The weather

[blackrose]

I see modern people are panicking about the weather again...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c89xnjw3yg0t

 

When it was cold and snowed in the 70s & 80s we just thought of it as "a cold day" and I remember some really long, cold winters. What is it with people now? Why do they catastrophise about everything?

[Hudds Lad]

Was supposed to be taking daughter and her paraphernalia back to Leeds tomorrow, now doing it today much to her disgust (still in bed).

 

I'm not so much bothered about the conditions myself as i am about all the other idiots on the road whilst i'm in a car with everything that's precious to me in the world (wife and daughter).

[Twopints]

The Met office, the environment agency and the BBC would all get slated by the usual suspects if someone slipped over and there had been no red / amber warnings. It's a lot of "CYA".

[frangar]

I think when you live aboard you are a lot more aware of weather…so fill and empty tanks…make sure you have fuel etc. 

 

People now have hermetically sealed houses with all services on tap…cars which have every safety aid…they expect all roads to be gritted and the power never to fail….and when things don’t quite happen like that they panic and somehow manage to injure themselves or others. 

[ditchcrawler]

Other things change, when I was a kid lorries only did 30 mph and vans 40 mph, they had chunky tyres not ones designed for 110 mph down the motor way, likewise most cars had cross ply with a sharp tread and a poor weight to power ratio.

[Tonka]

if i remember correctly it always used to snow the day I went to the January International Boat Show in January

[LadyG]

18 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Other things change, when I was a kid lorries only did 30 mph and vans 40 mph, they had chunky tyres not ones designed for 110 mph down the motor way, likewise most cars had cross ply with a sharp tread and a poor weight to power ratio.

Also peiple were used to driving carefully in poor road conditions, the vehicles were designed to cruise along at 45mph rather than 65. 

[Mikexx]

22 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Other things change, when I was a kid lorries only did 30 mph and vans 40 mph, they had chunky tyres not ones designed for 110 mph down the motor way, likewise most cars had cross ply with a sharp tread and a poor weight to power ratio.

 

Did you forgot to mention the man with a red flag in front of lorries? 🙂

[MtB]

52 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

 

I'm not so much bothered about the conditions myself as i am about all the other idiots on the road whilst i'm in a car with everything that's precious to me in the world (wife and daughter).

 

I think you're right. People nowadays tend to drive in the same way no matter what the conditions are like, with no allowance made for ice, snow or fog. 

 

I remember it taking me about 12 hours to drive home from Watford to Reading about 10 or 15 years ago, probably the last time the roads down here including motorways were overwhelmed with heavy snow. I just got caught in queues behind minor accidents people didn't need to have, time and time again all the way home. I don't think exteme weather causes that many major accidents these days but lots of minor ones cause massive delays. 

[Mike Tee]

And I bet many of those minor accidents were caused by cars fitted with budget summer tyres.

[Peanut]

On the Continent, where it happens every year, they are geared up for it, railways, roads, housing, cars, winter tyres.in fact everything. They can just get on with it. Over here, where it is an unwelcome interruption to our comfortable way of life, and the cost of preparing for it doesn't seem justified, a slight dusting of snow brings everything to a halt.

[Alan de Enfield]

55 minutes ago, Tonka said:

I went to the January International Boat Show in January

The best month to go !

[booke23]

33 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I think you're right. People nowadays tend to drive in the same way no matter what the conditions are like, with no allowance made for ice, snow or fog. 

 

I remember it taking me about 12 hours to drive home from Watford to Reading about 10 or 15 years ago, probably the last time the roads down here including motorways were overwhelmed with heavy snow. I just got caught in queues behind minor accidents people didn't need to have, time and time again all the way home. I don't think exteme weather causes that many major accidents these days but lots of minor ones cause massive delays. 

 

I remember that last time the roads were snowed in.....minor accidents and abandoned cars literally everywhere.

 

I still carry snow chains for this eventuality but you can't actually count on the roads being passable due to the volume of abandoned cars. 

[Peanut]

10 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

And I bet many of those minor accidents were caused by cars fitted with budget summer tyres.

On the continent, they have two sets of wheel, they have to swap over to winter tyres and back to summer tyres in Spring, and one of the first things to be checked if you have a mishap is your tyres.

[jonathanA]

50 minutes ago, MtB said:

think you're right. People nowadays tend to drive in the same way no matter what the conditions are like, with no allowance made for ice, snow or fog. 

 

thats not my experience, what i see is numptys on well gritted main roads driving at 15 MPH because there was snow 3 days ago and its still at the side of the road/on the fields etc...  causing massive tailbacks and lots of minor accidents. what happened to driving to suit the conditions - certainly what i was told!

 

that said i'm sure there are probably as many people who think there 'SUV' is fine and has all sorts of gizmos so they can carry on as normal... 

 

 

 

 

[jim mitchell]

ther be no such thing as bad weather, just poor choice of clothes and actions - as an owld  farmer told me many blue moons ago!.

[cuthound]

2 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

And I bet many of those minor accidents were caused by cars fitted with budget summer tyres.

 

When the original factory fitted Pirelli P2000 tyres needed replacing on my Yeti I replaced them with MIchelin Cross Climate all season tyres. They cost about 40% more than premium brand summer tyres.

 

They completely transformed the car, improving its low speed ride and reducing tyre noise (particularly on the concrete sections of the M25) significantly, and improving the grip in icy, snow and wet conditions. As a bonus they seem to be lasting about 50% longer than the original tyres, more than recouping the initial cost.

 

I for one won't be buying summer tyres again.

 

 

[Mike Tee]

For some years I've only fitted Goodyear 4 Seasons, similar result to the Michelins.

[LadyG]

Yep I used to have  an original Mini, and went everywhere, ice, snow, farm tracks, the tyres only lasted 8,000miles but they never skidded, just as well, the speed I drove at in those days!

[Stilllearning]

On 04/01/2025 at 17:18, Peanut said:

On the Continent, where it happens every year, they are geared up for it, railways, roads, housing, cars, winter tyres.in fact everything. They can just get on with it. Over here, where it is an unwelcome interruption to our comfortable way of life, and the cost of preparing for it doesn't seem justified, a slight dusting of snow brings everything to a halt.

Our local garagiste has winter tyres available to hire at this time of the year, and chains and snowbags for sale.

On 04/01/2025 at 17:21, Peanut said:

On the continent, they have two sets of wheel, they have to swap over to winter tyres and back to summer tyres in Spring, and one of the first things to be checked if you have a mishap is your tyres.

We don't 'have to', and no one does around here. It's certain mountainous countries only.

[IanD]

19 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

For some years I've only fitted Goodyear 4 Seasons, similar result to the Michelins.

Just fitted Continental AllSeasonContact 2 for the same reason. Would have fitted Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 (latest test winner) but they're not available in the size my car uses. Micelin CrossClimate are weak in the wet, not a good thing for driving in the UK... 😉 

 

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/Best-All-Season-Tyres-2024-2025.htm

[Tonka]

30 minutes ago, IanD said:

Just fitted Continental AllSeasonContact 2 for the same reason. Would have fitted Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 (latest test winner) but they're not available in the size my car uses. Micelin CrossClimate are weak in the wet, not a good thing for driving in the UK... 😉 

 

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/Best-All-Season-Tyres-2024-2025.htm

I looked at the link because I have CrossClimate 2 fitted all round on my car. 

Not sure where they get the price from as mine were only £147 each. Maybe the size needs adjusting.

Interestingly there were joint second with what you bought.

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, Tonka said:

I looked at the link because I have CrossClimate 2 fitted all round on my car. 

Not sure where they get the price from as mine were only £147 each. Maybe the size needs adjusting.

Interestingly there were joint second with what you bought.

They were, because they're very good in some other areas, including snow and tyre life. Given that I probably spend 100x as much time on wet roads as on snow, I decided against the CrossClimate 2 -- but they're still a very good tyre, and far better in the UK than a summer tyre.

 

Price very strongly depends on size, and "unusual" sizes like mine (235/45R18Y) are often more expensive -- mine were £158 each including a 20% pre-Xmas discount from Blackcircles.

[booke23]

1 hour ago, Tonka said:

I looked at the link because I have CrossClimate 2 fitted all round on my car. 

Not sure where they get the price from as mine were only £147 each. Maybe the size needs adjusting.

Interestingly there were joint second with what you bought.

 

Also notice the Michelins have much lower rolling resistance than all the others in the test so over the life of the tyre you'll spend less on fuel.....and emit less CO2. 

[Gybe Ho]

On 04/01/2025 at 15:23, Tonka said:

if i remember correctly it always used to snow the day I went to the January International Boat Show in January

 

Apparently in the early years of the show the exhibition hall was shared with a New Year circus and the smells of the animals used to waft over to the expensive yachts on display.