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The temperature stayed just above freezing all night (the first time for a fortnight) and there is a very slow thaw. When I woke I was aware of dripping from the eaves of the house – an amazing sound. Despite this, there is still snow everywhere and more is forecast. We are not used to anything like a real winter in this part of England so it is quite a shock – especially as the various authorities seem not to have coped at all.

Snowy Garden, originally uploaded by ThinkingCamera.

Lots of snow here today. School closed and so I stayed in the warm (mostly). The snow is perfect. It compresses for making snow people, is dry to walk on and so not too slippery (though what it will be like when it has frozen hard overnight is another matter) and packs hard rather than goes slushy.
The country has ground to a complete halt, without really having an excuse. After a day working at my desk here I can feel the beginnings of cabin fever!

It started snowing about 8pm last night, but was only light. Around 10:30pm, the wind had picked up, the snow became heavier and we had a genuine blizzard. The snow was dry enough to be driven by the wind and came in sheets off roofs and from the ground to be blown across the road. It was like a film of the antarctic ice-sheet with lines of fine snow snaking across the surface.

This morning, there are 10cm here. Roads are blocked or dangerous and the forecast was for more (though this has not actually happened). So I closed the school and stayed in the warm at home.

This is the second day of “close-down” following the heaviest snow for about 20 years in this part of England. Here in Horley we had about 6 – 10cm without much drifting, but just a few km North, on the North Downs, there was around 30cm (a foot) and some severe drifting which, coupled with the apparent inability of local government to respond and the lack of experience among local drivers, meant gridlock.
The snow was caused by easterly winds bringing very cold and moist air off the continent across a relatively warm North Sea and Channel. Heat and more moisture being pumped into the very cold air lead to a growth of shower clouds and showers, which fall as snow. Meteorologists call this “lake effect” snow from a similar phenomenon on the great lakes in North America.
Last night saw a severe frost (-6C) which froze the old snow surface hard and some new snow fell – very slippery conditions.
We now have some sun and a little thaw, so hopefully things can start returning to normal tomorrow.