Obligatory snow photo

First snow we've seen here for about two years:

At last, a bit of sensible advice from the Beeb.

Franklin considers snow shovelling to be so dangerous that he advises anyone over the age of 55 not to do it.

Let's factor in a margin of safety and reduce that age limit to 25 or something, you never know. Better safe than sorry.

Sorted.

"Sorry I couldn't make it into work, but the car was snowed in and I didn't want to risk a heart attack."

With a bit of luck, that'll get you out of some forced Xmas shopping trips/picking up relatives trips as well.

BBC: fair and balanced reporting

Compiled by Bob E:

From the BBC 22 February 2013:

Property sales in the UK were slightly higher in January than during the same month a year earlier, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures show.

There were 64,490 completed sales during the month, up from 60,530 in January 2012. This was well down on December, although there is always a drop in the first month of the year. However, seasonally adjusted data shows that activity was similar to levels in December.

From the BBC 25 February 2013:

Poor weather in January curtailed mortgage approvals while borrowers continued to play safe on loans and overdrafts, the major banks have said.

There were 32,288 mortgages approved for house purchases during the month, down on December and 14% lower than January 2012. The British Bankers' Association (BBA) also said that loan and overdraft repayments outstripped new borrowing. Personal loan levels are almost half of their peak in 2007-08, the BBA said.

"January's severe weather impacted adversely on what was already a subdued picture of borrowing demand from households and businesses," said David Dooks, BBA statistics director.

It does seem slightly bizarre than only half of purchases (64,490) required a mortgage (32,288) ignoring the fact these are slightly different months. That can be explained by the fact that first time buyers have more or less dropped out of the market.

By-Tor and The Snow Dog*

* Minus By-Tor plus the little lass who made him.

The options: use explosives or burn down the cabin

Spotted by ViewFromTheSolent at Fox News:

It may take explosives to dislodge a group of cows that wandered into an old ranger cabin high in the Rocky Mountains, then died and froze solid when they couldn't get out... Rangers believe the animals sought shelter during a snowstorm and got stuck and weren't smart enough to find their way out...

"There is a lot of snow, and it's hard to determine how many cows are there," Porter said.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said Tuesday they need to decide quickly how to get rid of the carcasses. "Obviously, time is of the essence because we don't want them defrosting," Segin said.

Segin said officials are concerned about water contamination in the nearby hot springs if the cows start decomposing during the thaw. The options: use explosives to break up the cows, burn down the cabin, or using a helicopters or trucks to haul out the carcasses.

Why snow cheers people up.

I'm sure we've all noticed that after a snow fall, people on the street are much more cheerful and friendly to each other, sometimes partaking taking part in group activities like clearing their drives/the pavement or rather more childish or child-friendly things like building snow men, sledging or throwing snowballs.

When I popped to the shops yesterday lunchtime, I was surprised to see large groups of people just standing around chatting, despite the cold.

Part of this is down to the novelty value or the sense of 'shared hardship', but I suspect the main reason is because the fresh snow is so white and bright that it reflects all the sunlight, thus suddenly and temporarily reversing the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder by acting as a kind of 'light therapy'. During a snowfall at night, even the skies are brighter because the falling snow reflects all the urban lighting back down again.

Obligatory snow photos

What a difference a day makes...

From the front page of this morning's Metro:

Hundreds of thousands of skiers could see their holidays ruined as a record-breaking warm spell leaves slopes across Europe snow-free. The dry weather has meant nine out of 12 French Alps resorts which are particularly popular with British skiers have yet to start their seasons...

Up to 400,000 British people travel to France to ski every year, with 250,000 heading for Austria and 150,000 to Italy. About 75,000 go to Switzerland but it has experienced its driest autumn on record.

This evening's Evening Standard devoted a mere three column inches on page 2 to the sequel:

European ski resorts celebrated today as snow "bucketed" down. Bookings surged as bare slopes were coated in snow. "Last week we were getting calls asking us when it was going to start snowing, now we've got people waiting on the phones to book," said Peter Miller of IgluSki.com...

Up to 400,000 British people ski in France every year. Another 250,000 go to Austria and 150,000 to Italy. About 75,000 go to Switzerland, which has had its driest autumn on record.

Both The Metro and The Evening Standard share articles with the Daily Mail of course (or they are just syndicated or whatever the technical term is), what is striking is that the bloke at head office who had to write the updated article just re-wrote the first one (which said exactly the opposite) but one sentence survived the re-write almost intact.

Fun Online Polls: Salt, grit & elected police commissioners

On a very good turnout in last week's Fun Online Poll (thanks to all 139 people who took part), your forecasts were:

When do you think your local council will run out of salt and grit?

They've probably run out already - 40%
After it's been snowing for a couple of days - 27%
After it's been snowing for a couple of weeks - 24%
I'm sure they've learned their lesson and can cope with anything - 9%

For the benefit of those who chose the last option, Anti-Citizen One refers us to this: Big freeze: Britain's grit reserve half the size it should be. Round my way, most of the snow has melted away of its own accord, but you only have to drive a couple of miles into the countryside and there is still plenty left; if the pictures on BBC News 24 are to be believed, there are vast swathes of the country where people are still snowed in a week later.
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One of the few ideas that the Tories have been touting for years which did not promptly get dumped once they were in government was to have locally elected police commissioners.

It's not quite clear to me how or whether this would all 'work', but as a dyed-in-the-wool democrat, I've never seen a convincing argument against them. So, without further ado, that's the topic of this week's Fun Online Poll.

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Welsh Councils: really raising the bar

Here's a bit of useful background info if you're undecided how to vote in this week's Fun Online Poll.

Grit supplies are "disappearing fast" in the wintry weather, councils across Wales have warned. Three councils, Powys, Carmarthenshire and Caerphilly, have used at least a quarter of their stock, while across Wales 15% of the salt supply has gone.

Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) spokesman John Davies said: "If this weather persists it is going to be very difficult to keep supplies going." Councils have been given an extra £7m for pothole repair and gritting.

The WLGA is also trying to source 12,000 tonnes of rock salt from Sweden by the end of the month. Mr Davies told BBC Wales: "We have enough grit at the moment, but it is disappearing fast. The effects of last winter are plain to see, and every county has suffered. These are extreme conditions but they've come early."

He said councils in the Wales and England were competing for road salt supplies from the same sources. Welsh councils can use 12,000 tonnes of road salt on the roads in 24 hours, while salt mines could only provide the UK with up to 6,000 tonnes in the same period, he said.

The War On Spider Plants: Endgame?

I took pity on the last spider plant to survive the February onslaught of snow (the one in the front left hand pot of the photo' I posted in July) and repotted it. It did very well over the summer, but by last weekend, the freezing weather had not done it much good at all. Let's see what happens once it's been buried under an inch of snow for a day or two.

Fun Online Polls: The Euro-zone and The Big Freeze

On a very good turnout in last week's Fun Online Poll (thanks to all 131 people who cast a vote), the result was:

Which country will the EU 'bail out' next?
Portugal - 78%
Spain - 11%
Italy - 2%
Other, please specify -3% (Belgium, Greece and the UK were suggested).
None. Financial stability in the Euro-zone has now been guaranteed - 6%

I use the term 'bail out' loosely of course, Ireland appears to be even more firmly under the EU cosh than before. It's a bit like taking a loan from a 'doorstep lender' or paying the Mafia for 'protection'. Suffice to say, the whole Euro-experiment is crumbling at such a rate that Angela Merkel has already started denying that 'they' will double the size of the nominal amount available to the EFSF (currently €440 billion) to be able to 'bail out' Spain if needs be.
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Much hilarity ensued last February when local councils ran out of salt, grit etc after it had been snowing for a couple of days. They've been forecasting snow for the whole of the UK for over a week and it's already hit large parts of the country (even though I've only seen a few flakes fall in London so far).

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll: "When do you think your local council will run out of salt and grit?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Racist, misogynist, homophobic [cont. page 94] snowman

Obligatory snow photo