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[andrewducker]

We got the bus into town to meet friends. The bus skidded sideways on the snowy road, tried a couple of times, and then gave up. Which is why you can see Jane and Gideon trudging towards me as we head to a nearby cafe to recover.
Original is here on instagram.

Comments

[cmcmck]

I hope Bert (who calls a storm Bert?) isn't causing you too many problems.

Little sign of hin down here.

[andrewducker]

We got to a cafe, warmed up with brunch, then walked half an hour home as all buses are cancelled.
Gideon got quite upset at cold feet, but we survived.

[greenwoodside]

The bus skid sounds pretty scary. They're normally so slow and reliable, like vehicular tortoises. It's a shock when something goes wrong when you're in one.

Wet and windy in Swansea. Definitely no snow! But please borrow some of our rain.

[flemmings]

Those tire marks are scary. The other thing to factor in is the existence of snow tires, which I wonder if city dwellers in Scotland use at all.

[andrewducker]

For the three days of snow we tend to have each year I'm not sure many people will have bought them.

[channelpenguin]

In the UK, people don't generally even use "winter tyres". I don't understand that because they are SO, SO, SO much better in cold, wet, ice, snow. Especially braking distance. There's some great comparison videos online.

I DID have All-season "mud and snow" tyres on my last UK car before I moved to Germany. I had zero problems driving, no slips and the ABS/traction control never even kicked in - where others were clearly struggling. But I did have decades of motorbike experience in all weathers, including the R1, which slides by default on pretty much every surface AND I NEVER EVEN NOTICE.


Here in Germany, winter tyres are insisted upon by insurance companies and garages even store your other tyres for you if you don't have room)

[bens_dad]

How many days a year do you have snow ?

[channelpenguin]

Gosh. Maybe 2, 3 weeks absolute max. But in the past it was more, I've heard.

[bens_dad]

> Gosh. Maybe 2, 3 weeks absolute max. But in the past it was more, I've heard.

I couldn't find comparable figures for the UK and Germany, but that was about what I thought. 40-50years ago I might have said that much for the English Lakes, and maybe for Aberdeen in the late eighties/early nineties, but one week would be the absolute max for most of the UK this century.
We really don't get enough to consider snow tires.

[channelpenguin]

As I think I've said. I'm personally not talking about snow tyres.

I'm talking about WINTER tyres. For wet, cold, frosty, icy and, yes, also somewhat snowy conditions. But not special snow tyres. They are superior in grip and braking distance in anything except hot dry weather. Maybe even hotter than Scotland generally gets in summer. But I dunno. Have to check the specs.

[andrewducker]

Here we had one day of snow yesterday, and today it's 9 degrees out. I think people think it's not worth the hassle for a couple of days a year.

[channelpenguin]

Winter tyres are NOT just for snow. They have far far superior performance in wet cold conditions, ice and mud. The only reason not to leave them on all year is that they wear too fast on hot roads in the summer. In Scotland, it would make more sense to have them on year round, as the number of 25C+ days are not high.(Though I don't know the proper max temp for them. Just that I've been fine when spring has been warm and I've not changed them.

(It takes like half an hour if you have a jack and a good long handle for a wheel nut socket. Or a garage does in 5 minutes for you).

[channelpenguin]

Oh also they might get melty and therefore slidy in properly hot weather. But I dunno offhand how hot. If over 30C that's practically never in Scotland.

[andrewducker]

That would make sense

[bens_dad]

Do they affect fuel consumption ?

[channelpenguin]

Buses, or drivers, ain't what they used to be... :-)

Or, more likely, there's sheet ice under the snow. Which sucks. Always. Hope the cafe made up for the unexpected walk

[andrewducker]

No ice - ground was completely clear (if a bit wet) two hours previously.

Just a layer of entirely fresh snow that meant that there was no traction at all on a slope.

[channelpenguin]

Yeah, hills can be tricky at least until the snow layer is thicker and even then.

I don't know, but I would imagine that electric buses might fare better in slippery conditions if they allow continuously variable power. Maybe not.

Berlin has few hills and also lots of trams (at least in the East). Which I think do better in the snow?