Snow in London
On Sunday 1st, a good friend of mine called me from Italy and asked what the weather was like in London. I replied it was sunny but incredibly cold outside which was why I decided not to go to the annual Chinese New Year parade and show at Trafalgar Square. To this, my friend said we’ll need to go shopping for warm wooly socks for me.
Well…….that was the day before about 8 inches of snow fell in London! Apparently, it was the worse “snow event” in 18 years.
Here are two photos contrasting a cherry blossom without and with snow in the garden:
Whilst it tumbled outside my windows I came up with a list of apparel which I’d need to survive if the snow continued to fall:
As it was, non-existent transportation on Monday (no buses were running and only one metro line was operating a service — Victoria) plus warnings about treacherous conditions for cars meant that I stayed indoors and simply layered the clothing on: six layers on top and two layers of trousers.
It was so cold that the olive oil I normally cook with congealed into viscous globes of saturated fat in the bottle! I was glad I’d made the crab on Saturday and refrigerated some of it, had some whole wheat pasta and other groceries in the cupboard and the fridge because it meant I didn’t need to venture out to buy food. The cold made me hungrier which I suppose is the body’s natural defense mechanism: want and store food to build up the fat against the chill.
It made me concerned for my elderly neighbors and how they were faring, so I checked on them and other than the cold they were doing fine which was good. Everyone’s central heating is now switched on at full capacity.
The British Chamber of Commerce estimated that GBP1.2 billion of business income was lost on the first day and up to GBP3.0 billion will have been lost during this snow spell. Moreover, about 2000 schools were closed throughout the country. I think some of that GBP1.2 billion will be recouped elsewhere, e.g. heating bills, electricity bills from watching more TV and making more cups of tea/coffee/hot chocolate/malt and online retail sales.
It’s interesting how Britain reacted to the snow. My Aunt in Canada gets snowfall up to her thighs (3 feet) every year and the transport still runs etc.
It was great for some people to have an unexpected day off work, but to others it was a nuisance because they had no alternative; schools were shut so they had to arrange alternative childcare, i.e. stay with their children themselves. The parks and hills were filled with families spending fun time together, building snowmen and sledging and shrieking with joy which was really heart-warming to watch.
I love the snow, especially when it’s freshly fallen and deep. However, I’m not so keen on the slippery black ice we have to navigate on the pavements the day after. I almost slipped and fell 3 times and had to reach for the odd fence, wall and tree to steady me!
Meanwhile I saw an elderly gentleman crunching his way over the ice like it was nothing. Brilliant.
