So, is it to be a deluge or a sprinkling???

According to the weather bods here in Kent you'd think we were going to be under six feet of snow come morning!  Notice how they generalise and say 'The South East' and when you look at the weather map there is NO snow at all going to be falling on your particular part of Kent?

I am a northerner by birth and as such have endured some really cold winters, and I do mean cold.  Walking to school in skirts and socks and bare legs because trousers were not allowed for girls.  Snow so thick on the pavements you had to walk in the road.  The types of winters where you can wash a pair of jeans and hang 'em on the line to, ahem, dry (well atttempt to at least) only to find you go out later in the day to bring them in and find they are frozen solid and will happily stand up by themselves in the corner of the kitchen for at least an hour until they thaw. 

I have also endured some long and pretty substantial snowfalls in north Wales where I used to live for many years.  To say that what we get down here and what forecasters consider substantial bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to those snowfalls of the 1980's in north Wales, I would class these here today as light dustings but then I don't know how much snow one forecaster has ever seen in their (usually short) lifetimes because they seem to be getting younger each year.  I have been lucky enough to see major falls of snow which need a snow plough to keep the roads clear.  One year even they couldn't cope, for as fast as they were clearing the main A5 from Corwen to Llangollen it was falling again (and building up) behind them.  All they succeeded in doing was creating walls of snow on each side of the road up to 6 feet each side and only passable by one car despite it being a main trunk road through the valley.  Those drivers must have been knackered to say the least, as they would usually have done a full day's work and be clearing the snow or gritting through the nights when it was really bad, still do as far as I know. 

When you have driven on compacted snow which has fallen on top of ice and then frozen and are experiencing a blizzard at the same time then you will know what real snowfalls are like, and for forecasters to compare what dustings we get here to those major snowfalls is just plain daft.  So when they talk of centimetres falling, I have to laugh because they wouldn't cope with what north Wales produces.

Mind you, driving down the M1 in a swelling, swirling blizzard is fun, especially when it wasn't forecast!

Not far from where I used to live in north Wales is the always beautiful Horseshoe Pass; mountainside reaching vainly up to try touching the sky on one side and on the other a drop so severe you are terrified to come down the pass on a good day let alone a winter's day.  So, on the days like today when it is very cold and sudden severe frosts are forecast the pass will be closed.  You see, even on good days it is possible to travel down the pass and see a tyre go sailing past from some poor soul behind whose tyre has either burst or come loose, course once it starts going ....

At the top of the Pass is The Ponderosa, a cafe and small arcade where skiers and outdoor enthusiasts gather to have fun in the snow because once you get up there (if the pass is open) it is truly spectacular and rivals places like Switzerland and Austria, dare I say the French Alps for beauty.  I was up there one day having a coffee and watching the world go by when a group of skiers came in with all their gear, and started depositing their skis etc in the corner while they went off to get warm and a coffee.  It was just like being in the Alps and yet I was only half an hour away from home at the time in north Wales.  It was majestic and beautiful and that is why the beauty of north Wales for me, takes some beating.  It is a fabulous place and if I had the money I would be back up there like a shot.  For now though, I have my memories and all this talk of snow brings it all back, bounding and tumbling towards me like a playful puppy.

If you get the chance to see north Wales, particularly the Horseshoe Pass just outside of Llangollen then please do, you will not be disappointed.  Just make sure you go when the pass is open, it is safe to do so and for Heaven's sake be careful on the way down!

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