Scottish Cold Spell Discussion 18:

[LadyPakal]

Did it happen to mention if these workers were paid at the normal rate or given time in lieu, or did they get a bonus?? :unsure:

'fraid not... personally, I'd have told them to shove it unless a whacking amount was offered. It's the councils lousy management got them into the mess after all. It's not as if we pay a pittance in council tax... band E in Aberdeen is a shade under £2k.

Edited January 12, 2010 by LadyPakal

[Guest]

'fraid not... personally, I'd have told them to shove it unless a whacking amount was offered. It's the councils lousy management got them into the mess after all. It's not as if we pay a pittance in council tax... band E in Aberdeen is a shade under £2k.

I was siding with the taxpayer, not the workers!! I am surprised that the workers didn't get some sort of bonus for coming in from their Xmas holidays, but glad the council saw sense. You would have assumed that these types of workers wouldn't get much time off at all over Xmas, given that it is one of the times of year when they would be expected to be needed the most.

[Glaswegianblizzard]

I was siding with the taxpayer, not the workers!! I am surprised that the workers didn't get some sort of bonus for coming in from their Xmas holidays, but glad the council saw sense. You would have assumed that these types of workers wouldn't get much time off at all over Xmas, given that it is one of the times of year when they would be expected to be needed the most.

In fairness, how keen would you be to come out during your Xmas holidays without overtime pay? Council staff have as much right to holidays as everyone else. It's not them who decide how budgets are spent.

[LadyPakal]

In fairness, how keen would you be to come out during your Xmas holidays without overtime pay? Council staff have as much right to holidays as everyone else. It's not them who decide how budgets are spent.

Exactly. Having booked the time off, some time in advance I don't doubt, to spend with your family (or to travel or whatever), some sort of incentive would be required to make you want to change your plans.

The council members themselves should have manned the gritters, seeing as they caused the mess!

Edited January 12, 2010 by LadyPakal

[LomondSnowstorm]

Afternoon. Still 4C with rain showers here, though the ice looks set to stay for a wee while yet. It might get a bit colder though tonight, with the possibility of a few snow showers through tomorrow:

Not too sure what to make of the models at the moment - looks like a pretty interesting battle between the block and the atlantic, which is actually a good thing for snowcover as the easterlies had lost the cold air. Also, I'm a bit annoyed at how things have panned out as today would've been a great day for us had it been snow - tonnes of showers around!

Quite amazing though to think that most of the PPN that's fallen this winter has been snow - hardly any rain at all between the 17th December and 2 days ago.

[Mondy]

Interesting model thread at the moment. Best to keep out of it!

[Guest]

Nice looking charts there LS, it does look as if the cold spell could have one final twist before a (welcome?) change to milder weather....

In fairness, how keen would you be to come out during your Xmas holidays without overtime pay? Council staff have as much right to holidays as everyone else. It's not them who decide how budgets are spent.

Having worked in retail for 3 years until I lost my job in mid-December the notion of "Xmas holidays" is foreign to me! And what's overtime?? I worked two New Year's Day in a row without even a thankyou from head office

Why are they given time off over Xmas anyway?? Fair enough if it is booked in advance, but why is anyone entitled to the old "two weeks" at Xmas routine?? Especially the roads/maintenance people: Xmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day and that should be it! The roads/maintenance people who do the gritting should not be allowed extra time off at Xmas, certainly since Xmas is arguably one of the most important times to have staff available, as it is the busiest time of year for all city centres.

[Snooz]

Exactly. Having booked the time off, some time in advance I don't doubt, to spend with your family (or to travel or whatever), some sort of incentive would be required to make you want to change your plans.

The council members themselves should have manned the gritters, seeing as they caused the mess! :blink:

I believe they did in a fashion, A PR exercise, just in time for them to hold their heads high at the inquisition?

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1554499?UserKey=

[Argyllcraig]

Is anyone actually discussing the models on the model thread....

seems a bit of 'who kicks and screams loudest gets heard over there this evening... just watch things flying from the pram if anyone is gonna venture in.

[Guest]

Is anyone actually discussing the models on the model thread....

seems a bit of 'who kicks and screams loudest gets heard over there this evening... just watch things flying from the pram if anyone is gonna venture in.

There is probably no model discussion going on. I can't talk, as all I've been doing in here is whinging about council workers

[Allyw12]

Evening all

I wish all this rain came last week, totally gutted , I saw STV weather tonight OMG the whole of scotland was cover in snow tommorow night

[LomondSnowstorm]

Evening all

I wish all this rain came last week, totally gutted , I saw STV weather tonight OMG the whole of scotland was cover in snow tommorow night

Not as infeasable as it seems Ally. Cold uppers are moving up here overnight and will stick around until Thursday evening. In that time we're likely to see a fair amount of precipitation much of which will be snow. After that it looks like a spell in no man's land between atlantic lows and the block. I suppose with the jet generally tracking south it might be better for Scotland if the atlantic won through as we could end up on the north of the jet stream again, leaving us with some more opportunities for snow.

In the meantime, it's nice to see a big juicy cold front with gale force winds for Saturday - not boring weather anyway!

It's back down to 2.9C now, with a bit of a clear interval as the showers track east of us. Maybe something for us tonight!

[LadyPakal]

Rain here - anyway CMD, sometimes venting about incompetence is no bad thing! *especially when politics & politicians is involved*

[LomondSnowstorm]

Dammit! Up to 3.2C!

[Snowplough33]

Not as infeasable as it seems Ally. Cold uppers are moving up here overnight and will stick around until Thursday evening. In that time we're likely to see a fair amount of precipitation much of which will be snow. After that it looks like a spell in no man's land between atlantic lows and the block. I suppose with the jet generally tracking south it might be better for Scotland if the atlantic won through as we could end up on the north of the jet stream again, leaving us with some more opportunities for snow.

Might get alittle colder her Thursday, as the wind swings round to the south,back off the land. Be fab to see a liittle snow before the warmer air and gales kicks in end of the week. Actually, we are sub +4 at the moment, which we have not been for about 48 hrs. Interesting.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Snowplough33

[LomondSnowstorm]

Not as infeasable as it seems Ally. Cold uppers are moving up here overnight and will stick around until Thursday evening. In that time we're likely to see a fair amount of precipitation much of which will be snow. After that it looks like a spell in no man's land between atlantic lows and the block. I suppose with the jet generally tracking south it might be better for Scotland if the atlantic won through as we could end up. on the north of the jet stream again, leaving us with some more opportunities for snow.

Might get alittle colder her Thursday, as the wind swings round to the south,back off the land. Be fab to see a liittle snow before the warmer air and gales kicks in end of the week. Actually, we are sub +4 at the moment, which we have not been for about 48 hrs. Interesting.

Back to 2.9C now. GP thinks there is enough juice in the tank for a cold reload late month and into February from the east/northeast before an early spring sets in around mid-February. Hopefully, and according to past analogues quite possibly, this would be a sunny affair with highs just to the east bringing settled weather with potentially mild days and cool nights. That would just cap off a really brilliant winter! Maybe another storm or two for Cookie's benefit would be better but so far we must agree that this winter has been a belter!

[Snowplough33]

ame='Snowplough33' date='12 January 2010 - 20:12 ' timestamp='1263327162' post='1741789']

Back to 2.9C now. GP thinks there is enough juice in the tank for a cold reload late month and into February from the east/northeast before an early spring sets in around mid-February. Hopefully, and according to past analogues quite possibly, this would be a sunny affair with highs just to the east bringing settled weather with potentially mild days and cool nights. That would just cap off a really brilliant winter! Maybe another storm or two for Cookie's benefit would be better but so far we must agree that this winter has been a belter!

It has been something else. A near 4 week cold "snap" That never happens. And to stumble across this forum by accident just before it happened and hook up with a huge group of snow maniacs is just the icing on the cake . Fingers crossed for tomorrow and even more so for a re-load.

[Cheggers]

ame='Snowplough33' date='12 January 2010 - 20:12 ' timestamp='1263327162' post='1741789']

Back to 2.9C now. GP thinks there is enough juice in the tank for a cold reload late month and into February from the east/northeast before an early spring sets in around mid-February. Hopefully, and according to past analogues quite possibly, this would be a sunny affair with highs just to the east bringing settled weather with potentially mild days and cool nights. That would just cap off a really brilliant winter! Maybe another storm or two for Cookie's benefit would be better but so far we must agree that this winter has been a belter!

That would be the icing on the cake, and GP been pretty much spot on since early November.

1.9 here and a biting wind. Still plenty of slush and ice about so a covering to hide the muck would be a nice thing.

[Northernlights]

+1c here with quite a lot of thawing on the roofs but not so much at ground level. A lot metal gutters have been bent or dislodged by the weight of the snow and ice and all the icicles have gone.

[Allyw12]

Temp is slowly going down tonight its now + 1.4, we will have to wait and see what happen tommorow . snow v rain there's is only one way to sort this... FIGHT .

[Cheggers]

+1c here with quite a lot of thawing on the roofs but not so much at ground level. A lot metal gutters have been bent or dislodged by the weight of the snow and ice and all the icicles have gone.

NL Are you anywhere near the Dava road? We are planning on driving to in-laws at the weekend and want to know what the road is like, or do I go up to SNeckie then via Nairn to Forres?

Happy Birthday Pete.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Cheggers

[Northernlights]

NL Are you anywhere near the Dava road? We are planning on driving to in-laws at the weekend and want to know what the road is like, or do I go up to SNeckie then via Nairn to Forres?

Happy Birthday Pete.

Best to stick to the main roads A9 then A96 Nairn/Forres/Glenferness to Carrbridge the snowgates were still shut yesterday and Nairn/Forres/Glenferness to Grantown over the Dava was single track only but I heard the council were bringing in a snowblower to make passing places but any wind and blowing snow would soon fill it in again as it must still be sub zero at that level just now.

[Cheggers]

Best to stick to the main roads A9 then A96 Nairn/Forres/Glenferness to Carrbridge the snowgates were still shut yesterday and Nairn/Forres/Glenferness to Grantown over the Dava was single track only but I heard the council were bringing in a snowblower to make passing places but any wind and blowing snow would soon fill it in again as it must still be sub zero at that level just now.

Thanks for that.

[GraemeB]

Wow that's chilly outside this morning...

I notice the snow forecasts for us for tonight and tomorrow...knife-edge in my opinion

[Methuselah]

New thread time...