zilspeed
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 11:50 AM |
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Central Scotland
well, that's been an interesting 24hrs - so far.
Yesterday morning, roads poor but passable, got in to work ok.
Then it started snowing and the gritters and snowploughs couldn't keep up.
Left to come home again at 1.30 yesterday and it took me 4 hrs to cover the 19 miles.
That was down to cunning, sheer bloody mindedness and a knowledge of the back roads.
One guy from our office covered 3/4 mile in 4 hours, turned around, came back and slept in the office overnight.
In my case, i didn't do any harm that the old Citroen has more traction than it has any right to, so driving through drifted snow seemed to
cause it little difficulty. Didn't get stuck anywhere or feel likely to.
Fast forward overnight and the traffic cameras show the cars and trucks sitting on the motorways in the same positions they had been sitting last
night.
I could get out of my street easily, due to a huge effort on everyone's part. I could also do what I have to do to get there and back too.
Doesn't help though, that it's still gridlock everywhere.
24 hrs or more after it first started.
It's still -11 out there too, so gritting the roads won't do much good.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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SeaBass
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 11:52 AM |
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Yep - it's been fun...
I've had no problems getting from the Borders to Broomhouse and back each day though. Journey times increased by about 25%.
Not even needed the plastic bottle I stashed away for emergencies.
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nick205
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:00 PM |
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You guys certainly are having a time of it up there!
We're all but clear down here now and hovering around 0 deg.
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v8kid
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:00 PM |
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Great fun if you get through!
Only problem I had was where the drifts were too deep and the snow built up under the car like a wedge - all 4 wheels were off the ground at one
point. Jolly difficult shovelling snow out from under the car 
I put winter tyres on the old dear this year and to be honest havn't noticed a huge difference it would be interesting to do a back to back
comparison
Cheers
You'd be surprised how quickly the sales people at B&Q try and assist you after ignoring you for the past 15 minutes when you try and start a
chainsaw
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mcerd1
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:07 PM |
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over here in 'sunny' east lothian they managed to clear off the worst of the snow on the main routes yesterday afternoon, but the grit is
next to useless at this temp. so the roads are just one big sheet of ice (quite good fun really )
still got to work ok though (with the usual chaos were people were trying to park) but it took 25min to defrost the car this morning, it totally was
frosted inside and out and wouldn't scrape off for anything and when I tried to drive off I found the brakes where frozen on 
[Edited on 7/12/2010 by mcerd1]
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alistairolsen
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:08 PM |
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Im driving around in a corsa with 195 summer tyres on it and cant get to grips with the problem. You just have to drive in a manner appropriate to the
conditions.
Sadly 50%+ of the UK public never seem to have developed basic clutch control, the ability to think ahead, or any form of patience! It's not
that people cant drive in snow, it's just low grip is VERY unforgiving of what is just fundamentally poor driving.
My Build Thread
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balidey
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:09 PM |
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Whats big, Scottish and depressing?
Scotland 
Sounds like you guys up there are getting it pretty bad.
Down here in the Midlands we had a bit, but now the ice is the real problem. And grit doesn't work below -6 deg C.
I've been travelling to and from work a lot earlier than normal when the conditions are a bit worse, but with a lot less traffic. You can
usually drive to suit the conditions, but its other road users (in massive cars going too fast) that you have no control over.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
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Daddylonglegs
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:17 PM |
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Balidey has a very valid point. I took the daughter to work yesterday morning and it was very worthy of slow and brakeless driving as much as
possible. But then along comes the mandatory 'indestrucatble', right on my bumper with the driving that suggested 'you're in
my way!'. I know some peole can be over cautious on ice, but once the traction has gone you are pretty much a passenger so why try and lose it
in the first place?
If I had needed to slow at all then the idiot would have been right into the back of the car and probably taken me off the road too!
It only adds a few minutes to relatively short journeys so what is the point?
It looks like the Midget is winning at the moment......
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 12:55 PM |
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Trapped Scottish drivers
forced to deep-fry each other
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 01:08 PM |
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2 and a half hours defrosting the golf.
A numpty locked the car.......last night so it wouldn't disarm the imobiliser as it freezes the door locking mechs solid.
So we ran an electric heater out to the car on an extension as well as the sure start battery booster.
Still took and hour after that for the battery to charge up and turn it over.
Daughter wrote exams at uni yesterday morning only to find out the buses had been stopped...and the uni was closing their campus..
Asked a buddy to help and it didn't happen so I got stuffed for 29 quid for a private hire taxi. .( He had to cross a ZONE arrangement)
to get her back to my house.
Was told it would be cheaper to get two taxis to meet up so they dont cross the district zones!!!!!!!!!!!!
The 09 Transits electrics failed yesterday......lights wipers ect...and thats down in the main steeler.......
Oh and the ice dams are really built up on the gutters.......waiting for the inevitable.
This happened in Dundee on
Sunday
Some good advice
[Edited on 7-12-10 by mangogrooveworkshop]
[Edited on 7-12-10 by mangogrooveworkshop]
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escary
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 04:59 PM |
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Fun in camelon
got the car moving this morning all the way to the end of the street where two of my neighbours and i stopped to find a 206 blocking the exit, along
comes 10.30 and the guy who left it there comes along, mumbles 'sorry mate' asks us to push him out of the mess he had driven into, all of
our bosses are really impressed!! mines is a new one, 6 weeks into a new job, hugely important day and i'm stuck at home ( I work in Dundee )
bloody grumpy about the whole thing, and then personally things took a worse turn with the death of a long standing friend known for 34 years, and
will be missed for many more
I'd be on the JD if i didn't have to drive.
F''ing snow.
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dlatch
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| posted on 7/12/10 at 05:56 PM |
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seen it on the news looks terrible up there 
what did annoy me is people shouting about not enough grit ect but when the temps are so low it makes no difference as it just freezes.
most of the problems looked to be down to bad timing on the snows part hitting right in rush hour on frozen roads means its always going to get
tricky.
on the bright side we have had pretty much zero snow so far just north of london 
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