Winter preparation, snow and Ice

[Snow1964]

With many weather forecasting sites now showing much colder weather from Arctic after Sunday (17th) with hill snow and possible snow / sleet at lower levels, wondered how good the preparation is.

The cold looks to be bit earlier this winter, and the recent anticyclonic weather (dull with little wind) means leaf fall is still in full swing. Can leaf fall rail treatment and deicing be done together, or is normal practice to stop one and use same vehicles and crews for just one, (either rail treatment for leaf fall, or snow and ice clearance) but not both together

Quoting Met Office weekly forecast

“In addition to this increased rainfall, which could be heavy at times on Sunday, temperatures will also drop, especially for those in Scotland, as a northerly airflow develops, bringing colder Arctic air to some northern areas.

“This shift does introduce the possibility of snow, initially over high ground in the north from Sunday, with gusty winds also a potential hazard. There is a lot of uncertainty by Sunday, but there remain a number of scenarios which could bring some more widespread rain, along with some hill snow and stronger winds. Warnings for winter hazards are possible later in the weekend, so it’s important to stay up to date with the latest forecast.”

Cooler and more unsettled weather on the way

High pressure and dry conditions dominate our weather this week, but a change to a colder and more unsettled period is likely over the weekend and into the start of next week.

www.metoffice.gov.uk

Thought it would be interesting to discuss preparations, because presumably the aim should be to run as close as practical a full normal service, and not announce due to a snowflake all services are cancelled because winter is a freak unexpected event, that has never happened before.

Even down here in Wiltshire, I notice that supermarket delivery vans and courier vans mainly seem to have the winter rated tyres with V shape treads, so presumably plan to continue working even if it snows. But of course putting customer service first is important to these businesses.


EDIT 6 days later.

I guess the answer was not a lot of preparation as some services this morning seem to be affected, by snow, ice, sleet