on BBC News travelling from Poole to Lee on Solent and he is
> on a m/way ( missed which one )
M27
> but it's taking him forever to complete his journey because ,in his words
> ,he hit a wall of snow.
No, it's taking him forever because it's been closed between Southampton
and Fareham for most of the evening. Not the snow per se, just divots
driving too fast and not leaving enough braking distance.
Steve Firth
> Fareham/Gosport has been gridlocked since about 4pm.
I drove out at 5pm without any real problems. I had to take a circuitous
route down country lanes to avoid the gridlocked A32. Mostly the
gridlock was caused by clueless (and often selfish) clowns. Points go to
the Merc driver who blocked the road because he wasn't looking ahead and
failed to see the queue of traffic on the hill that he was approaching,
he slammed on the brakes too hard and too late and wedged the car
sideways.
More point to the van driver ascending another hill who decided to
swerve around the vehicle that was struggling to climb the hill - no use
of indicators of course - causing the car descending the hill to have to
slam on the brakes. Then both car and van slid into each other and the
stranded vehicle. Blocking yet another route.
More point to all the people who flagged me down and earnestly told me I
would "never get that big thing up/down that hill" every one of them was
wrong.
Dave Liquorice
> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
> most places,
Agreed, provided the drivers know how to drive on snow. Most UK
drivers don't, last decent winters were in the early 80's, drivers
younger than about 40 won't have had any really the opportunity to
drive on snow.
> add snow chains
Most of UK roads are not allowed to develop a good snow pack, we
rarely get enough snow for a start and it thaws then freezes and
turns into ice.
You shouldn't really drive on tarmac with chains fitted as they'll
damage the tyre and the road so chains would have to put on and taken
off all the time.
If we got decent amounts of snow and the temp stayed below freezing
it would be a different matter. Despite the moans about uncleared
roads and no salting most important roads are cleared and salted
pretty quickly and efficiently.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Steve Firth
> I would change your plans.
> In my bit of Hampshire, we had 5 inches in 3 hours this evening.
Odd, we had the same in my bit of Hampshire.
> It's slowed down now, but I suspect nothing is going to move for days.
Well that's how the roads were looking to me on my back home. Oddly
enough, I didn't have any problems with the drive home.
Steve Firth
> Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
> in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
Hmm when I lived in Swissland the Golf Syncro was the most popular car
in the area, despite having a really, really, tiny boot. Put M&S tyres
on it and it would belt up the Jura.
> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
> most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without recourse
> to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and guilt...
OTOH the nice big cosy 4x4 will keep going when the twat cars are
stacked up at the side of the road. What's guilt?
S Viemeister
> Dave wrote:
>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife
>> back home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>
>> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I
>> weather conditions please?
>>
> there was a woman on the news who went to inverness on xmas eve to buy a
> turkey,
> and hasnt got home to her husband yet.
> [g]
> (thats what she told him and he believed it!)
>
I know the area - and I believe her!
Bob Eager
> The problem ain't the snow or the ice, it's the poor idiots who never
> got taught to drive on them.
And the fact that most of the 4x4 mob think 4WD is a universal panacea.
All they do is spin more wheels, getting even less adhesion than in a
2WD...
They've certainly never learned how to drive with 4WD.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Usenet Nutter
<no.spa...@thanks.invalid> wrote:
>
>Terry Fields wrote:
>
>>
>>Dave wrote:
>>
>>>I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>>>home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
Someone on BBC News travelling from Poole to Lee on Solent and he is
on a m/way ( missed which one ) but it's taking him forever to
Dave Liquorice
> When was the last time you booked a train ticket at the last moment? It
> would cost her an arm and a leg to get home.
The train for the lower bit seems sensible. Say Portsmouth to Bristol
or Oxford(*) then get picked up from there. The motorways generally
stay open, if slow in bad weather and getting from Portsmouth to the
M4 line will be the A34 rather than motorway.
The OP doesn't say what he is driving and what sort of tyres he has.
Not that makes a lot of difference if there is no space to trundle
past stuck or low traction vehicles. 4WD and snow tyres I only have
problems when the snow depth is an inch or two up the front valence
ie approaching 18" deep and even then its a stall rather than loss of
grip.
(*) Donno if that is feasable on a decent train mind.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Adrian
saying:
>>Whilst I realise you lot in the UK think you have more snow than I have
>>in this bit of Switzerland, it really isn't too hard to get about-ever!
>>
>>M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres)
> Winter tyres are for foreign girlies ...
That'll be me, then.
Terry Fields
Terry Fields wrote:
>
>Dave wrote:
>
>>I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>>home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>
>>Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>>to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>>quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>>conditions please?
>>
>>Dave
>
>Go here:
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hi/default.stm
>
>Pick a region that you'll be travelling through, e.g.
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshire/hi/
>
>Click on the Live Jam Cams link:
Apologies, they're called Live Traffic Cams but they bring up a Jam
Cam page.
This is the current scene from the camera nearest your daughter:
Nobody's about....sure you want to travel?
HTH
Tony Bryer
> I vaguely recall that my school was probably only closed for about
> 1 day ever due to people not being able to get in. It
Mine was an 1841 building with frozen outdoor loos so for around six
weeks school was 9-12 then rush home (if you needed to)
--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on' Melbourne, Australia
www.superbeam.co.uk www.superbeam.com www.greentram.com
Usenet Nutter
wrote:
snipped
>Google Earth with the traffic layer turned on allows you to see, at a
>glance, what is going on with the motorway network and some A roads.
Eh?? Are you saying GE is in "real time" ?
Adrian
like they were saying:
> Yes, but with the cost of another set of wheels
Cheap. Even brand new factory steel wheels are rarely more than £30 a
piece, but perfectly good used wheels are widely available.
> and tyres
Don't forget you save the wear on the summer tyres.
> and somewhere to store them for the summer
Hardly a big problem compared to the shite most of us have stacked up
"just in case"...
> In 25 years of driving, I've never encountered weather where I've
> actually needed snow tyres to get through before
It's all about the increased safety margin throughout the cold weather,
though - winter tyres grip much better even on cold, dry tarmac below
about 5 deg.
Terry Fields
Dave wrote:
>I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>
>Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>conditions please?
>
>Dave
Go here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hi/default.stm
Pick a region that you'll be travelling through, e.g.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshire/hi/
Click on the Live Jam Cams link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/travel/jamcams/
Click on a camera. This one in the Portsmouth area looks grim:
Get some mobile broadband so you can check the road ahead when you
stop for a break.
Are you sure you need to travel? Even the trains are giving up.
HTH
Adrian
much like they were saying:
>> M&S (No, not the shop, just Mud + Snow tyres) will get an ordinary car
>> most places, add snow chains and everywhere is possible without
>> recourse to a Chelsea Tractor with the penalties of VED/MPG/CO2 and
>> guilt...
> they will, IF you can afford to get a set of winter wheels.
I paid £40 for a second set of OEM alloys, and £50-60 IIRC each for
Vredestein SnowTrac2 tyres, last winter.
> In continental Europe, such things are commonly available.
>
> Here they are not.
Yes, they are.
www.camskill.co.uk
Dave Liquorice
> It's the Tan Hill "Oh, no, we were stuck in the pub for three days" mob
> that I suspect of a hint of exaggeration...
Aye, they could have got out if they really wanted to, plenty of
4WD's in the aerial shots I saw. If they didn't have a shovel between
them they need their heads looking at. I have a shovel in the car
from Nov to Apr...
Then of course you hear as an aside of the "news" story that the
owner wants to sell...
--
Cheers
Dave.
chris French
<dave...@btopenworld.com> writes
>JimK wrote:
>> On 5 Jan, 20:51, Dave <daven...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>>> I have to travel from Preston Lancs. to Portsmouth to bring my wife back
>>> home. I have until Friday night to get her back.
>>>
>>> Due to the severe weather we are experiencing and the short time I have
>>> to prepare, can anyone recommend a web site that will be up to date,
>>> quite quickly, on road conditions and closures due to the weather
>>> conditions please?
>>>
>>> Dave
>
>When was the last time you booked a train ticket at the last moment? It
> would cost her an arm and a leg to get home.
>
According to Trainline.com, an off peak single from Portsmouth to
Preston costs �91.50 (as long as she can avoid travelling at certain
times by the look of it - probably those times which hit peak evening
London departure restrictions)). Not cheap, no, but the fuel for a 500+
mile round trip alone is not insignificant.
To pick an easy figure to work out, At 45 mpg it would cost over �50 in
petrol - and many vehicles will do a lot less on that sort of trip, plus
of course tyre wear and other wear and tear on the car.
--
Chris French
Adrian
sounding much like they were saying:
>>there was a woman on the news who went to inverness on xmas eve to buy a
>>turkey, and hasnt got home to her husband yet. [g]
>>(thats what she told him and he believed it!)
> Ah but you missed out the important points ..wehere she lives
Cape Wrath lighthouse...
Usenet Nutter
<diceg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>there was a woman on the news who went to inverness on xmas eve to buy a
>turkey,
>and hasnt got home to her husband yet.
>[g]
>(thats what she told him and he believed it!)
Ah but you missed out the important points ..wehere she lives and what
sort of transport she has to take .
Dave Liquorice
> My route will be Preston M6 to the M42 to the M40 to the A34 to the M3
> to the M27 to the M275 and then through Portsmouth main roads to
> Southsea.
Thats what TomTom said, personally I'd not use the M6 across the
north of Birmingham. It's better since the toll road but can still be
nose to tail 20mph stuff. I'd drop down the M5 then the M42. TomTom
says 4h14m 265 miles around the SW of B'ham v 4h12m 263 miles over
the north.
If I could I also avoid the M6 south of Manchester but you can't.
B-(
--
Cheers
Dave.
Dave Liquorice
> A train leaves Portsmouth & Southsea on Thursday morning (10:52), due to
> arrive Preston at 15:38 (via London Waterloo and Euston) with a single
> ticket costing £91.60.
>
> To avoid your having to drive 500+ miles there and back it sounds like a
> bloody bargain.
Aye, cost about £60 in fuel alone, assuming 40 mpg. You'd also be
hard pressed to drive it sensibly, coffee and pee breaks, in the
4h46m of the train. My TomTom gave 4h12m fastest
(M6,M42,M40,A34,M27).
--
Cheers
Dave.
Peter Parry
>That message has been there for ever, not just over the snow period (aka
>'Winter').
No - it was working (albeit rather asthmatically) last week. If they
could get funding for a schoolboy to fix their site it's quite useful,
allowing you to look at the motorway cameras output and matrix board
displays.
Jules
> Whilst I may be in Switzerland and need winter tyres to comply with the
> law (and stay mobile) doesn't change the fact that a set of steel rims
> and winter tyres can be had for about £180 for a Vectra and then all of
> this hassle would go away - I put my wheels on in November long before
> I travel to CH and only swap back when convenient after my return in May
> as the tyres work in summer too (just wear a bit faster).
Yep, we usually leave the snow tyres on all year on the car - it doesn't
seem to impact grip during the warmer months, and they seem to wear at
such a slow rate that it probably works out cheaper than having two sets
of wheels (and far less hassle).
> Chains are only £40 in French supermarkets (Swiss are dearer)
Not allowed chains where I am, or studded tyres, but a set of snow tyres
does the job well enough.
> The only time the tyre or wheel combination fails is when the snow is so
> deep the car airdam acts as a plough and stops progress [2]
Yep! Ours will run through 6" or 7" of snow OK; more than that and it's
very slow going. Thankfully they're good about keeping the roads clear
here, and one of our neighbours keeps coming over and ploughing the
driveway out.
cheers
Jules
Jules
> On Tue, 5 Jan 2010 23:03:29 -0000, OG wrote:
>
>> A train leaves Portsmouth & Southsea on Thursday morning (10:52), due to
>> arrive Preston at 15:38 (via London Waterloo and Euston) with a single
>> ticket costing £91.60.
>>
>> To avoid your having to drive 500+ miles there and back it sounds like a
>> bloody bargain.
>
> Aye, cost about £60 in fuel alone, assuming 40 mpg. You'd also be
> hard pressed to drive it sensibly, coffee and pee breaks, in the
> 4h46m of the train.
Yes, but taking the car is way more fun :-)
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
<davi...@nospamblueyonder.co.uk> saying something like:
>Watching the London news tonight made me laugh. Reports from journo's all
>over the UK all basically saying "its snowing". A few claimed "the area is
>cut off" which makes one wonder how they got there.
What made me laugh this morning was a journalist townie walking over the
snowy road to a bridge and pointing at a heron, saying "And there's a
heron desperately seeking shelter". Riiiight... the heron was simply
standing in the middle of the river looking for
fish/frogs/condoms/whatever they eat.
Jules
> But people just accepted that the whole country needed to get off its
> arse and get itself moving, so we did.
Couldn't agree more with all of that... people are way too ready to expect
everyone else to sort their problems for them, rather than doing a bit of
work themselves.
> Get shovelling you lazy bastards!
Which reminds me, I've still got 150' of foot-deep snow to clear out so
that the propane delivery truck can get through. Why they put the tank
waaaay round the back of the house, I don't know! :-)
cheers
Jules
Jules
> I vaguely recall that my school was probably only closed for about 1 day
> in bad weather, but that was due to the heating breaking down (ah, council
> maintained boilers....)
>
> These days, it seems to be several days each year. Trouble is half the staff
> in our local school live miles away and the half that live locally can't
> open the school, presumably because they can't technically cover all the
> required functions.
To be fair, that happens here too sometimes, even though we *know* we're
going to be snow-covered for several months of the year. I suppose that
below a certain number of teachers, they can't run the whole school (as
you say) - but merging classes doesn't really help as it diverts too much
from the planned teaching to really be useful; it's no great loss just to
shut the place.
What we do have are quite a lot of late starts, where they'll open the
school a couple of hours late. More often than not, that's due to the cold
rather than the snow (pretty much all the kids get bussed in to school
here, and they don't want them standing out and waiting for the bus
when it's -30 out)
cheers
Jules
Adrian
sounding much like they were saying:
> Yep, we usually leave the snow tyres on all year on the car - it doesn't
> seem to impact grip during the warmer months, and they seem to wear at
> such a slow rate that it probably works out cheaper than having two sets
> of wheels (and far less hassle).
I couldn't be dealing with the winter tyres through the summer - not only
is there less grip, but there's a lot more road noise, and the ride's
harsher.
Meanwhile, since the snow outside here is about up to the front bumper,
I'm staying put...
Adrian
were saying:
>> The problem ain't the snow or the ice, it's the poor idiots who never
>> got taught to drive on them.
> And the fact that most of the 4x4 mob think 4WD is a universal panacea.
> All they do is spin more wheels, getting even less adhesion than in a
> 2WD...
But it gets even funnier when they DO get it moving, then find they've
got no braking or cornering grip.
Dave Liquorice
> If they could get funding for a schoolboy to fix their site it's quite
> useful, allowing you to look at the motorway cameras output and matrix
> board displays.
Doesn't trafficengland.com do that which I thought was the "official"
Highways Agency portal for this info? Mind you that was saying no
maps too busy last night, oh still is...
--
Cheers
Dave.
Jules
> I remember my secondary school sending everyone home at dinnertime in
> December 1986. The heating worked it was just the snow.
The problem there is if it's predicted to fall enough that come time to go
home it's too deep for anyone to come and pick their kids up (or for the
buses to run) - having to keep kids in the school overnight and feed
them all might be a bit of a nightmare.
I've seen them close early once like that over here, but then we did get
about 2' of snow in 12 hours so it was understandable (just about every
business shut early, too)
Jules
> The HGV mob are not any better at driving in it,
> but create bigger blockages.
Hmm, what year was it when the M11/A14 ground to a standstill and lots of
people were stuck there for hours? I was still in the UK then, and have
some nice photos of HGVs - when it was already clear that things were
going to get very ugly - trying in vain to get up an ungritted slip-road
and off the motorway.
A couple had already fallen off the edge of the road (it was one of those
that loops around and goes over a bridge across the motorway) and several
more had simply ground to a halt and were partially blocking the road.
By 8 or 9pm nothing was moving on that entire road - it was
standstill traffic all the way (I knew a route through back-roads, but
could still see the main road)
cheers
Jules
Tim W
wibbled on Wednesday 06 January 2010 13:58
> Tim W wrote:
>
>> I do believe the 80's was the start of national gayness. It just got
>> worse since then,
>
> I was really impressed today that our Postie came out and delivered our
> post in this weather. The newspaper did not make it, but he did. Nobody
> else was out.
>
JN Random courier turned up today with a package from Rapid too - I
congratulated him.
--
Tim Watts
You know you need more insulation when the snow blanket on the roof makes
the house 3 degrees warmer...
Bob Eager
Axtually, I was mainly thinking of when they *are* moving; they're a
menace, with that lack of grip.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Bob Martin
>To be honest, with the weather the way it is, you would be well advised to
>consider other methods.
>
>A train leaves Portsmouth & Southsea on Thursday morning (10:52), due to
>arrive Preston at 15:38 (via London Waterloo and Euston) with a single
>ticket costing �91.60.
Avoid London. I go via Winchester / Southampton when travelling NW from Pompey.