Beast from the East

At the end of February, we were hit with the Beast from the East, a weather system that brought subfreezing temperatures from Siberia. At the weekend, Storm Emma came up from the south, hitting the UK and Ireland. I believe that the worst of both was expected in Scotland and southwestern England and Wales.

Our snow first came overnight on Monday. It wasn't bad though, and the roads were clear. It snowed on and off throughout the day, but really only accumulated on the grass.

Tuesday evening, and throughout the night, snow was falling heavily.

By Wednesday morning, we had maybe six inches, and it was still snowing. Our school wasn't officially closed, but they did send an email that basically said don't feel obligated to bring the kids in. So my kids happily put pajamas back on and we settled in.

By Thursday morning, we had gotten another couple of inches, and school was officially closed. The kids were initially disappointed to miss World Book Day, but that disappointment didn't last long. We did (briefly) play outside on this day.

Thankfully, school was open again on Friday. The main roads were clear, and it had stopped snowing.  The sidewalks were still full of packed snow, though, so we didn't get out much.

There was some snow on and off through Saturday, and then on Sunday we started getting messy half snow/half rain.

It was gloomy all day, but it didn't make the roads slick. Over the next few days, the snow melted, and we hoped that the Beast had passed. There was one last gasp the following Thursday. It snowed heavily and fast in the morning. I did drive the kids to school, but it was slippery, and the drive home took 20 minutes instead of the typical 5. But by the time school was out, everything had melted.

Morning

A few hours later

Overall, being snowed in for a couple of days was inconvenient but not too bad. Some other parts of the UK had it a lot worse- trains and flights were delayed or cancelled, and there were major traffic jams. Parts of continental Europe were also hit harder, even in places where residents are more accustomed to wintery weather. I'm glad that it's over, and I'm hoping that spring conditions are right around the corner.