So this is what it feels like to live inside a snow globe? All covered in white and for many of us, trapped in our own homes until the snowfall subsides.
While children and adults pretending to be children are making the most out of the white stuff, a large amount of others have had to reschedule major plans because of it. What’s more, according to experts and meteorologists we need to start getting used to harsh winters like this as they are probably going to stick around for the long term, perhaps for even up to a century.
After the ridiculous snowfall from earlier on this year now fresh in the memory, should the country now focus on being better equipped to cope with this kind of weather next time it strikes? For example, Northern Ireland has recorded it’s lowest ever temperature at -18°C, while also describing it’s road network as the worst it’s ever been. With trends like this happening all over the UK, and with grit supplies struggling to cope with the sheer demand, what changes need to be made to make our daily lives fit in with the snow?
Only to a certain extent can we anticipate heavy snowfall, although in the future when there will be more advanced technology to hand then weather further down the line can be predicted with greater ease. Studded tyres have also been seen as a solution, but right now we get nowhere near enough days of snow to warrant this. Plus, with the weather becoming more erratic due to the forces of global warming and climate change, there is no guarantee we will be able to spot extreme conditions heading our way.
Not only does the snow affect transport network, but also it has hit consumer trade across the country. On a personal level I have noticed this dramatically in the local supermarket that I work in, where one day it will be heaving with panic buyers who purchase as if it’s the next ice age, and then the next day the shopfloor will be as quiet as a library. The severe conditions seem to do strange things to us, we worry about how long it’s going to last and the implications it will have, but once it all melts away we wonder what all the fuss was about.
Herefordshire and Worcestershire have also been hit badly, losing £15 to £20 million in lost business, where shoppers have decided against venturing out to shopping centres and main streets. With the snow continuing to fall, even heavier in places such as Wales, this bad spell will only continue for some economies. Not only that, but airports have also had to close, spoiling many people’s Christmases, and also losing trade in the form of tourists coming to stay in places like London for the seasonal period.
Maybe we get frustrated because snow appears to be such a simple obstacle that we struggle to get past, yet every time it falls in vast quantities it grinds the country to a sudden halt. Countries like Canada and Sweden must be laughing at the UK right now, as they have to deal with much heavier snow for around six months in a row. Maybe we need to borrow some ideas from them, or even just a snow plough or three, especially if we are to have a climate similar to that of Canada’s, which is what has been predicted by 2050.
It also seems that even when we over compensate ourselves for protection against the snow, nature still prevails. Nottinghamshire County Council has just ordered 5,000 extra tonnes of grit, having already gone through three quarters of its original stockpile for the whole of winter. What’s more is that the original amount of 14,600 tonnes was actually four times the quantity that was considered sufficient to cover the snowfall expected this winter. So even if we try and play safe by arranging extra stock just for security, it just shows that we can’t, and may never, be able to properly estimate how thick and fast the snow will fall.
So will we ever be able to tackle the snow properly, so much so it doesn’t impede on our lives? The clear answer at this moment in time is a definite no, and for the foreseeable future I can’t see us being able to anticipate the snow well enough not to disturb our daily lives. Maybe one day it will happen, but for now we will possibly have to contend with sledging to work, building our next best friend out of snow, or even going camping in an igloo.
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