jameshurrell.co.uk

7 INCHES OF SNOW TO PARALYSE UK - from the Daily Express 07/02/07

“BRITAIN is on full alert for blizzards to dump up to seven inches of snow and plunge much of the country into chaos.

The potential danger to life is so severe that the Government body which oversees control of emergencies such as major outbreaks of disease is monitoring the threat.

The Met Office yesterday forecast that snow and temperatures as low as minus 10C will sweep across the country from Cardigan Bay in the west to East Anglia, affecting millions of homes.

The transport system is likely to be brought to a halt as experts predicted it will be the most severe weather since the devastating January storms which killed 21 people – and it is set to be the heaviest snowfall London has seen in years.”

If your sides haven’t split with laughter and you want to read the end of this article you can find it in all its glory here.

So what did happen you might ask? Well, for us, today brought about 4cm (if you are optimistic) of snow on and off throughout the day, with drifts to 6cm in some places! At one point during the day, it was so bad I thought I might have to call the emergency services because the temperature had plummeted to 14C in the hallway! I even had to put on another jumper because I felt slightly chilly.

Here are some pictures from home to prove how bad it was:

In the end (as you may have guessed) I was quite disappointed (that’s an understatement) about the small amount of snow we had here. I think having grown up in the eighties and early nineties when heavy-ish falls of snow were more common (yes I know, not quite like the winters of 1947 and 1962/63) and days off school were spent sledging with poly bags on the Batchcott Hills, I was kind of hoping for similar - plus hysterical newspaper articles like the one above do nothing to stop me dreaming of 29ft drifts and snow for months on end.

Anyway, what did fall was wonderful and gave me that spark of excitement in the morning when I drew the curtains back… it also made me want to get out in it before it all melted - and that I did and it felt great!

P.S. For anyone (like me) who can’t remember what real snow looks like, see the photos here.