In article ,
Scottish Quilter writes:
The phrase "health and safety" reared its head in a report on the BBC
Scotland One o' Clock news today. The lady being interviewed was head
teacher of an Aberdeenshire school which had closed because of the
snow--------------she seemed to more concerned about the "health and
safety" of the teachers than the pupils though!

I wonder how many of the children will be left at home on their own
because their parents have to go to work. ISTM that the net effect of
closing schools when conditions are marginal rather than truly extreme
may be to increase the H&S risks to children.
--
John Hall
"Think wrongly if you please,
but in all cases think for yourself."
Doris Lessing

Thankyou Mr Meldrew.

And I thought *I* was a grumpy old sod.

Were you one of the kids? ;-)

Simon

In article ,
Simon Wyndham writes:
It brings up another problem however. Within half an hour of the snow
falling what should happen but the power goes off! So am I to assume
that not only do the people of this country have any resilience to
snow, the stuff we used to get loads of in Winter, but the power lines
have somehow become extra weak over the years?!

Get heavy wet snow that then freezes to the power lines as the
temperature quickly falls, coupled with high winds, and some power
outages are inevitable. They have certainly commonly occurred in these
conditions in years gone by. Putting all power lines underground would
be prohibitively expensive.
--
John Hall
"Think wrongly if you please,
but in all cases think for yourself."
Doris Lessing

Hi,

temps were as low as -30 to -40 for a week. Another Finland friend said that
when she was at school the only concession made on PE was that when it got to
below -12, skating outside was stopped and PE was held inside the gym instead.
I think we are wimps in the UK ;-)

LOL! I've seen that in some countries they have to light a fire under
their cars so they can start them up too! What's going to happen to the
UK if this thing with the Gulf Stream happens?!

Dunno if people were panicking, but I tried my mobile phone when the
snow was really coming down and the network was busy! Unbelievable.

No doubt the supermarkets were full of people stockpiling bread and milk
in case they weren't capable of walking out of their front doors in the
next few days due to the sheer number of mm of snow.

Simon

"John Hall" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Simon Wyndham writes:
It brings up another problem however. Within half an hour of the
snow
falling what should happen but the power goes off! So am I to assume
that not only do the people of this country have any resilience to
snow, the stuff we used to get loads of in Winter, but the power
lines
have somehow become extra weak over the years?!

Get heavy wet snow that then freezes to the power lines as the
temperature quickly falls, coupled with high winds, and some power
outages are inevitable. They have certainly commonly occurred in these
conditions in years gone by. Putting all power lines underground would
be prohibitively expensive.


.... I notice from the traffic reports on CEEFAX that some road closures
in the West of England have been due to power lines being brought down.

Martin.
--
FAQ & Glossary for uk.sci.weather at:-
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/uswfaqfr.htm

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 19:47:13 +0000, Simon Wyndham
wrote:

I've seen that in some countries they have to light a fire under
their cars so they can start them up too!

Lorry drivers were doing this in January 1982 in this country...

--
Alan White
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow.
Overlooking Loch Goil and Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland.
http://tinyurl.com/55v3

In uk.sci.weather on Wed, 28 Jan 2004 at 16:56:09, Simon Wyndham wrote :
Well, I have to eat my words from another thread about no snow in
Malvern. Just had a load of the stuff. Though no doubt it will all be
melted in half an hour.

I went into Cheltenham today. Dunno if they closed the schools in
anticipation (in todays mamby pamby society that wouldn't surprise me in
the least)

No, they were open, and besides, the CF didn't hit until late afternoon.

, but in town there were almost more kids than adults, and
they weren't of college age either.

They were probably just skiving.
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham

Email to pahyett[AT]activist[DOT]demon[DOT]co[DOT]uk

In message , Bruce Fletcher
writes
Not "health and safety" of teachers but "teachers cannot get home". Not
sure if they consider the pupils.

Our local papers said it was fear of litigation that closed some
schools. Parents are very quick to sue these days, and the education
authorities can't afford it.
--
Anita Evans
North Cumbria
(anita[at]ra.evans.clara.co.uk to reply by e-mail)