Weather- January 2010

[David Nicholson]

Not as much as one snowflake here yet and we are starting into the fourth week of the freeze, -5°C or -6°C every night rising to -2°c by day with wall to wall sunshine.

I keep trotting down to the greenhouse and surveying the scene with most pots thoroughly frozen through and just a bit of "give" in others. I don't have much experience of these kinds of conditions and it is weeks since I have been able to water anything. What do I do? Just wait for a warmer spell and count my losses at re-potting time?

[Luc Gilgemyn]

What do I do? Just wait for a warmer spell and count my losses at re-potting time?

Unless you can move them into somewhere warmer, I think that is the only thing you can do David.. 

[Sinchets]

It's probably safer that way, David. A turgid plant is more lilely to be damaged by cold, than a flaccid one in my experience.

[Maggi Young]

It's probably safer that way, David. A turgid plant is more lilely to be damaged by cold, than a flaccid one in my experience.

I agree

[Mick McLoughlin]

Good job you're not up here in Yorkshire then David. Started snowing at 7:00 this morning and still going strong now at 14:00. I managed to get in to work in Sheffield this morning, but decided to leave at dinner time. Think I would have struggled if I left it later as this lot is due to freeze tonight.

[Tony Willis]

It's probably safer that way, David. A turgid plant is more lilely to be damaged by cold, than a flaccid one in my experience.

What about a human?

We have had about six inches so our whole area has come to a standstill.I wandered out to clear a space for the birds to feed and it did not seem too cold.

[angie]

I'd always heard that hypothermia was a quiet, peaceful way to die.

Very likely, but being grabbed by a cat as you go is not..... and it would be worse for Angie, who would be sitting fretting about the bird.

Little bird never made it through the night, still he died in the warmth and I could go to my bed without worrying about him freezing.
My coal has run out and my oil is getting low,no car, husband in dying ,got man flu ( sorry to all you men out there ) and the worst thing of all is I ate all my chocolate. Still I have all you wonderful people out there keeping me happy with all your chat.

David all the nurseries will be busy with orders as I think lots of us will lose plants in this cold.
Keep warm everyone.
Angie

[David Shaw]

I think that our region is just about snowed in.
The railway and the A96 is blocked to the east.
The A9 is blocked at Blair Atholl (snow gates closed)
Can't get south from Inverness anyway because the railway is closed with a derailment and buses are not running down the A9.
Glad I don't have to go anywhere.

[cohan]

we have two more cold nights forecast: -26 tonight, -29 tomorrow night, and a couple more cm of snow today, then it should gradually start warming, with highs predicted above freezing by the weekend, that would be weird! (not because its unheard of, just hard to remember...lol)

[Lesley Cox]

A canny great tit would be teaching his offspring about the web!   

I had a card picturing two spiders each in its own little web. One was saying to the other - you could almost see the pensive look on his face - "I heard a rumour someone had invented a world wide web."

[Lesley Cox]

I'd always heard that hypothermia was a quiet, peaceful way to die.

I believe it is. You just quietly go to sleep and don't wake up again but the getting to that stage of cold and exhaustion must be pretty horrendous.

[Sinchets]

we have two more cold nights forecast: -26 tonight, -29 tomorrow night, and a couple more cm of snow today, then it should gradually start warming, with highs predicted above freezing by the weekend, that would be weird! (not because its unheard of, just hard to remember...lol)

You have my sympathy, Cohan. The last time we were that cold the water pipes froze solid for 7 days. It was buckets of snow on the range time. 

[Anthony Darby]

I took my car out for the first time in nearly two weeks to take Lucy to her violin lesson this evening. Had to hammer the nearside rear brake drum as the wheel was seized up. Back to 'squeel' tomorrow! Lucy's school has burst pipes, but only affecting the hot water supply and not the heating. Many schools around central Scotland are closed due to burst pipes and more (in other authorities) are closed due to the snow.

[cohan]

we have two more cold nights forecast: -26 tonight, -29 tomorrow night, and a couple more cm of snow today, then it should gradually start warming, with highs predicted above freezing by the weekend, that would be weird! (not because its unheard of, just hard to remember...lol)

You have my sympathy, Cohan. The last time we were that cold the water pipes froze solid for 7 days. It was buckets of snow on the range time. 

thanks, but although we grumble about the cold --and more so about the endless snow shovelling--we are really fine here, no traumas like so many other places--this is belwo 'average' but not record setting--in january we could certainly have spells where the daytime is -30 or near -40, and nights below -40, and we arent having that (thats usually when we get things freeze, around the -40 mark, unless some heat system fails); nor is this snow causing any problems with driving--its generally just a few inches at a time, and highways are quite clear around here; in towns it can be messy, and will likely get more messy when it warms up.. but nothing like the road chaos we see on tv in britain, eastern north america, seoul korea, etc etc!
so, while our weather sounds unbelievable to many elsewhere, its well within what we are set up for, so its no big deal

[Giles]

We had 14" of snow last night here, and it's still snowing....