Iceni

But not any old bankers... they have to be bankers trusted as Treasury advisors and FSA chairmen. Could anyone tell me why my radar snow is rain? Doesn't the radar take into account the dewpoints? Or is it starting off as snow and melting on the way down?

Very curious really as on my NW radar they are definitely pink... i.e. snow. There's a dark pink blob just about to hit, although the uppers are just about ok, the dewpoint's still 2° C, so I don't see how it can snow. Why is the radar showing snow, it's never happened before, sometimes it'll show sleet or even rain and be snowing merrily, but showing snow and getting rain will be a first.

Just had one half an hour ago, a snowy/sleet blizzard. The showers are quite intense, but very scattered and are coming down N/S from the Wash.

it's now officially snow... wish it was a tad colder, but the uppers are –4.5° C and even all that rain didn't get rid of the lying snow so it's settling. Great fun I'd better get some kip now

A really driving sleet storm here, with a few snowflakes mixed in, if this turns to snow proper, even just for 15 minutes — OMG!!!

Even this winter, which has been cold, isn't a patch on the ones I remember from my childhood. They weren't all wall to wall snow, December to April... but there was a basic chill in the air most of the time. You always needed a warm coat and a warm jumper anytime you were outside, and there are details like the milk freezing in a the hour between the milkman delivering it and it being brought inside with the frozen cream pushing the cap off — you had to be fast in those days or the blue tits would be pecking at it . If you consider how much more the average person and home consumes in energy and fuel compared to the 50's when washing machines or TVs weren't common and fridges were just about becoming normal household kit, plus less than half the UK population had a car. What's happened in the last 50 years is bound to have made a difference as scientists doing ice core samples have proved time and time again.

Snowing moderately, but we're nowhere near into the main event and the night is yet young... hmmm a blizzard could be on the cards at some point. It's times like this you love your 4x4.

God I love that film... I even like the music, how sad is that?

Indeed. I'm getting to be a snow snob , the powdery stuff falling a week ago was as good as it gets, I'd rather it wasn't ruined by slushy wet rubbish. I'm right on the blue to light blue border so I'm resigned to seeing it disappearing by morning. Might get lucky of course. As the low's tracking slightly more south, is that a trend or will it stay on course for the foreseeable?

Newmarket and Haverhill (I'm kinda in between them) are high up for Suffolk (and Norfolk too) my location's 110m asl. Any elevation makes a big difference, especially for marginal occasions, for obvious reasons — you are a bit nearer to where the snowflakes come from I really hope it doesn't get washed away tomorrow and the channel low's errr, lower.

We've got snow now. Hope it'll give a covering to wake up to... best of luck tomorrow everyone — like putting everything on black, I've rather gotten used to seeing white fields instead of brown :lol:

My radar says snow in quarter of an hour, the pink's just about got here, it'll be light, but enough to cover the slushy melt as there's a lot of it. Uppers –6° C, dewpoint's –1° C and the temperature's around 2.7 ° C.

They are probably stuffing themselves with peanuts and seed at neighbouring birdtables... I'm getting through a 1/2 kg of bird food and fat balls a week atm and there's a sort of queue forming in the hedge beside it to wait their turn. If everyone could put out some sort of food for them, we can limit the carnage severe weather brings, and I've left the door of my garden shed slightly ajar so they can shelter in there.

Lots of snow falling atm (blizzards on the hills) and settling — even on the wet roads — another inch or two is on the cards for us tonight, especially if the temperatures drop away as forecast. I want a beautiful snowy cold crisp w/e, please.

That might explain my unheated greenhouse thermometer reading 'Min –6° C' for last night or the night before, I didn't believe it. Snowing merrily again here after an hour of sleet. Made my husband laugh when I said "ok dogs, we're setting of for our walk across the Suffolk tundra again"

Someone mentioned a polar low... is this it NE of Scotland? And if so where's it going to go?

Compensation? My mum would have bandaged me up and told me to look where I was going next time... hope the knee gets better.

I don't think so, most of the Challoners boys used to come in by train (or Met line tube). Are they still running? Or have they packed up as well? People have really got to confront their fear of driving in snow, wise up and learn how to do it... a few weeks ago our lane was as bad as I've ever seen it — solid sheet ice for a week. I didn't want to use the car but my husband went out with me and told me to pick a safe place and apply the brakes, so I did and found I was fine and the car's ABS worked beautifully. We've become a pathetic gutless namby-pamby nation, is all. Not good.

I agree with every word you say. If you treat a child like an idiot that is what you will get, furthermore as they're never exposed to any small consequences "because in case so-and-so happens", when they're let off the leash they do really something really stupid. Those poor teenage girls in the Yorkshire sledging accident, for example... when we went sledging as kids we were taught to check the slope and most especially the bottom of the slope for obstacles and also people used proper steerable sledges. Similarly for skating, my dad or the heaviest person around would go out and jump up and down on the ice to check it was ok or make a small hole to check how thick it was (under 6" it was no good) and we kept to the sides of the pond skating around in a circle... unless we were sure it was really ok. but the best bit is watching the authorities cover their backs when something truly dreadful happens... can't wade in a save someone because they're not authorised to wear wellington boots, wasn't it? :lol:

I'm about 11 miles east of Cambridge and the temps and dewpoints are almost an exact replica of last night at this time, temps 0.1 ° C, dewpoints 0° C and uppers –1.5 ° C (a degree warmer than last night). I really didn't expect snow, but it still happened. I think tomorrow will be more interesting.

I'm seriously getting puzzled by all these shutdowns. I used to live in Amersham and worked in Aylesbury in '77–83 and despite the several far more severe snow events of the time, none of the schools were closed, ever. We used to live just over the road from Dr. Challoners which is just up from the railway station. What is going on?

I'm sure you will — if you go to the right clubs Sorry couldn't resist

I thoroughly agree, and at night headlights will turn it into whiteout visibility — white mist, white road with the kerbs obscured by snow... Janet's pictures of that unprotected riverside in Wisbech are haunting me today. Take care everyone and don't follow other drivers' fog lights, rely on your own judgements.

Lovely pictures Janet. But if it gets foggy later and/or icy tonight, it might be worth ringing the Council/Highway Authority to cone along the riverside for drivers... or at least put up warning notices (probably not that you'd get any joy). It looks like an accident waiting to happen to me. Not a dig in any way, but when people post pictures, could they reduce the size to 1000 pixels width? Makes it much easier to have a look at them and doesn't slow down scrolling the thread.

If I'd had a £ for the number of times I've watched snow paste Norfolk, but peter out 10–15 miles east of me over the years, I'd be as rich Bill Gates We got about a couple of cms, but it's turned to a sleety/rainy mix now if that's any comfort, let's see what the w/e brings...