Should we be using winter tyres in the UK?

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Originally Posted by DexDexter

I'm listening to Radio Five Live and they said that last night the temperature dropped to -21 in Highlands, that's cold even for us. How are you Britts coping since your houses are drafty and not so warm??

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Yeah it's pretty cold. -9 here at the moment and we're right near the coast!

My cars temperature sensor doesn't seem to be located in the best place..... it was about -1 outside when I took these photos but the car says it's 11 degrees c :mark:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~fenix1983/Files/Warm.jpg

http://members.iinet.net.au/~fenix1983/Files/Warm1.jpg

We seem to have lost both of our ice scrapers somehow this morning so had to deice Caroline's car with neat washer fluid and a lunchbox lid :p

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Originally Posted by henners88

It was -12 here this morning and us Brits just aren't used to it. Luckily I own a fairly new house so not so bad.. :)

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Our house is just cold, being an end terrace most of our walls are outside walls, with little or no cavity wall insulation :( .

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Originally Posted by Mark

Our house is just cold, being an end terrace most of our walls are outside walls, with little or no cavity wall insulation :( .

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You should be able to get a grant for cavity wall insulation non?

My mum got a grant for cavity wall insulation. She only had to pay about £150 towards it herself. :)

Back to the tyre situation....we currently have a nice 59 plate Porche belonging to one of the partners currently abandoned in the entrance to our carpark. We're debating whether to help him out later.

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Originally Posted by GridGirl

My mum got a grant for cavity wall insulation. She only had to pay about £150 towards it herself. :)

Back to the tyre situation....we currently have a nice 59 plate Porche belonging to one of the partners currently abandoned in the entrance to our carpark. We're debating whether to help him out later.

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Porsches shouldn't be too bad being rear engined and RWD.

Then there should be no excuse for it to be blocking the the majority of the entrance to our car park then and be nowhere near his nice allocated space! I'm suprised that no one has crashed into this morning already. :s

Really glad we added another few layers of loft insulation last year. We are cosy and warm! :D

You can tell which houses round here have good insulation by seeing which ones have snow on the roof which ones have melted.

Ahhh!
This morning the Chinook has arrived!
We now get a week of warmish weather. Hooray!

-9 today. Beautiful winter day. Makes me think I should take up skiing again....

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Originally Posted by edv

Ahhh!
This morning the Chinook has arrived!
We now get a week of warmish weather. Hooray!

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Yep. My head has been pounding since yesterday.
Still, that won't deter me from perhpas digging out (literally) the BBQ and charring some meat this weekend :up:

Schmenke, you get headaches from rapid air pressure changes? I get aching knees when low pressure systems are coming....I feel the pain in a sense....

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

-9 today. Beautiful winter day. Makes me think I should take up skiing again....

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I've been thinking about the same thing. -21 outside and plus 22 inside. :)

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Originally Posted by Daniel

You should be able to get a grant for cavity wall insulation non?

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Probably hasn't cavity walls, few terrace houses have.
Mine's 1890, so is two bricks thick, no cavity, like most of them. We added a layer of Kingspan outside under render (to the front only) and it's cartainly better.

A New Zealander delivered something to my yard today. It's his first ever snow. He was in a little van, like a Kangoo, and made it down my home-made lane with it's foot of virgin snow no worries. He also asked why so many Brits are such rotten drivers in this weather :laugh:
Three weeks here and he knows the score :D

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Originally Posted by DexDexter

I've been thinking about the same thing. -21 outside and plus 22 inside. :)

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Sounds like a good day to sit by the fire and Apres Ski with a nice drink...

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Originally Posted by Hazell B

Probably hasn't cavity walls, few terrace houses have.
Mine's 1890, so is two bricks thick, no cavity, like most of them. We added a layer of Kingspan outside under render (to the front only) and it's cartainly better.

A New Zealander delivered something to my yard today. It's his first ever snow. He was in a little van, like a Kangoo, and made it down my home-made lane with it's foot of virgin snow no worries. He also asked why so many Brits are such rotten drivers in this weather :laugh:
Three weeks here and he knows the score :D

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Ah fair enough, I'm not really au fait with construction types around here if I'm honest!

I've always wondered how Finns and Canadians and the like deal with the temperature difference. You wrap up warm go outside and then walk into a shop with the heating on full whack and you start to sweat.

I can cope with the cold weather well, as soon as it gets even a bit breezy I suffer and freeze up.

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Originally Posted by Drew

I've always wondered how Finns and Canadians and the like deal with the temperature difference. You wrap up warm go outside and then walk into a shop with the heating on full whack and you start to sweat.

I can cope with the cold weather well, as soon as it gets even a bit breezy I suffer and freeze up.

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Wear layers...and some stores don't over heat the place. We are sort of used to it....We put up with it to get the glory of a Canadian summer ( or a Finnish summer that would be just as amazing). Nothing better than a beautiful July day sitting by the water with a cold beverage with friends. You lock that memory in your mind and gets you through the long winter....

We are up to just under a foot of snow in total now, though it has been building up for the past few weeks bit by bit. Warm enough in our living room which has a big (new-ish) radiator but the rest of the house is chilly but not too uncomfortable. Or big problem is the village roads are snowed/iced up, and the ruts in the road are solid ice of about 3 inches, meaning it is nearly impossible to move cars from the road into the parking at the side of the street :s My parents aren't trusting enough to let anyone go out in a car so I've not had a chance to go out in it :bigcry:

Plan is to go out tomorrow up the hills and take plenty of photos before it all disappears :(

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6059718_n.jpg

The temperature this morning was -11c, but it is now a very tropical +1c.

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Originally Posted by J4MIE

We are up to just under a foot of snow in total now, though it has been building up for the past few weeks bit by bit. Warm enough in our living room which has a big (new-ish) radiator but the rest of the house is chilly but not too uncomfortable. Or big problem is the village roads are snowed/iced up, and the ruts in the road are solid ice of about 3 inches, meaning it is nearly impossible to move cars from the road into the parking at the side of the street :s My parents aren't trusting enough to let anyone go out in a car so I've not had a chance to go out in it :bigcry:

Plan is to go out tomorrow up the hills and take plenty of photos before it all disappears :(

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6059718_n.jpg

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You have more snow than I have right now....but that is ok. Oshawa is in a seam between snow belts, we rarely see the snow that places 20 miles north of us get or the whole south shore of Lake Ontario see....

Your neighbours need more loft insulation Jamie ;)

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Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

Your neighbours need more loft insulation Jamie ;)

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The snow on the roof means the insultation is working...Attics are supposed to be cold in the winter. If the roof had no snow on it, THEN you would know they need more insul...

I think that's what he means. The roof on the left is less snowy. Probably only because it faces the sun

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I think that's what he means. The roof on the left is less snowy. Probably only because it faces the sun

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On Closer examination, ok, I see what he is getting at, but I suspect the wind took that off...You know the roof is badly insulating when there is no snow and you see the vapours of steam...lol

Yeah I meant the house on the left.

We have about 3 layers of insulation on our loft and we have snow on our roof, yet the people who live opposite us have a completely clear roof so it can't be where the sun shines.

Yes the house on the left does look pretty poor as does the middle of ours though we are going to be ding a lot of work next year. The house on the right has either got perfect insulation or the heating isn't working properly ;)

I think our palm tree has had it though :(

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Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

Yeah I meant the house on the left.

We have about 3 layers of insulation on our loft and we have snow on our roof, yet the people who live opposite us have a completely clear roof so it can't be where the sun shines.

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If the attic is warm enough to melt the snow, they need insulation for sure....

-30C a couple of days back
+10C today!
Do I feel sorry for all those freezing souls in Texas? Not really.
Happily BBQing hot wings for lunch.

Although BBQing when it's -30C is not such a big problem....

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Originally Posted by edv

-30C a couple of days back
+10C today!
Do I feel sorry for all those freezing souls in Texas? Not really.
Happily BBQing hot wings for lunch.

Although BBQing when it's -30C is not such a big problem....

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You guys and your Chinooks!!!

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Originally Posted by edv

-30C a couple of days back
+10C today!
Do I feel sorry for all those freezing souls in Texas? Not really.
Happily BBQing hot wings for lunch.

Although BBQing when it's -30C is not such a big problem....

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Do you BBQ reindeers?

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Originally Posted by Langdale Forest

Do you BBQ reindeers?

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I know where you can get some Reindeer. There is a breeder of them and other exotic ( for this area ) critters for their meat up near where Easy Drifter hangs his fishing pole....

No reindeer, but we had some delicious buffalo this week!

Buffalo last night, Elk tonight.

Is it cheap?

Woke up on Sunday morning to the big thaw! Most of the snow has gone now, apart from the slushy mess in the car park at work. No snow is forecast here for at least the next week and daytime temperatures are set to remain above zero.

So it looks like the cold snap is over, for now.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

The snow on the roof means the insultation is working...Attics are supposed to be cold in the winter. If the roof had no snow on it, THEN you would know they need more insul...

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The material the roof is made of makes a huge difference as well. If the roof is old and made of tiles for example, the snow doesn't fall of as easily. Talking about the winter, I'm loving it. I'm planning to go to skiing tomorrow. In the Helsinki area where I live the last few winters have been wet and there hasn't been that much snow so -15 and tons of snow is just great.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

Wear layers...and some stores don't over heat the place. We are sort of used to it....We put up with it to get the glory of a Canadian summer ( or a Finnish summer that would be just as amazing). Nothing better than a beautiful July day sitting by the water with a cold beverage with friends. You lock that memory in your mind and gets you through the long winter....

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I'm not talking about the cold, I mean the difference between the temperatures, you wrap up warm to go outside and then go inside and it's boiling hot. I can't cope with that :p :

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Originally Posted by Brown, Jon Brow

Yeah I meant the house on the left.

We have about 3 layers of insulation on our loft and we have snow on our roof, yet the people who live opposite us have a completely clear roof so it can't be where the sun shines.

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They said on the news that it could be a sign of cannabis factories as they need lots and lots of heat, so who knows ;)

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Originally Posted by Drew

I'm not talking about the cold, I mean the difference between the temperatures, you wrap up warm to go outside and then go inside and it's boiling hot. I can't cope with that :p :

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It's easier to take off than to put on, normally we take off the extra clothes when we go inside :)

We don't you just use show chains when it snows? :confused:

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Originally Posted by odykas

We don't you just use show chains when it snows? :confused:

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Because they are illegal in the UK.
Most of the time the snow is insufficient to warrant them, and then when you get onto the main roads these are usually clear anyway.

Anyway what we are talking about here is Winter Tyres, NOT Snow Tyres.