Snow's coming

[Archangel]

Its bound to snow this week, I've had to send my new (to me) 4x4 back because of a cock up with the cherished plate, and they have loaned me a V40 "cross country", which is 2wd (WTF is "cross country" about it?) Home to work invlolves a high road which seems to be rarely gritted and regularly 4x4 only

[AtW]

they have loaned me a V40 "cross country", which is 2wd (WTF is "cross country" about it?)

It's for crossing border between Sweden and Finland to buy cheap booze.

HTH

[Wanderer]

I hope Heathrow is ready for snow this time.

Show me an airport anywhere in the world that can run at 98% capacity when it gets a few inches of snow dumped on it. Make no mistake, a few inches of snowfall in just about ANY major city will cause huge disruption.

Check out what happened to New York. Look at the photos, many of them show only a few inches of snow and it causes chaos. Flights cancelled, schools closed, panic buying etc. I've been there in the winter and these guys get snow like this EVERY YEAR, they are well equipped to deal with it but it still causes huge disruption. It's exactly the same as when London or any other major city gets a big dump of snow.

Perhaps the big difference is that in contrast to the UK, New York has a huge investment in snow clearing equipment with a fleet of several thousand snowploughs at the ready to clear the roads. Perhaps London should buy a few thousand show ploughs too (though they may not be used for years at a time)?

I think people get confused when they visit really cold countries with snow everywhere and business going on as normal. When you look a bit closer, you find that the snow last fell weeks ago and hasn't melted yet.

Also, these countries mandate that cars need winter tyres and in extreme conditions they use metal studded tyres or snow chains. For the few days a year we get snow in the UK, people can't be bothered - we just put up with it or stay home.

[AtW]

Show me an airport anywhere in the world that can run at 98% capacity when it gets a few inches of snow dumped on it. Make no mistake, a few inches of snowfall in just about ANY major city will cause huge disruption.

The key is NOT to run airport at 98% capacity!!!

FFS this country can start a war that kills tens of thousands on a pathetic evidence but can't build 3rd runway or high speed railway for decades!

Perhaps London should buy a few thousand show ploughs too (though they may not be used for years at a time)?

You don't need that many to keep airports open - but you can't do that with 98% capacity usage, that's the main issue.

[Wanderer]

The key is NOT to run airport at 98% capacity!!!

Yep, that would be a bloody good start.

I tend to avoid LHR for exactly this reason - if ANYTHING goes wrong there then it's completely stuffed. Of course, our government sees airport expansion as a huge hot potato and will dither about it for many years to come....

[SueEllen]

Yep, that would be a bloody good start.

I tend to avoid LHR for exactly this reason - if ANYTHING goes wrong there then it's completely stuffed. Of course, our government sees airport expansion as a huge hot potato and will dither about it for many years to come....

Heathrow is a tuliphole. It's like a third world airport through they tend to have better transport to get to the airport.

Making it bigger will just make it a bigger tuliphole.

It needs to be bulldozed and rebuilt.

[OwlHoot]

Its bound to snow this week, I've had to send my new (to me) 4x4 back because of a cock up with the cherished plate ...

Last two spivs who sold me cars both tried desperately to flog me a cherished plate to go with the car. But they were actually far less easy remember than the plate already on the car and not personalised to me or in any sense at all. In fact, they looked like they had come straight off an Enigma machine and would have been about as "cherished" as a pet cockroach!

[Wanderer]

It needs to be bulldozed and rebuilt.

Rebuilt in the Thames estuary....

[eek]

Rebuilt in the Thames estuary....

+1. I'm waiting for the announcement regarding the movement of the M25 which is hidden within the Heathrow runway plans.

[Archangel]

Last two spivs who sold me cars both tried desperately to flog me a cherished plate to go with the car. But they were actually far less easy remember than the plate already on the car and not personalised to me or in any sense at all. In fact, they looked like they had come straight off an Enigma machine and would have been about as "cherished" as a pet cockroach!

The plate was already on the car and I just wanted it off and a regular plate put on it. Dvla snafu.