26 February, 2010 
We had a further 5-8cm of snow overnight, taking the depth of cover to 45cm. The drifts were much deeper thanks to the continuing strong winds, while the roads were treacherous with loose snow over ice. As a result, the Other Half was not surprised when an education workshop that she was to have attended in Aberdeen was cancelled due to the weather. But she was surprised when she phoned her school to find out what the position was and was told, “Oh, it’s just a normal day…”
I suppose that is an accurate statement in some ways. It is indeed just a normal winter’s day with decent snow cover, icy roads, deep drifts and strong winds. Whether that makes it a normal, “business as usual”, day is another matter. Anyway, with the Other Half expected at work I went out at 0715 to prep the Land Rover and dig a track out to the road. The snow had drifted to knee height behind the Land Rover then, to make matters worse, a tractor snow plough hurtled past and blocked the entrance with a couple more feet of snow topped by ice boulders.
I finally cleared all the snow from our entrance and off the Land Rover at 0836. I loaded the truck with an extra snow shovel, a bag of salt and various other bits and pieces, then sent the OH off to work. The tractor plough made driving a little easier but not by much. When the OH arrived at work at 0940, she phoned to let me know she’d made it. She said she’d been able to tuck in behind another tractor plough on the other side of the village, which was just as well. Conditions were so horrendous even our Land Rover on snow tyres was scrabbling for traction. Of course, she was very late but at least she got there in one piece. Yes, it was indeed just a normal day.
As for our boys, they’re home. Our local school decided to delay making a decision but a note on Aberdeenshire Council’s school closure website said our bus driver would be attempting a run. I spoke to him on the phone and said there was no way I was putting the boys on the bus so he shouldn’t even attempt to come out. As the bus doesn’t have winter tyres and has had serious difficulties in far less worse conditions than we have today, I think he was quite happy not to make the trip.
The OH gets my warm regards for the determination and skill she shows in her severe winter driving to work. Well done dear lady!
What a winter you’ve had. Worst in the UK?
Do the schools care about the welfare of the teachers and children? Forced to go out in those conditions, I wonder.
Don’t worry, a couple of fatal school bus crashes and it won’t happen again…
You get some schools that close at the first snow flake and others still open in severe blizzards who then question why you won’t let your child attempt to get down to the bus.
My daughters school tend to rely on the bus service to make the decision which is a bit better as the school has a different weather system to us, but even that is not always right for us because will live on a hill that in severe weather and extremely low temperatures can become an ice rink and my daughter can’t get down to the bus. I like Stoney make a parental decision based on conditions at the house and on our road, if in doubt I will walk down to the road with my daughter and assess the road conditions where the bus stops. So far this winter there have been 5 times where she couldn’t get beyond the gate, and I have had to use a shovel as an ice pick to get to the chickens. Of this went down as absences without authorisation at the school and on her record. Never mind the fact that I rang in each time to say she can’t get down to the bus either by walking or by me driving her because I can’t get to the car or it’s too slippery for the car. This is because the bus could get to the pick up point and we couldn’t.
How does the guy driving the snow plough know where the road is?
Aberdeenshire Council closed the road completely on Friday as there were drifts the snow ploughs couldn’t clear. The snow was 10 feet deep in places. The road officially re-opened late on Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, the section between the village and our turn-off was just passable in a proper 4wd or a tractor. Just a few hundred yards further on it was completely impassable. It took many hours of work by a snow blower, snow ploughs and JCBs to clear the road. I’ll post a few photos later.
Isn’t it ridiculous. People’s lives are clearly at risk but the bureaucrats don’t care….lives might be lost but so long as the paperwork is in order, that’s acceptable.