 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Shimmy Alcott, Dont know where you are but you could try going the A71 to edinburgh then the A1. Last night I came that way from edinburgh. A71 then up to east kilbride via strathaven then M77-M8 for the ewst end. 4 hours.
I have a slightly different take on people in their cars with kids in the coldest december for years. No blankets, no food, and no winter tyres. Madness.
I have winter tyres, I keep a sleeping bag in the car. I also have a bag of food and water that I keep unopened.
They wouldn't send their kids to school in slippy shoes but they will drive them with slippy tyres.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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glasgowcyclops, your right to be prepared but I bet you if you did a survey in Glasgow today, 90% plus would never even have heard of winter tyres?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| boabski wrote: |
| Grit/salt does not really have any effect on that in our experience from Xmas last year |
All that red salt/grit they use does is melt the surface a wee bit and then make it worse when it freezes, no wonder you never see it being used in the Alps.
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Well - we were prepared. Loads of warm clothes, shovel, biccies, drinks, nuts, torch, rapid ice melt grit stuff, loads of screen wash. Not one bit of bloody use if the entire city and the roads in and out of it are completely gridlocked. The roads are a mess in Glasgow and even on the way up they were the worst - that's for the whole trip from South Cheshire to Aviemore. How come all the little roads coped but the city ones failed? Saw loads of ploughs further North, nothing here. We're going to head off in an hour, after some lunch. Wish us luck! 
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| Quote: |
Sadly the roads are going to take a while to recover due to the compacted snow/ice. Grit/salt does not really have any effect on that in our experience from Xmas last year
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Its great stuff - brilliant to xc ski on as long as its not too polished. All the back roads around me are like that. No problems driving on it either for me with winter tyres, or the other locals in 4x4s and tractors. The roads are beeing ploughed as needed by the farmers (presumably on contract) and the council have grited the minor road outside my house at least once (with grit not salt) which was good for tyre grip if not for the skiing.
The slightly more major B road in to Aberdeen is also beeing ploughed and gritted regularly and is in reasonable nick and I've been impressed with how well Aberdeen City council has been coping.
Mind you I've been driving into work really early to avoid the traffic, as most of the problems are caused by too many vehicles on the road, with innappropriate equipment and driven by idiots.
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M74 partially blocked J5 to J8 - looking good after that.
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brian
brian
Guest
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Shimmy Alcott, M74 still looks pretty jammed. I would take the M77 out of Glasgow, then the Glasgow southern orbital road just past Newton Mearns and over to Strathaven (pronounced Straven) and join the M74 after the jam. Google maps traffic updates seem to be on the money, not sure how they get their data?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Shimmy Alcott, as brian, suggested from the AA site routeplanner
type in glasgow to carlisle via click "Add"
M77 Newton Mearns Southbound, Glasgow
Click Add
Strathaven and you have the best route or go the whole way fro
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You know it makes sense.
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We are home. Probably only took us an hour and half to clear the real trouble. Amazing scenes. Cars not just abandoned on the hard shoulder but just abandoned in the middle of the road - on a motorway!!! We passed hundreds of cars that had just been left - and were still there 24 hours after the event. Saw an army bomb disposal unit trying to pull one lorry out of bother. Having driven from so far North to so far South it was amazing how the snow was SO concentrated in Glasgow. Freak blizzard it was, for sure.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Glad you got home at last and hopefully it didn't spoil the trip too much!
Have a decent rest tonight - you deserve it!
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Poster: A snowHead
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roga, a proper adventure! Other than the four hours stuck in Glasgow the journey was beautiful. Need to also thank the staff at the Premier Inn at the start of the M74, and the pub next door - the Orion Inn...such lovely people. Tea, toast, blankets and a room for a few hours and they wouldnt take a penny. Letters of thanks will be going out this week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Shimmy Alcott, good to hear that human kindness to strangers still exists. 
glad you all made it home safe.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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right lets get things clear, it wont make any difference if you are all prepaired or not as if it's total gridlock of nose to tail you cant move. We set of from North wales with snow chains, shovel, sleeping bags etc etc we were stuck for over 4hrs and going no wear. In the end we managed to get back south bound on the M80 and then onto the M74 and made it home, after being stuck in single lane gridlock north bound for over 4hrs. No matter how prepaired you are when its gridlocked you are going noware as you have noware to go winter tyers or not.
we were heading to aviemore, hence having all the gear of snowchains, sleeping bags, shovel etc just in case. Expected to use them maybe in the highlands but not on the motor ways of Glasgow. Cant see people going to work in a city centre taking all the gear with them that they would expect to take with them for a trip into the mountains...........do you honestly expect them to carry all this stuff when they were in a major UK city just going to work or dropping the kids of to school etc???
The roads were all drivable with care and good/common sense driving skills, sadly you did see folk that did not have a clue making it worse for everyones else. We made it all the way back down the M80 southbound and onto the M74 with out the need to use the chains or anything else (i was not using winter tyres) passing jack knifed lorrys along the way. (this was at about 1pm, wwe had been stuck north bound since about 8:40am)
Jack knifed lorrys are the main problem on the motorways, when they block the road your all fecked, ploughs cant get through, 4x4s cant get through neither can the odd driver with winter tyres or chains on. The only way i see can make a difference is winter tyres mandatory on all vechicles from November to April. Perhaps then then lorrys etc wont jack knife all over the place blocking everything up. And the cars with winter tyers fitted will make up for lack of driving skill with idiots who dont know how to drive properly in snow and ice.
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| Quote: |
it wont make any difference if you are all prepaired or not as if it's total gridlock of nose to tail you cant move.
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on the contrary, if you are stuck, as some people were, for many hours then preparedness is of the essence.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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pam w, I live only eight minutes from the A80, one of the roads badly affected. Listen to what others are saying and appreciate the local point of view. You do not live up here and don't understand the road. If you live where I do and had wanted to go to a town nearby here for a spot of shopping and therefore with no intention of using the motorway, you would have got stuck in the associated gridlock, pure and simple. I very much doubt you would have had all your survival kit for a ten minute journey max. Would you seriously have taken a flask for a ten minute journey? Yesterday was totally and utterly freak. My neighbour left her house around 7am and it had wasn't snowing. By lunchtime we had six inches. The BBC forecast online on Sunday night said heavy snow from 3am. It didn't start until around 7:30am, when people were already on their way on a Monday morning.
At the end of the day, a warm flask won't be warm after 19 hours of being stuck which is what happened to a friend of a friend yesterday.
Shimmy Alcott, glad you had a superb trip though, even if it was a bit of an adventure!
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| Quote: |
My neighbour left her house around 7am and it had wasn't snowing.
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the Met office was showing severe weather warnings by that time - I noted them in passing as I checked our own. And you are in the midst of several weeks of freakily cold weather. And no, I wouldn't have a flask, but my car (in Hampshire!) has a bag of assorted tatty old hats, scarves, gloves etc, bottled water, muesli bars and chocolate. The food is permanent. Plus some cash. when the kids were small it was called the "Car Emergency" box and they were always asking "is this a 'mergency?" when they wanted chocolate (it usually wasn't). It's partly a habit, having a diabetic husband and having lived quite a long time in places where you expect to have to look after yourself if you have a puncture, or a breakdown and now spending winters in the Alps. When the kids were little the 'Mergency kit included a couple of jars of Heinz slosh. No, I don't live there (though I have in the past and spent the entire winters driving over Eaglesham moor twice a day with the necessary) but no way, in the weather you've been having up there, does it make sense to take a small baby out without a decent stock of food - which at that age means a ready made milk carton and a bottle, a couple of pouches of food and a spoon. Couple of nappies. Not rocket science. No excuses.
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pam w, I really think you need to admit defeat on this one. I'm sure if we all had diabetic Oh's then we too would all have a stock of snacks and drinks with us at all times. We dont. In my lifetime I have never been caught out like this - and I have driven on snow for months on end including driving from near Detroit to Chicago through a blizzard. No matter how prepared you were you were fooked in this situation. I have no idea why you are trying to insist that innocents caught up in this mess only have themselves to blame. (As noted before - I was fully stocked up and prepared as we were on a long journey - preparation was no help, couldnt really drink as there was no where to pee).
Yesterday lunch time, just before setting off, we popped over to the service station to stock up on drinks and snacks. The fridges and shelves were virtually bare - as if it had been hit by a plague of locusts. This was not from panic buying - this was just because of the sheer number of people stuck in one place for such a long time with no supplies coming in. There were no newspapers. We went to two petrol stations without fuel. Staff were working two days in a row as no new staff could get in and old staff couldnt get out. We went to KFC as the pub couldnt serve food due to lack of staff and supplies. KFC only had fries, popcorn chicken and chicken strips left - their stock had been wiped out in one day!
Now, as you were no where near the place when this occured I think you need to stop thinking as yourself as the font of knowledge on this freak happening.
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| Quote: |
I have no idea why you are trying to insist that innocents caught up in this mess only have themselves to blame.
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When did I say that?
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I like pam w, but I like Shimmy Alcott, . There's only one way to solve this ---- FIGHT (in true Harry Hill style)
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Shimmy Alcott, most people in the South side don't need a 'place to pee' so you'd have been fine if you'd wanted some juice 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No, I don't admit defeat, and you are putting words in my mouth. Just looked back - what I said was "anybody in a car with a small child, in current conditions, without supplies, is, frankly, a numpty."
I remain of that view. Diabetic husbands, small kids, frail and elderly - if you're responsible for them, you should make sensible plans. Scotland is in the midst of one of the worst spells of weather and road disruption that they've had for many years - and that was the case long before the most recent, freak, series of events. But maybe someone 8 months pregnant with a 12 month old baby is not the world's best planner?
Your post, to which I was responding, said it was a "disgrace" that the authorities had allowed such chaos. Now you are telling me that nobody could possibly have foreseen that they might get stuck for hours in a blizzard. Make up your mind.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Quote: |
most people in the South side don't need a 'place to pee' so you'd have been fine if you'd wanted some juice
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You know it makes sense.
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If I was stuck in a car for hours and hours, even without small kids, a place to pee would be the last of my worries.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w wrote
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Your post, to which I was responding, said it was a "disgrace" that the authorities had allowed such chaos. Now you are telling me that nobody could possibly have foreseen that they might get stuck for hours in a blizzard. Make up your mind.
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pam w, The worst snow we hit on our route up to Aviemore was through Glasgow - it wasnt new snow - it was old snow that hadnt been cleared. We drove hundreds of miles and it was those few miles through Glasgow that were the worst. Fact. All the other local authorities had managed to clear the snow. Glasgow hadnt.
When the blizzard hit the authorities were slow to react. In the four hours that ph and I were driving through Glasgow we didnt see ONE police car or police man/woman. The motorway entries should have been closed, so that the number of people actually stuck on the motorways did not get so great. Once on the Motorway there was no where to go.
36 hours after the snow - the M74 was still covered in snow. Just one lane had been ploughed through by cars (this was not a clear lane - just two narrow rows where tyres had ploughed through to the road surface). THIS WAS 36 HOURS AFTER THE SNOW ON A MOTORWAY OUT OF A MAJOR CITY. Do you honestly think the authorities handled this situation well?
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brian
brian
Guest
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Shimmy Alcott, to be fair it was a pretty unique set of circumstances: a clear night that would've got the road temperatures well below the level at which grit/salt will work, followed by very heavy, wet snow that froze onto the cold surface as it fell. That sent the lorries jacknifing all over the place and simultaneously paralysed the M8/M9/M80/M73/M74, ie. practically all of Scotland's main motorway network. Plus it was rush hour and the previous night's forecast had said patchy, light snow that should've cleared its way through to the South before daybreak!
Scotland is well prepared for a few light snowfalls a year that don't last that long. We laugh smugly when the English can't cope with even a cm or 2. We have just had getting on for 2 weeks of Scandinavian style conditions and the boot is well and truly on the other foot!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'm sure it would be even worse if we get Scandinavian style conditions down here, because the traffic is so much heavier. I shan't be going anywhere if that happens.
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brian, I understand that - but for them not to have cleared one lane with a plough on each of those roads in 36 hours? We drove the worst in an hour and a half so a plough could surely do it in half that time? Beyond J8 on the M74 the conditions were much better and reasonably easy to drive. North of Glasgow we saw numerous ploughs - but none in Glasgow.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Shimmy Alcott, you can never move along the M8 in Glasgow during rush hour, snow or no snow.
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HGVs are prohibited throughout the Alps on busy Saturdays. I've heard announcements about "lock ups" for HGVs on 107.7 when driving through France - it does sound like something which should be tried in this country too. Along, perhaps, with sterner warnings about non-essential travel and closing roads pre-emptively so they can be ploughed and cleared without masses of obstructions.
Trucks do seem to be particularly bad at snowy weather - even very tiny gradients can defeat them. I drove off an autoroute once, as conditions were getting a bit slippery and snowy. It hadn't prevented the usual suspects continuing to drive at 70 mph so I decided to get off into a service area and sit it out till conditions were safer. One of those with a hotel, in case it didn't improve - near Bourg en Bresse I think. I drove off the slip road behind a big truck which lost traction and slid gently sideways. I had visions of being stuck behind it but he regained control and got out of the way - it was just a tiny incline.
The best behaved place I've come across in bad weather is the USA. I once drove from Boston to Chicago - 3 of us driving 2 cars - in very bad weather. There was just one lane of the turnpike ploughed and everyone drove along it, hour after hour after hour, at 40 - 50 mph, very well spaced out. Nobody tried overtaking up the snowy lane, nobody tailgated. We arrived at 4 am after a surprisingly relaxed - even quite enjoyable - trip.
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ah yes Thanks pam w, for reminding me, the majority of those HGV's pictured above were not UK registered, so blaming the drivers for not understanding the conditions is a bit difficult!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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HGVs can be a pain in the butt at the best of times IMHO!
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FAQ
) and then about the skiing there and is now about the journey back. Bit of an epic eh lol!
so looking good for cold (rather like last season!).
