[Archived] The Weather

[cletus]

DArwen tower made the news in America .my mum rang from az .

Was that not Azlingden?

[ABBEY]

Arizona ha

[dr_awol]

crazy weather today.

crazy 24hrs

snowing all-day, last night between snow showers we got hailstones the size of golf balls(having a skylight has never been a scary :-) ) and this morning there been snow with thunder and lighting at the same time, dident even know you can have that

Edited November 28, 2010 by dr_awol

[cletus]

It was minus 10 in Blackburn last Thurs or Fri morning & minus 7 yesterday morning (both around 5.30am) very unusual for this part of the world.

tbh, east Lancs has gotten off lightly with the snow so far. Parts of central Scotland & North East England have recorded over a metre of snow in the last fortnight. I even saw a geordie on the news saying he might have to put a jumper on!

[Ozz]

I've just had a phone call from a distribution company we work with, and they say that DPD couriers are not committing to guarantee shipments to Scotland and NE England before Christmas.

Is it really that bad up there?

[Aberdeen Blue]

I've just had a phone call from a distribution company we work with, and they say that DPD couriers are not committing to guarantee shipments to Scotland and NE England before Christmas.

Is it really that bad up there?

Not that bad right now as we have had a warm spell but expected to turn nasty again from tonight onwards throught the weekend.

I think everyone is over reacting a little as the authorities got a hounding over the situation of the past couple of weeks. We are pretty well prepared in the frozen north but the central belt certainly did not handle it very well.

Hope it buggers off by early next week as I have to drive down to Warrington to pick up the wifes new car and hope to get back home for Christmas!!

[Tom]

Got to love the news, if there's snow up north it may be a footnote, any snow darn Lahndan it's main headline news and the country is in panic

[Paul]

Did anyone else notice how incredibly bright it was last night? About 10.30pm it was almost like day and when I got up this morning, 5ish, the light was possibly even brighter.

I went out hoping to see the eclipse but we have a cloudy sky though I could see the clouds in the West had a strange pinkish hue to them. I imagine this must be related to the eclipse as it's the wrong place for sunrise.

[Flopsy]

Sorry, might rant a bit.

THE ROAD CHAIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, IT'S THE FAULT OF MORONIC DRIVERS WHO OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE ON HOW TO DRIVE IN EVEN THE LIGHTEST SNOW!!

Drive sensibly, leave space between you & the next car, conserve momentum so you can get up hills BY NOT DRIVING AT 5MPH DOWN A STRAIGHT CLEAR ROAD. Start in 2nd & use your clutch, not start in 1st & rev the crap out of it, if you see vehicles stuck in front of you blocking the road, get out of your car & give em a fecking push, they don't usually need much to get going.

Also grit works by traffic mixing it up into the snow, it won't work if you've blocked traffic because you're a moron.

Stop trying to blame others for your inadequate driving skills.

And yes I was stuck without moving for 3 hours on Saturday because of the above issues

[roversmum]

Here is a further rant about the snow.

We live at the bottom of a close of twenty houses. I went round with a note for each asking if they could possibly clear snow from the road in front of their properties. There is a large grit bin fairly close by which has just been refilled with grit.

Result? About two have cleared a little of the snow by their properties. I have been out again today trying to grit the worst bits.

My grandfather, at the age of 82, thought nothing of clearing his drive, the pavement in front of his house and the neighbours, and the road in front of it. Can't believe that today's people, cannot be bothered to help their neighbours by doing a bit of snow shifting. Of course, will excuse those who have back problems/headaches/runny noses - and I am well aware that there are some decent folks out there who genuinely have health problems that would prevent them from clearing snow.

But, really ...

[cletus]

Here is a further rant about the snow.

We live at the bottom of a close of twenty houses. I went round with a note for each asking if they could possibly clear snow from the road in front of their properties. There is a large grit bin fairly close by which has just been refilled with grit.

Result? About two have cleared a little of the snow by their properties. I have been out again today trying to grit the worst bits.

My grandfather, at the age of 82, thought nothing of clearing his drive, the pavement in front of his house and the neighbours, and the road in front of it. Can't believe that today's people, cannot be bothered to help their neighbours by doing a bit of snow shifting. Of course, will excuse those who have back problems/headaches/runny noses - and I am well aware that there are some decent folks out there who genuinely have health problems that would prevent them from clearing snow.

But, really ...

When i was a kid (some say i still am ) after a heavy snowfall, myself & the other kids on our street knocked on all the doors asking if they wanted their paths clearing of snow. When they said "ooh yes please!" we then hit them with "give us a quid & we`ll do it." Suprisingly quite a few of the grown ups agreed to the business transaction. They were happy & we earned about £10-15. That bought a LOT of sweets in those days.

Why not ask the local kids to do something similar?

[roversmum]

like that idea. Unfortunately they're all indoors with their xboxes etc these days, haven't seen one round here for weeks, nay, months ...

[Alan75]

It was so cold last night, that the condensate discharge pipe on my boiler froze.

Ive had to dismantle the pipework and remove the build up of ice from the pipe, in order to get the boiler started.

Anyone else experienced this problem on a condensate boiler.

[Neil Weaver]

It was so cold last night, that the condensate discharge pipe on my boiler froze.

Ive had to dismantle the pipework and remove the build up of ice from the pipe, in order to get the boiler started.

Anyone else experienced this problem on a condensate boiler.

I haven't Alan, but have heard of a few folk who've had exactly the same problem with their condensing boilers. Quite a few of my place's external waste pipes have frozen over the past week or two (despite them getting sun during the day) - I suspect plumbers are going to be very busy (and rich) in the New Year.

[Quack]

We had the same problem last winter - British Gas wanted £200 to fit a heater to the condenser outlet - when it freezes I just let the water drip into a bucket, takes a couple of days befire it needs emptying.

[Paul]

Anyone else experienced this problem on a condensate boiler./>

Apparently this is the No.1 reason for boiler failure during the cold period. British Gas guy who visited us about two weeks ago on an unrelated matter advised pouring a kettle of boiling water over it once a day.

I tried to buy some lagging but there'n none to be had anywhere in Chorley.

[Alan75]

Apparently this is the No.1 reason for boiler failure during the cold period. British Gas guy who visited us about two weeks ago on an unrelated matter advised pouring a kettle of boiling water over it once a day.

I tried to buy some lagging but there'n none to be had anywhere in Chorley.

Well my method of resolving the problem.

(Dont try this at home children, unless you are confident of your DIY ability)

Cut and Remove the 20mm upvc consensate overflow on the outside of the property, leave about 150mm where it exits the house.

Replace with a 40mm upvc waste pipe and fit a 20/40mm rubber reducer into the 40mm waste pipe.

Slide the 20mm overflow into the 40mm waste and secure the 40mm waste to your external wall.

Use push fit, fittings- this allows you to slide the pipe apart if it still frezes, allowing you to pour a kettle of boiling water down the pipe.

Wrap the exposed pipe with lagging if you can get it. Still available in Morecambe on Christmas Eve 33

[cletus]

So far this cold period, i`ve had my cold water 'in' pipe freeze up near the stop cock. A small oil radiator placed next to it soon solved that problem. Also the waste water pipe from my bath has been backing up almost every day. I`m sure it`s water freezing along the pipe, cos after a few hours with the sun on it, it unblocks itself....then re-blocks in the evening. I`ve been told a hairdryer might do the trick, but i`d have to dismantle the sides of the bath to get to the pipe

[Paul]

This morning is the third day we have had a slight thaw, not much but noticeable. A lot of snowing drip at the moment but we also have rain and wet snow falling.

[Al]

This morning is the third day we have had a slight thaw, not much but noticeable. A lot of snowing drip at the moment but we also have rain and wet snow falling.

There's at least 6" of snow fallen this morning in Baxenden so I still can't take my car out with a reasonable chance of getting it back to my drive.

Looks like something out of the freezer today.

[Claytons Left Boot]

It was so cold last night, that the condensate discharge pipe on my boiler froze.

Ive had to dismantle the pipework and remove the build up of ice from the pipe, in order to get the boiler started.

Anyone else experienced this problem on a condensate boiler.

I've been pouring several kettle loads of boiling water on ours for a good week now. Three times a day some days. Our boiler is upstairs, so the pipe starts high up and I've been on a pair of stepladders. If the pipe was at head height it wouldn't be too bad but at least it's stopping any possible burst pipes inside and the obvious upheavel that would cause.

Anyway, despite more snow last night and this morning, the temperature is now about plus one and there are signs of a slight thaw.

Been on the moors this morning with the dog and it was blowing a gale and absolutely bitter.

[beerwins]

There's at least 6" of snow fallen this morning in Baxenden so I still can't take my car out with a reasonable chance of getting it back to my drive.

Looks like something out of the freezer today.

I picked somebody up from the airport at 5.30 am and decided to go through Baxenden rather than motorway, it was amazing to see how much snow had fallen in Baxenden only to see it vanish in Accrington.

The roads were tricky as hell, I was sliding all over the shop.

[Al]

I picked somebody up from the airport at 5.30 am and decided to go through Baxenden rather than motorway, it was amazing to see how much snow had fallen in Baxenden only to see it vanish in Accrington.

The roads were tricky as hell, I was sliding all over the shop.

Yep. Bash is a top coat colder than Accrington, the snow is always deeper and the fog is always thicker. It's the elevation that does it, however in summer the sun is always warmer and it's a pleasant place to live with pleasant people and I love it.

[adopted scouser]

Melting in Altrincham, thankfully.

[American Rover12]

Got over 3 feet of snow here last night/today. Shoveling all that was not fun at all.