tumbleweed

It is going to be horrendous for you, do your street sunday when the snowing has finished then you will have 4 feet to shift LOL

I shall be out in the morning in shorts and teeshirt clearing the snow before the next delivery arrives LOL

It has been snowing from about 8:30pm tonight here in Newbottle , Sunderland. Outside is still -2oC

Yay....Newbottle, Sunderland DH4 It started snowing at 8:20pm and it has just continued to snow....small snow flakes, it is -2 oC outside. I think this weekend will be a big snow event for the NE

Still SNOWING !!!!!! -1.9oC

Newbottle, Sunderland Outside temperature -1.8oC and heavy snow is falling now from the snow streamer coming in off the North Sea!!!!!!!!!!!! Fabulous winter snow scene out of the window.

The problem is this country has gone barmy with stupid health and safety laws with ambulance chasing lawyers...the law courts need to put a stop to this culture of sue sue

[i always knew clearing Council pavements and roads would make you liable.......something i never do as I have too much area around my house to clear which takes long enough

I think 4 x 4's have been redeemed and shown to be great over the last couple of weeks. The government will take control of the remaining grit supplies whilst the cold is on and things will become difficult and this weekend could unfortunately be the down turn for the country until mild weather comes in. I shall be looking out for people in my community and helping however I can.

Hello, I am not sure I mentioned buying extra gritters at all, merely increase the stored amount of grit......towards the end of the winter you would bring the levels down but at the beginning of the winter you would bring the levels up to 30 to 40 days worth and not the 6 day storage fiasco we have unfolding now. I really didn't think this would turn into a Unix users forum rant from yourself. This is down to the science of delivery....if a Grit mine can only produce 30,000 tonnes of grit a week and we have 150 local authorities and alot of these authorities use 500 tonnes a day...then it isn't hard to see where the problem is....One of the issues can be the conveyor belt system can only do so much tonnage an hour.

The weather we are experiencing now is something we have seen before in previous years and indeed has been well documented. There are lessons to be learned from this: 1. The complacency that we will have mild, grey winters with a couple of brief days of snow during February and March every year has to stop 2. Allowing accountants to run the country using the averages formula for stock piles of grit and reserves of gas, oil and petrol reserves has to be reviewed 3. I have read that Local Authorities were only advised by governing bodies to only store six days worth of grit/salt , this has to be reviewed and maybe the average increased to 30 to 40 days stockpiled every year regardless 4. We need to review how people used to survive and get on with things back in 1946/1947, 1963, 1978/1979 and learn from that Overall I would say the people of Britain have adopted the Dunkirk spirit, people are actually helping each other and talking to each other and this skill has been hidden for years

In Sunderland the temperature went down to -5.8 oC and whilst it has been snowing it rose to -3.8oc....very fine yet heavy Graupel / hail snow coming down, which will just freeze lovely. More snow showers will probably continue through the night. Winter is far from done yet

Just spent 1 1/4 hours clearing the snow off the driveway at the front of my house.....5 inches of snow fell during the night. Whilst clearing the snow into big heaps the outside temperature never got above -1 oC I am just keeping the thick of the snow off the drive and path as we know what is coming from next Tuesday to Friday

Heavy Graupel Snow here now in Newbottle......... outside temperature is -1.2 and the shiney (take your feet from under you) ice is now covered in Graupel, like ball bearings on ice.....looks like we will be getting showers throughout the night. This is a gradually unravelling saga of many chapters !!!!!

Hello From Newbottle, Sunderland !!!! Heavy snow falling....the kind of snow you can easily make hugh snowballs with!!!! 3.5 inches of snow on the ground already and increasing. Outside temperature 0.3oC This winter for me has been superb so far with two great snow fall events Happy New Year from snowbound Newbottle !!!!!

Hail falling, temperature 2.6 oC and the previous rain has washed the grit away off the roads. Newbottle Bank, Sunderland now impassable and cars turning around due to the hail freezing and cars lost traction

Just my ten pence worth........ Living in the North East of England, it is shielded by the coastal warming usually and this has been re-inforced by mild winters in the past.......I have lived through the winters of 78/79 in the South, when it started snowing New Years Eve and didn't stop until March / April 79 and as kids we were able to build a full sized igloo out of solid blocks of snow sawn out of snow drifts.....similar happened in 1981. Now then what I marvel at and enjoy is the complacency of people whom just assume winters will just be grey and mild AGAIN........where as I think from now until March / April 2010 we will be in for a continually cold traditional winter. As part of my following of this website for some years now, I also follow sun spots and the sun last year and this year has been at the minima and they are linked to solar flairs going across space which heat the earth and the sea......because the sun hasn't been active as normal, maybe some cooling has occured which has given us back traditional winters. I am prepared with extra supplies of food and red wine....a snow shovel and snow man making gloves......I do not care if I get snowed in. Do people not think the Met Office / BBC weather people are in the "Treat people like lemmings mode"?, to stop panic buying etc.......as Saturday the 19th of December, when everyone got a good 4 - 6 inches............the Met Office only released a weather warning alert at 3:30pm for severe snow action in the North East and by this time people were finishing off Chrimbo shopping and at Football matches etc.....hence the road grid lock ensued. Whilst I am giving my views...I do smile at the coverage the South get when they get a decent dumping of snow....they are always poised to almost call a national emergency, where as if this happens in Wales, North of England or Scotland the news tellers cannot wait to get back to talk about dreary labour government politics...ughhh!!! BRING IT ON........I am ready for the snow and awe stories the Daily Express will print about "Londoners in travel misery" LOL I think the snow fall and cold has brough back community spirit in neighbour hoods and people are talking alot more to each other whcih is a good thing from all of this.

I only come and read the posting on this forum site during the winter as I am a real snow fan.......I remember the winters of '79, 81 and they were fab. Now scratching my pine cones....I just have a feeling next week is going to be special, I am content the snow will fall, Eurostar will fail again and general national chaos....it is one in the eye for the global warming tree huggers. I am enjoying the forum posts on here of: "it's going to be a big snow event".....6 hours on "It's been downgraded"...."now it's back on"....none of that matters to me as I feel with my experience of winters during the 70's, 80's and 90's that this is going to happen. Putting my cards on the table...it will get cold Tuesday, snow on Wednesday and blizzards on New Year's eve with cumulative snow totals of 5 - 10 inches across the three days for most of the country. We have stocked up on drink, tins and have plenty of chocolate in the house, plus torches and candles.. let the lamp post watching commence. Be prepared for the greatness coming

All I couldn't ask for a better start to Christmas and the winter snow period.....may it continue until April 2010...it brings back community spirit. Anyway in Newbottle which is off the A690 between Durham and Sunderland, last night it was -6.4 oC degrees at 4am and at 8am it was still -4 oc. Having just had a Sunday dinner and triffle deserts, I have observed the outside temperature to be -2 oC.....bring it on for the rest of the winter !!!!!!!