h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The weather forecast has been banging on for a couple of days about snow in the south of England. Well there's not been a flake down here in Brighton. Just blue skies and a (mildly) chill wind, that's all.

Supposed to be snow here too. We've had a couple of hailstorms, but it immediately turns to slush upon hitting the ground.

I have enought to share with both of you!

Me too.



It's not supposed to snow here till Friday. Do you think the stuff that was meant for you took a wrong turn somewhere?

Believe me, there's plenty here in Yorkshire. I've been out in Harrogate tonight and there was a heavy fall of big flakes while I was there. I got home to Bradford and found that the snow had stopped falling but the ground was well covered.

Ah well, I kind of knew that the weather forecast wouldn't apply here. In the nearly 10 years that I've lived in Brighton it has snowed, such that it stuck to the ground for a bit, precisely once. I don't really expect that total to change anytime soon.

I believe it's here in these very pages that you've told us about the sheltering effect of the South Downs GD, and knowing as I do that the coldest weather in the UK comes from either the east or the north east, I can well believe that even when nearby Kent is getting hammered, Brighton should miss out on the white stuff.

Ah, I do miss those crisp winter mornings in Essex when the east wind is whipping in off the Russian Steppes and turning everything sparkly white

coely always gets the snow.

We had some yesterday morning, but it virtually all went by bedtime,although it did start again, so we've had another layer of snow now. I can still see the grass though.

Plenty of snow here now! Andrew's out in the back garden building a

First thing this morning there was some white on the cars and on the rooftops (nothing on the roads). However on closer inspection it became apparent that this was not snow, it was merely frost. (And it all went as soon as the sunshine hit it.)

Yes, I thought things must have got a bit colder down your way when I saw that the Bournemouth v. Barnsley match was off because of a frozen pitch. Up here in Bradford, we've had another light fall of snow this morning, but the sun's out now, so I probably won't be spared from watching Bradford v. Walsall tonight. Ah well, on with the thermals...

Trains cancelled? matches postponed? Yep, must be a dusting of snow!

The match at Bournemouth is cancelled? That's a bit of a worry. I'm heading off to St.Marys in a couple of hours time, so I'd better check that that one is still on...

There's nothing on the Saints or Blades websites about the match being cancelled, so hopefully I'm OK.


(This does bring back nasty memories of Derby away a couple of years ago and nearly )

We've been snowed in since about midday yesterday . We were planning to go to the cinema today

The snow is still here. Normally it melts when there is only this much. I'm going into work tomorrow - I was going out today, but I won't drive in snow unless I have to so I stayed in except the hour we were walking the dogs.

But Mina, snow is easy. You do everything that you would normally do, but you do it in a higher gear, and you do it gently and in plenty of time. It's simple

And I can now report that I have now had some white stuff on my car In the few hours that I left it this evening at the Southampton FC 'park and ride' facility that they've got for their away fans, it *did* acquire a covering that looked like sugar frosting. OK so 90% of it was frost rather than snow, but it's the thought that counts.


And we won one-nil...

I do know how to drive in snow - I was driving for a living for nearly ten years. I just chose not to these days. There are too many idiots who *don't* know how to drive on snow driving around out there. Especially as what we've got is now frozen snow, so it's like an ice rink out there.

This is last month's news, but it demonstrates what I mean. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4477950.stm

When I was in college about 100 miles North from here (Gulf of Mexico, Texas coast) we had a right good winter storm one year. I was determined to use that opportunity and with the help of my roommate (who got out of the car and physically acted as a bumper and kicked my car away from those stacked up like cordwood on the way out of the apartment complex) I drove my little station wagon to a nearby abandoned grocery store parking lot and practiced ice driving. I did about an hour's worth of skids, slides, spin-outs and general out of control driving in that large empty space (avoiding the light pole pylons) and taught myself how to drive on ice.

I've used what I learned that day only twice since then, but those two times made that hour the most valuable driving time I've ever had.