Digression re the weather

Like most of the UK, We Have Had Snow. I got home in the brief weather window, though we did encounter something of a blizzard on the M6, managed to get the car to the side gate and unloaded and got the car round to where I normally park it.

The roads, particularly sidestreets, were godawful on Monday, so I went shopping by bus, walked back to Asda, stocked up (especially on dog food) and got a cab home. Monday night the snow hit us, though "hit" hardly seems an appropriate term for snow that sifted down so gently that it piled up on the telephone wires. On Tuesday, it was extremely tricky to take Toby for a walk as the snow on the pavements was over 6 inches deep; I hunted out a pair of wellies which had really good treads on the soles. He wasn't too keen as it reached his undercarriage, so tended to follow trodden paths, of which there weren't many. Schools were closed. Buses were cancelled, and when they did run, went at a modest 5-10 mph.

A little more snow overnight, but today the snow underfoot was either deep and untrodden, or slippery. Schools still closed, though more buses running. If it freezes hard tonight, most of the roads will be like skating rinks, so I'm not driving anywhere at present.

Note for American readers: the reason why the country is paralysed is because this is a rare event. The last time there was anything quite like this was 1963, and it really wouldn't be sound economics for local councils to have more snowploughs. Gritting and salting could have been better organised, but there's not much point in spreading either grit or salt while snow is still falling heavily.