Weather / Traffic Reports Please

[Bunnylump]

My dopey daughter has been invited to a friend's wedding tomorrow, in Newcastle upon Tyne. We have about 6 inches of snow so far and the roads are quite a nightmare (a 4 wheel drive vehicle skidded round the t junction opposite our house this morning and crashed into our neighbour's car which was on their drive )

Her (sensible) boyfriend is saying it'd be a stupid idea to go (we live in Hertfordshire) because it'd take such a long time to get there. I'm saying even if the motorways are clear any other roads could be awful, and they could end up getting stranded. What's worrying me is that she has that determined "set" to her jaw, and I have a horrible feeling she'll convince him they should still go.

ALSO I was planning to visit my Dad in Brentwood, in Essex on Tuesday.

SOOO what I'm after is any information anyone has on what the roads/ snow is like in any of the areas between Hertfordshire and Newcastle, also anyone who's in the Essex area with info that'd be good too. Thank you.

[evilkeen]

Hmmm, it would be good to know what it's like round Stansted this afternoon too...

[gill216]

Bunny, assuming your daughter is heading for the M1, the Leeds to Newcastle section shouldn't be bad. Leeds has just been gritted (thank goodness- I've been waiting for my fence to go all day) and mum in Newcastle tells me their roads have been gritted too. Thats a very long drive in this weather though- 6 hours at least I reckon and thats on a good day. If she gets stuck there are beds in Newcastle and Leeds. You have my phone number, give it to her if she insists on going and tell her to use it if she has problems.

Kevin- I don't know about Stansted but Colchester had 6 inches, with more descending, around 1pm.

[giraffe]

We've had none today, and Wolverhampton didn't even get the sprinkle we had yesterday, but I passed 2 crashes this afternoon when I went to pick Kingsley up from school. (One on a country road , one on a street in the city) Even where there is no snow the roads are quite icy and treacherous.

[Bunnylump]

If she gets stuck there are beds in Newcastle and Leeds. You have my phone number, give it to her if she insists on going and tell her to use it if she has problems.
.

Thanks Gill, you're a star. I'll let you know!!

[Biscuit]

my daughter made it back in record time from exeter - no snow there as yet but v cold.

my colleague lives in peterborough and works in Hertford and she had quite a journey in today - she had 6" or snow but went through bedford where she said there wasnt much and other places where it was quite deep.

My daughter said there is a severe weather warning tonight and we might get 8" in Hertford but I am not so sure - that's pretty deep and I have an awful lot of shopping to get through tomoz.

Biscuit

[Laura]

Yeah, Bunny, all but the very smallest of roads are clear up here at the moment.

[MBH]

Hi. Sorry I'm late with this, but just a couple of inches of snow up here, and the roads gritted. NOT a problem at all as far as we are concerned.

The TV weather map seems to have the bottom of the country as a lot more 'white' than up here - so they could come here to get away from the weather

You've got my contact number for during the day if you want any 'up to the minute' information

[evilkeen]

Well I'm pleased to say that I had a good trip to Stansted - apart from a bit of snow on the road between Oakham and the A1, no problem at all, A1/A14/M11 fine all the way.

[clvrlad]

well bunny acording to the guys at work
the coast road was clear last night from whitby up
the a66 is clear
but dont do any over taking into yarm.......

(Jimmy a supervisor following an artic noticed he was failing to get up a hill in to yarm so started to move to one side to over take and started to slide too then a second artic tried to overtake them both with the following traffic sooon chaos reigned
15mins later lee one of the drivers was going through yarm to further away shops and got stuck in a traffic jam
apparently he was about 20 cars behind Jimmy...
the snows reasonably(3"/4") deep here we had a second load of snow during the day and it settled over gritted roads
the skies are clear so id expect it to melt and refreeze so could be tricky off the motorways but should be fine if there sensible (ie fully check car and reduce pressure in tires and drive carefully )
as a manager said to the entire night shift Thursday night
we dont want no heroes out there (whatever that means )

[giraffe]

Still no snow here.

Car arrived and I was even allowed to drive it home after the party. (Only the second time I've driven an automatic, so took it slow but sure)

[LAT]

Well done!
A colleague drove her new car for the first time yesterday to our office Christmas lunch. We do have snow here so she was understandably a bit nervous.

[Bunnylump]

Good Lord. She's in Newcastle. It took them 4 and a half hours! Apparently they left at 5am (unlike her mother she is able to get up early) and the roads were totally clear. Just hoping now they don't get STUCK there!! MBH and Gill - I've given her your numbers just in case of emergency!! (Thank you both so much for your kind offers). So if you get some strange woman on the phone (who sounds just like me but isn't) - that's her!!

Biscuit - I'm glad your daughter got back ok from Exeter - I'm expecting a large hungry person with lots of dirty washing from Exeter (Cornwall campus)back on the train in the early hours of Monday!

[SparkOut]

I'm heading from Kent to Norfolk tomorrow (Sunday)... that should be an interesting trip. Main roads are clear round here now, but lots of compacted snow turned to ice on minor roads, and more predicted. Ho hum!

[clvrlad]

glad she didnt bump into rob then

i cant remember he's exact words from last night but

im the tyneside drifter....
and something about setting a record

[clvrlad]

a quick update
30 mins ago it started snowing
weve a snow plow (well fork lift truck woth attachments) here to keep the car park clear
it was dry 31 mins ago
its now over an inch deep and snowing harder anmd harder the flake i just caught mesured 2 inches (length from tip of my thumb to second joint)


joy
me play

oh err bunny im sure your daughter will be fine..... she'll be drunk and thus impervious to cold

[Bunnylump]

I'm heading from Kent to Norfolk tomorrow (Sunday)... that should be an interesting trip. Main roads are clear round here now, but lots of compacted snow turned to ice on minor roads, and more predicted. Ho hum!

You take care! Hope it's an uneventful journey for you.

We've still got loads here. The roads are lethal - last night I walked about 4 miles in my wellies to get to a restaurant with some friends. I slipped over twice on the way there and about 20 times on the way home. (Mind you that was partly to do with the ice but also partly to do with the drink!!). It's been sunny (so it's started to melt but now it's freezing again so VERY dangerous. There's still at least 6 or 7 inches of snow in the garden. My cat hates it - she goes out for a wee and her whole legs disappear!!!

oh err bunny im sure your daughter will be fine..... she'll be drunk and thus impervious to cold

Well, actually, SHE's a tee totaller. They do say that kids try to be the opposite of their parents to rebel...

[clvrlad]

a second quick update snow still falling....

and its not flakes now i dont know what to call them other than clumps of snow....

im heading home shortly and im seriously considering using the plow....

[kathlyn]

It took us 5 hours today to get back up to Derbyshire from W Susssex (usually a 3 1/2 hr journey). Not due to adverse weather but a 14 mile tail back due to an accident on the M1. We decided to come off the motor way at one point but got into slow traffic through Dunstable. Got on to the A5 and all was going well the everything stopped so took a side road, which luckily was a bus route and was clear of snow, and re-joined the motorway one junction up from where we'd left it. It was clear at that point and all the way home. The south bound carriage way at the point we re-joined was stationary and people were out of their cars and stuck in a similar lenghth of jam to the one we'd been in.

Now it is snowing here.

[clvrlad]

off for my 30 min walk stroll in a winter wonderland