Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 March 2018 - Severe weather - advice not to travel

[whole diary]

[stuving]

How much snow does it take to not stop a train? One answer to that is provided by the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) requirement:

TS1845 The IEP Trains must maintain Full Functionality during and after running through snow up to a depth of (above rail level):

• 200mm; continuous operation with no speed restriction; and
  
• 300mm; continuous operation is required but reduced speeds are permitted.

My reaction when I first saw that was "really?" That's a lot of snow to squash under the front wheels and push aside, and that has to happen very quickly. I'm not sure that's physically possible, though snow is tricky stuff as its behaviour depends a lot on temperature (among other factors).

And then there's drifts - before deciding trains can run at speed X with snow depth Y, for any Y and for X faster than very slow,  you need to know Y over the whole route - any hint of drifting and all bets are off. So that may be of no practical use anyway.

Of course what trains can do is only half the problem (or the answer), there is also the effect of removing the staff who used to look after points and report conditions, before replacing them completely with new systems (fancy or just plain effective).

But, really, did trains even run through that much snow at full speed - meaning eight inches plus the height to rail head?

[Worcester_Passenger]

Unless my ears are deceiving me the snow isn't forecast to hit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land till this evening so why are services being cancelled as early as 08:10. Me thinks to myself and thinks the flying pigs have crashed and the resultant carcasses have been turned into pork pies and to feed to customers.

Normal pigs are incapable of level flight.
The flying pigs are genetically modified, are NOT approved for human consumption, and the carcasses of crashed flying pigs must therefore be either used as pet food or be disposed off.

If a flying pig crashes into the OHLE I suspect that it would make a bigger explosion than a pigeon.

That might explain why the Great Western OHLE is so over-engineered - it needs to be able to survive flying pig crashes.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

'Mini Beast from the East' brings snow and ice to parts of UK^▸ (United Kingdom)

Snow and ice has gripped parts of the UK as a cold snap dubbed the "mini beast from the east" sweeps in.

Parts of eastern England and Scotland have already seen snow, with more expected in the Midlands and Wales.

More than 100 flights to and from Heathrow Airport have been cancelled and drivers are warned to take care.

Amber warnings of a possible risk to life affect north-west England, Yorkshire, the Midlands, London and south-east England from the afternoon.

Met Office yellow "be aware" warnings are also in place across much of the UK until Sunday.

The heaviest snow showers have affected north-east England into the North Midlands, as well as parts of southern England - including Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.

Temperatures dipped to a low of -3.2C in Loftus, North Yorkshire, during the afternoon.

But strong winds made temperatures feel as cold as -7C or -8C for some.

Gusts of up to 70mph are expected in northern England and parts of Wales, forecasters say.

The Met Office said: "Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers. And some delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are likely."

The cancellations at Heathrow have mostly affected short-haul routes, although BA^» (British Airways - about) services to New York and Chicago have been disrupted.

A BA spokesman said: "During cold weather conditions aircraft have to be de-iced prior to departure to ensure that they are safe, and additional measures are being taken to ensure the safety of our operation is maintained at all times."

Other cancelled flights from Heathrow include services from Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, TAP Air Portugal and KLM^▸ (English name: Royal Dutch Airlines ).

About 15,000 passengers have been affected by the disruption, according to the Independent's travel editor Simon Calder.

He told the BBC: "If you're booked to travel tomorrow, don't be too surprised if you get a text or an email later saying, 'by the way, we've rebooked you on a different flight'."

The Heathrow Express service between London Paddington and the airport has also been disrupted. Trains have been running once every 30 minutes in either direction. This service will continue throughout Saturday evening, according to National Rail.

There have been no severe disruptions at Gatwick Airport, however passengers are advised to check their journeys before travelling.

National Rail has advised passengers to check for service disruptions before travelling.

Great Western Railway services between Newbury in Berkshire and Bedwyn, Wiltshire and between Westbury and Chippenham are disrupted.

Great Northern said up to 8cm of snow could fall on its network from the evening and warned services could be cancelled at short notice.

[martyjon]

Weather Report from Yate.

Sprinkling of snow on my back garden, enough to cover the patio slabs but not enough to hide the joints between the slabs but probably enough to keep HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s and IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)'s in their depots but a Pacer should be able to make it out OK with those little blades they laughingly refer to as snow ploughs attached to the wheelsets underneath the driving cabs which are absolutely useless in 2mm of snow anyway.

[froome]

It has been snowing quite hard in Bath for a while now. Predictions are for up to 25cm on south-west's moors. I would assume nothing much will be moving today. Probably best to stay in bed. 

[grahame]

It has been snowing quite hard in Bath for a while now. Predictions are for up to 25cm on south-west's moors. I would assume nothing much will be moving today. Probably best to stay in bed. 

Sounds like it makes sense to "travel only if you have to" today and have a "Key route strategy" operating.

Weather in Melksham?   Contrast a picture taken at 17:30 last night and one from 07:00 this morning:

[TaplowGreen]

......any chance of you recreating the scene with dog & laptop this morning? 🙂

[martyjon]

Begun to snow quite heavily in Yate now, must've moved north from Bath.

[Thatcham Crossing]

Just stopped falling here in West Berks, but at least 10-12cm's lying, maybe a bit more.

More than we had in this area a few weeks ago.

[grahame]

......any chance of you recreating the scene with dog & laptop this morning? 🙂

Done.

No photo though - no-one around to take the picture.

[grahame]

There was considerable disquiet yesterday at the decision to close the TransWilts due to "severe weather" when there was no severe weather to be seen ... and with that closure coming after a week in which performance was awful on trains and buses already scheduled on a poorer service than normal, with people on some journeys asked to pay more, there was considerable negative feedback.

My comments / thoughts at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19504 which is in a "TransWilts Member" area.  It is not a high volume area of the forum, but it does allow the separation of some material from the main board for people who prefer not to read yet more about our particular line ... and it avoids a negative day being indexed by the search engines and highlighted as a problem to casual visitors for years to come.

Should members who are not in the TransWilts Member area wish to join it, please like this thread or send me a personal message - all welcome.

[4064ReadingAbbey]

Just stopped falling here in West Berks, but at least 10-12cm's lying, maybe a bit more.

More than we had in this area a few weeks ago.

Enough in Reading to cause the Half Marathon to be cancelled. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-43447929

[martyjon]

Just stopped falling here in West Berks, but at least 10-12cm's lying, maybe a bit more.

More than we had in this area a few weeks ago.

Enough in Reading to cause the Half Marathon to be cancelled. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-43447929

Weston-Super-Mares also.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Travel warnings as snow and ice hit UK^▸ (United Kingdom)

Snow and ice are causing further disruption to road, rail and air travel in parts of the UK.

A Met Office amber warning of a possible risk to life because of snow is in place in south-west England until the early hours of Monday morning.

Airports have been shut and several sporting events have been cancelled, including the Reading half-marathon, while some roads are impassable.

In Devon, dozens of schools will be closed on Monday due to heavy snow.  BBC Weather's Sarah Ransome says despite having gritters out relentlessly, Devon is still covered in "a very heavy dump of snow".

All Flybe-operated flights departing from Exeter Airport have been cancelled for the rest of the day, while snowfall caused the temporary closure of Bristol airport on Sunday morning.

Other airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton, have urged passengers to check flight information before travelling.

Snow and ice have also led to road closures and vehicles being abandoned, with police warning motorists to avoid certain routes.

Two multi-vehicle crashes have caused long delays on the A30 around Okehampton and Whiddon Down in Devon. Emergency services were unable to get to the scene as a lorry was blocking the road.

Officers from Lincolnshire Police spent seven hours digging out 35 stranded vehicles after they became stuck in snow drifts on the A158 near Edlington overnight.

BBC Weather's Billy Payne said ice was an increasing risk as freezing temperatures hit damp surfaces where snow had been compacted underfoot and under tyres.

And Richard Leonard, Highways England's head of road safety, said that while gritters would be treating the roads, it was "important to drive to the conditions when snow is forecast".

Meanwhile, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and Great Northern Rail have all reported delays and cancellations.  Customers are encouraged to check National Rail Enquiries before leaving home.

Among other transport disruption caused by snow and ice:
- Bus Company First South Yorkshire has cancelled a number of services across the region, with Sheffield badly affected
- The Heathrow Express is operating a reduced service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport
- There are delays on the Severn Bridge as high winds have caused the closure of a lane
- South Western Railway warned freezing temperatures were causing numerous points failures, including at Eastleigh and Aldershot
- Some rail replacement buses around Manchester have been unable to run
- Cheshire Police warned there was "no route to safely cross the Pennines into Cheshire"
- Other roads blocked by snow or stranded vehicles included the A54, A537 Cat and Fiddle and B5470, the A38 northbound between Birmingham and Burton, the A3 southbound at Thursley, and the A331 Blackwater Valley Relief road

In Cumbria, mountain rescue teams were called to help 15 people stuck in a cafe near Kirkby Stephen, and an ambulance that could not reach patients in Langdale.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-Welsh Cup final is just one of a number of sporting events and fixtures postponed due to the weather.

The City of Lincoln 10km and Shrewsbury 10km run were called off, as were half-marathons in Wigan and Wilmslow.

However, about 100 runners held their own unofficial half-marathon in Reading, despite the snow.

There was no horse racing in Britain as both Carlisle and Ffos Las abandoned events due to the weather.

And in football, Derby's Championship match against Cardiff was postponed.  The surrounding areas of Pride Park have been left in an unsafe condition following heavy overnight snowfall, officials said.

In West Yorkshire, BBC Look North's Sport Relief "Big 50 Sofa Challenge" was also postponed.  Presenters of the regional TV news programme were due to push a red sofa 10 miles from Bradford to Haworth, but organisers called it off due to "treacherous" conditions.

Six Nations champions Ireland, meanwhile, cancelled their homecoming "due to heavy snowfall".

The wintry snap dubbed the "mini beast from the east" brought the heaviest snow showers on Saturday to north-east England and the North Midlands, as well as parts of southern England - including Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.

A cold spell nicknamed "the Beast from the East" saw much of the UK and Europe blanketed in snow at the start the month.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From your local reporter on the ground: Nailsea is getting more snow now, with outside temperature at minus three degrees.