Snow/Wintry conditions

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

The no win no fee vultures must love weather like this.

[Chris from Nailsea]

For some reason, station car parks seem to be a popular example, used by such firms: see http://www.hinchliffes.co.uk/news/slip-sliding-away-snow-and-ice-related-accidents/

(Other 'no win, no fee' organizations are also available). 

[johoare]

I've decided I don't like snow.. Not one little bit.. I had to leave my car at work today as it was just too dangerous on the roads.. So it took me nearly 3 hours to get home from Bracknell via a lot of walking and two trains (one of which was warm (SWT^▸ (South West Trains)) and one which was freezing (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) - why oh why?).. So now I have another major trek in the morning via two trains and no doubt some very icy paths either end.. And it's only 10 miles away 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Sorry, Jo, but it doesn't look like it's going to get better - from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Cold weather causes travel disruption across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)

Winter weather is continuing to cause disruption across the UK with road, rail and air travel all affected.
Channel Tunnel services remain badly affected after Eurotunnel closed its car shuttle service to new passengers.
British Airways cancelled all European and UK domestic flights leaving Heathrow after 1900 GMT.
Many roads in the Home Counties are gridlocked and the AA said London and the South East were hotspots for vehicle breakdowns.
Luton airport is closed until 0030 GMT and London City airport is shut. Stansted airport is open but flights may be subject to delays or cancellations.
Easyjet said it had operated over 80% of its flights, "albeit with some delays", over the last five days despite the weather, but added that further snow on Monday night could result in continued flight disruptions.
A Met Office severe weather warning is in place for ice in many parts of the UK, where snow freezing on the ground is causing treacherous conditions.
Temperatures are expected to fall to 1C (34F) in central London overnight, -4C (25F) in Newcastle, -3C (27F) in Glasgow, -4C in Manchester and -1C (30F) in Cardiff.

[johoare]

Excellent.. Something to look forward to tomorrow 

[ReWind]

A lot more forecast i the next 36 hours across most parts of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) network.  ( yes, the sub tropics of devon & cornwall might see the whie stuff ).  If the forecast is anything to go by, there could be some serious amounts of snow in some places.

I do remember, being a Bristol commuter, the last time it snowed proper in Feb 09, the SVB line was closed for 2 days.  I expect the same to happen this time then.

Just a warning anyway, it could get very messy in FGW land in the next couple of days.

[TheLastMinute]

According to the Met Office's Chief Forecaster there is a 40% probability of more than 25cm of snow across a large part of central FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land. I would think that's enough to cause serious problems...

To give an idea, local BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) forecaster Ian Fergusson gave a rough guide on how bad it will be. In some places it will similar to February 2009, in others the snow of 1981/82 might be a better guide! 

Ian's rather informative blog can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/weather/ianfergusson.

TLM

[ChrisB]

Hmmm - that doesn't look good from Oxford through Wilts / Hants to the south coast!

[TheLastMinute]

Update: An extreme weather warning has just been issued for Oxfordshire, Wiltshire (inc. Swindon), West Berkshire, Hampshire (inc. Southampton) and Dorset for between 2000 tonight and 1100 tomorrow.

There is a high risk of an extreme weather event affecting parts of Southern England this evening and overnight. A period of exceptionally heavy snowfall is expected with accumulations of 15-30 cm and perhaps in excess of 40 cm. This is expected to cause widespread disruption to the transport network and could lead to problems with power supplies.

TLM

[old original]

there was about an inch or so on the platform and really chucking it down at St Austell this morning but apparently nothing at Truro, so it's patchy down here to say the least. Mid & east cornwall looks bad compared to the West

The Eden Project is closed and most buses have decide they won't be running by 19.00 today

[marky7890]

No snow above 5 miles west of Penryn, where I am. Nothing at Penzance either looking on the webcams.

[Brucey]

Oh dear.  I'm travelling from Portsmouth to Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) tomorrow, then up the SVB line to Redland.

Not too concerned about the SVB line - I can always walk (albeit dragging my suitcase across Bristol) but I seriously need to get to Bristol before Friday.

Does anyone know what happens to Advance ticket holders when trains are cancelled due to snow?  My ticket is routed Great Western Only and validity Booked Train Only.  I only paid ^4.95 for my ticket, so don't want to be forking out ^17.50 to "upgrade" to an Off-Peak Single if I need to travel the next day or go by a different route.

[ReWind]

Oh dear.  I'm travelling from Portsmouth to Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) tomorrow, then up the SVB line to Redland.

Not too concerned about the SVB line - I can always walk (albeit dragging my suitcase across Bristol) but I seriously need to get to Bristol before Friday.

Does anyone know what happens to Advance ticket holders when trains are cancelled due to snow?  My ticket is routed Great Western Only and validity Booked Train Only.  I only paid ^4.95 for my ticket, so don't want to be forking out ^17.50 to "upgrade" to an Off-Peak Single if I need to travel the next day or go by a different route.

I wouldn't worry too much Brucey, its raining in Bristol now.  Looks like the usual snow on hills in the countryside, rain in cities and towns.  These weather people always exaggerate.

[super tm]

just get the next train

[Tim]

Does anyone know what happens to Advance ticket holders when trains are cancelled due to snow? 

If the train on which you are booked is cancelled, there will not be a problem if you catch the next one on the same route.  

If you want to travel a different route, then you may need to pay again.  If you need to take a different route because your route is closed the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) will probably agree to lift the routing restrictions and allow you take take the alternative route.  Check on the Nationalrailwebsite or ask at your starting station.  

I'd be surprised if important lines were closed.  I expect that there will be disruption but more likely cancelled trains cos of staff unable to get to work (by road) and frozen points, signal failures that sort of thing that will cause delays but be fixed by (cold) guys in orange jackets.

Outside of the third rail network, trains usually keep running just with delays and cancellation and are usually a better option then flying or driving.  

One bit of advice would be to wrap up very warmly.  Some of the rail commuters arriving in my office this mroning were moaning about the heating on some of FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)'s not working very well.