Thursday 7 January 2010

Snowy Britain

This photo was shown on the BBC News tonight and I thought it was stunning enough to post here. This is the snowfield that is Great Britain at the moment, taken from space by NASA.



As you can see there is very little of the country that's not covered by snow. I'm in my fifties and I honestly cannot remember this happening before. Even in the big freeze of 1963, the part of Cornwall I come from saw no snow whatsoever. This is just amazing.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! That image is amazing. Here we have had the hottest year in recorded history. For us the biggest impact of climate change has been changing patterns of rain fall and increased bush fires. Stay warm and enjoy the cosy reading time.

Jo said...

I was struck by that picture too! Britain never looks like that! I actually quite like it but we didn't get it as bad here as lots of the country so it hasn't stopped us getting about at all.

Ana S. said...

What an amazing picture! I want some snow too!

monix said...

Snap, Cath! I picked up on that picture, too. I think your bit of Devon has suffered more than mine but we are still under a few inches of snow and there is lots of dangerous ice around. More to come, I hear. Keep safe and warm.

Cath said...

Book pusher: it's stunning isn't it. They're saying here that this has nothing to do with climate change it's just 'weather'. Yeah. Right...

Jo: before Christmas we escaped completely down here in Devon, just heavy frosts. Then a couple of nights ago 6 to 8 inches was dumped on us and most of it is still there and apparently likely to continue to be so for at least another week.

Nymeth: before this happened I wanted snow too! :-S

Hi Maureen: the amount people have had does seem to be quite localised. We had 6 to 8 inches and most of it is still there, especially in the garden and on the drive. P has shovelled a small path but we're still effectively snowed in. Luckily we listened to the weather forecast and did a supermarket run very early Tuesday morning, before it started. Hope you're okay up there. Yes, more on Sunday apparently.

That picture is spreading round the blogisphere like a cold!

DesLily said...

it's an amazing photo.. on my twitter Michael Scott had left a link to that very photo.. amazing sight. Who would have thought we could ever see anything like that when we were young?!!

Cath said...

Pat: that's what I keep thinking - that such a photo would have been impossible when we were young. That's part of why I was so blown away by it... plus, I just can't believe that almost the whole country is covered with snow.

Anonymous said...

There's snow in your hometown now Cath! We actually walked through snow on the prom a couple of days ago.

Kailana said...

All these places that normally don't get a lot of snow are getting snow, but I live where we are normally pounded with snow and it has been pretty mild so far...

Vintage Reading said...

Yes, it is beautiful, unusual and a perfect excuse to stay in and read!

Susan said...

We were looking at this picture this weekend, my husband and I, on the BBC site! I didn't realize that you didn't have any snow there in 63 (in Cornwall) I'll pass this on to my husband.

And we don't have our usual amount of snow, not at all, as Kailana says (we're in the same province). Just cold, but not as bad as it could be. I hope you have a thaw, but not a fast one - its the flooding I hear everyone is concerned about if the snow melts too quickly.

Toby's parents have only a tiny bit of snow on the ground, but lots of ice and they haven't had garbage pick up in 3 weeks because their street hasn't been gritted since before Christmas! They're in Essex, by the Thames.

As everyone says, if you have food and power, enjoy the reading time!! That's what I do over here when we get snowed in. Be careful, take care, Cath!

Cath said...

fleurfisher: I'm so thrilled to hear about snow on P prom. I tried to remember whether I'd ever seen it before but can't. I remember snow in P of course, but not on the actual seafront. Wonderful.

Kailana: I tend to think that the whole of Canada gets loads of snow every year but obviously that isn't the case - not this year anyway. How odd.

Susan, no we had no snow in my part of Cornwall in '63. I can remember being upset by it (I was 10) because it was *so* cold it felt like we should have some. It was so cold in fact that we kept finding poor little dead birds everywhere, frozen to death.

Yes, there could easily be some serious flooding in some parts but probably not here. We're having a slow thaw at the moment but we did get into town today and I was surprised at how much snow is still around - a lot!

Gritting and salting has been a real issue all over the country because the authorities have been running out. Our street hasn't been done for instance. Second year in a row there's been a problem and I'm guessing they'll have to start preparing for snowier winters now.

Thank you, I will take care. I've been a bit off colour this weekend so have just read and read. What did I read? Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs. Oh wow.

Cath said...

Vintage reading: all this snow certainly is a good excuse to stay in and read. And I certainly did! LOL.

Vipula said...

Wow ,...that is pretty amazing. I am in Missouri, USA and this is the first time in my life that I have seen snow ( saved myself a snowball in the refrigerater). Though I was jumping up and down with excitement for the first few days of snowing..I am fed up. The most annoying thing is that though the sun shines brightly , the weather continues to be as low as -15 degrees Celcius :(
I miss my hot indian tropical weather

Cath said...

Vipula: it's so hard for us in the colder countries to realise that there are people who've never seen snow. The thing is, it's very pretty to look at but not easy to get around in on a day to day basis! -15C is about what we had here on the coldest nights, so I'm sure that's a *real* culture shock for you. Hope it's a little warmer in Missouri now!

Thomas Hogglestock said...

What a great picture. It looks like a UK shaped cookie with frosting.

Cath said...

Thomas: LOL... it does a bit. Of course most of it is gone now, athough some snow is forecast in parts of Britain today I think.