London Smothered by Heaviest Snowstorm in Years
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London weather news reports that British business could have lost up to £1bn as a fifth of the workforce stayed at home rather than travel to work through the snow.
Britain was white-washed today in a fluffy carpet of snow deep and crisp and even. Whilst the snow was fun for some, it brought misery for others including travellers and businesses in London and across the UK.
Gnews wants to know how the heaviest snowfall in 18 years has affected you. Were you unable to get to work? Did you lose your car to the icy perils on the road? Did you build the biggest snowman ever?
We want to see your Big British Freeze Frame. Enter our competition and send us a picture which captures your icy escapades today. The winner will be rewarded with US$500 (£350) for the best photo. You can upload your picture via the link here.
Financial Calamity
Perhaps most worryingly for a country feeling the cold bite of a winter recession, economists have predicted the UK lost approximately £1 billion ($1.42 billion) worth in man hours as a result of people not being able to get to work.
An estimated 20 per cent of the British work force was unable to turn up to work because of the “snow day” off. The event could be repeated tomorrow warned the Met Office, as the prediction for Tuesday is more heavy snow fall.
The Federation of Small Businesses warned that a prolonged loss in productivity would prolong the recession and take months to recover from.
Many businesses were affected due to the chaos on the roads and railways today.
Roads
Motorists were presented with some horrific driving conditions with a number of accidents causing havoc on the major arterial routes into the Capital. On the smaller A-roads, the less used paths were treacherously slippy with a lack of proper gritting and snow clearing.
Many cars were stranded and were abandoned on the side of roads, unable to dig themselves out of the icy trouble. In London, all bus services were suspended because of the poor driving conditions, leaving many would-be passengers confused as empty buses proceeded to pick their way past huddled groups at bus stops waiting to be picked up.
Many road users deliberately avoided road travel in order to pursue the safer option of rail travel but did not have much luck their either
Rail
Whilst rail companies are famous for giving terrible excuses for delayed trains, we’ve all heard the “leaves on the track” line, today there was a genuine reason for major delays.
Most routes ran a reduced service but passengers were strongly advised not to travel unless absolutely necessary. South West Trains warned passengers that it could not guarantee any return services in the evening, which resulted in many commuters not wanting to take the risk of spending a night at the office.
London’s Underground was similarly affected with partially suspended Tube lines and the suspension of the Circle line completely.
Air Travel
London’s airports were dragged down under the unprecedented amount of snow fall. Heathrow was closed until 10:30 am when one runway was re-opened. The airport is still running at a severely reduced capacity, and was forced to cancel 650 flights.
British Airways cancelled all of its flights from Terminal 5 until 17:00 this evening. Budget carrier bmi was also forced to cancel all of its services from heathrow until the snow could be properly cleared from the runway. Irish airline had to cancel 73 of its flights because of the disruption.
It wasn’t all misery though as many school children managed to enjoy the snow.
Schools Closed
Across the county of Surrey, south west of London all schools were closed. Many schools were also closed in other parts of the UK, including the East Midlands and parts of Wales as temperatures dropped below zero.
The kids made the most of their extra day off with the traditional wonders of snow ball fights, sledging and snowman building. Should the cold weather continue as predicted, schools may well have another day off tomorrow to continue the fun and frolicking in the powdered flakes.
The Big British Freeze Frame Competition
Gnews wants to know how the heaviest snowfall in 18 years has affected you. Were you unable to get to work? Did you lose your car to the icy perils on the road? Did you build the biggest snowman ever?
We want to see your Big British Freeze Frame. Enter our competition and send us a picture which captures your icy escapades today. The winner will be rewarded with US$500 (£350) for the best photo. You can upload your picture via the link here.
My grandfather told me a long time ago and it stuck. Enjoy the snow!
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Just wondering when the winner of the snow photo competition will be announced?
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Sorry for the delay, the result will be announced today.
It would have been announced yesterday but we’re having difficulty contacting the winner.
Perhaps they’re snowed in somewhere.
Gnews
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I can see the winner!
http://gnews.com/world/Winners-and-Losers-in-British-Blizzards-2009021017485517.html
Good pic too, Cosmo. Well done.
When’s the next competition?
Next month?
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