Weather obsessive...

You can't help but be one in this country - particularly at the moment. This is shaping up to be a crazy winter - two nasty cold snaps with lots of snow already, and we're not even in January yet. I woke up on Saturday morning to a full on snow storm and lots of snow already on the ground... A real winter wonderland.

I can't help but think about this time last year - Saturday was the day I went to Egypt - if it had been this year, I think I'd be one of those poor people stuck at Heathrow :-( . I've got friends who have had flights home for Xmas cancelled, and others stuck at the airport waiting to head off for holiday to Australia... this weather really really sucks. It may look pretty at times, but it causes so much grief for so many people.

I am just so pleased that I'm not travelling this year - my biggest hurdle is getting to and from work fortunately.

Snowy back garden

Snowy back garden, Dec 18th 2010
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Dec 18th 2010

Close up of snowy tree from my lounge window

Close up of snowy tree from my lounge window, Dec 18th 2010
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Dec 18th 2010

Just a bit of snow...

You may have seen on the news the cold snap that the UK is currently suffering from. It has been a surreal few days. Started to get really cold just before the end of November, and the first snow had fallen in November - unheard of! When I first arrived over here, it was years before we had a decent snowfall, and now we're getting them every year.

There has been lots on the news about how this is 'extraordinary circumstances' - which is what they always say - its just every year its a different circumstance. This year it is the 'third rail' apparently. Because the transport system has completely ground to a halt (again).

I did manage to get into work today, but after spending two hours getting there and two hours getting home I've decided to work from home tomorrow...

Worst thing about it (from my own selfish perspective) is that Fin is meant to arrive from Ireland tomorrow and we were all going out for drinks and dinner. Given that Gatwick has been shut for the last 3 days, I don't think its going to happen somehow :-(.

More snow - lots more this time!

More snow - lots more this time!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

So here are the results of last night's snowfall... definitely more than last time, but amazingly my trip in to work was pretty painless. And I didn't even have to fight for a seat as loads of people had elected to work from home due to the weather!

It was pretty much all gone by the time I got home tho. I'm off up to Glasgow tomorrow so am hoping for enough snow for it to be fun but not enough for me to either get stuck there or here.

Red alert!!!

Oh no - a "heavy" snowfall of 4 inches is expected tonight/early tomorrow morning so the country will grind to a complete halt. On my home from work Surbiton station had a notice up saying 'Due to heavy snowfalls forecast please check with National Rail before travelling'...

It never fails to amaze me that in this country ANY weather can disrupt the transport system - if it gets too hot the tracks buckle, if it snows the whole system just collapses, in autumn the leaves cause problem (both leaves on the line or even worse - the wrong sort of leaves on the line...).

So the big question is - will I get to work tomorrow??

View of snowy road from bedroom 24 Jan 2007

View of snowy road from bedroom 24 Jan 2007 (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

And the view over the road from my bedroom window!

Snowy back lawn 24 Jan 2007

Snowy back lawn 24 Jan 2007 (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Wow - woke up to this view from my lounge this morning - fantastic!! Until I got to the trains and cos there was 1 inch of snow the trains weren't working... Sigh!

Foggy morning from my lounge, December 2006

Foggy morning from my lounge, December 2006
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Taken from my lounge window on one of the many foggy mornings before Christmas.

Foggy London view

Foggy London view
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

London in the fog - I didn't take this! It came from the BBC website. I do have a foggy garden view which I'll upload over the weekend.

The week ahead...

Apparently is going to be above 30 degrees every day...

More sweltering London heat...

Sweltering in London

When will this heat end???

We are at "Heat Level 3" - something I hadn't heard of until Tracey told me via text, but I've since seen that it is the first time we've got to it since they brought in these heat levels a couple of years ago. So yes we are sweltering... the days are bearable - its just the evenings don't cool down at all :-(.

Still I have the day off tomorrow for Maya's birthday - many plans, but they are forecasting thundery rain so who knows what we'll end up doing...

The return of Jack Frost

Absolutely freezing here at the mo! Winter seems to have returned with a vengeance... Starting to see the snowdrops come out, the days are getting longer (it is now light when I leave work!), but the temperatures aren't rising - it was trying desperately to snow in London/Surbiton yesterday. Sadly when I got up it wasn't to a white winter wonderland - just a freezing cold winters day!!

Freezing freezing freezing cold

High of -2 today according to the Met Office.

High of 2 in London tomorrow.

High of 2 in London on Saturday.

We reach the tropical temperatures of 8 on Sunday - can't wait...

Cold snap and plumbing work - not a good mix...

Well we are in the midst of another cold snap (apparently it is freezing out today, although I haven't ventured out yet...) and Kevin is having lots of plumbing work done (new radiators installed, new boiler, radiators getting flushed through, shower installed). Which means no heating... not great timing! It was supposed to be done by Thursday, then we got back to the house on Friday and the plumbers were still here saying that there were problems getting the boiler going so it would be Monday before the work was done. So a quick jaunt was undertaken back to my flat to get my heater so we could survive over the weekend! We could have just gone back to mine, but Kev's got a much better sofa and tv - not to mention the dvd player - just what you need for a cold weekend! So with my heater in the lounge and a newly purchased fan heater being moved between the bedroom and the bathroom we are getting by. But roll on Monday (hopefully) when normal service will be resumed!! Still - at least Villa beat Hull and are through to the next round of the FA Cup so the weekend hasn't been all bad :-).

No snow

While the rest of the UK seems to be drowning under blankets of snow, sadly it has not hit Surbiton... Once we had got back to London I was quite happy for it to snow down here but it seems to have missed us :-(. And now it is raining so that will be it until the next cold snap. Sigh - I do love it when it snows!