Snow in Leatherhead, 2 February 2009

The weathermen had been predicting for nearly a week that the Southeast area of England would be hammered by a Russian front, bringing in lots of snow. As much as we could, we prepared for the snow, but I'm not sure anyone really expected to have a foot of the white stuff.

The video above shows some of our activities in the early part of the snow shower. The snow started coming down during the day on Sunday, 1 February, and it continued through the entire night. I would occasionally look out the bedroom window, only to see the street light glazed over with a veil of flurries.

Upon waking on Monday morning, my car was almost completely covered by the snow. Branduff was up and already dressed for school by 6:45. Considering we couldn't even get the cars out of the drive way or open our the gates on our property, we suggested he change into more appropriate clothes. By 8 a.m., we had verification that the local schools were closed. In fact, school is closed tomorrow, as well. Happy Branduff!

Looking into the back garden, I saw that the bird feeders were filled with heaps of snow! Once the sun was up, the birds were chirping and clamoring to be fed. It was a pity to have to walk through the pristine and sparkling white covering, but the birds had to be fed. I was amazed to see the snow came up to my knees. Thank goodness for wellies . . . they do a great job to keep your feet dry in the snow. Although, our feet became pretty cold!

Through the day, we dusted snow off the feeders and refilled the seeds for the particularly hungry birds. The robins were so insistent, that they allowed me to be within inches of them as I refilled the feeder. We even had the ever-elusive long-tailed tits at the feeders today. They only time I ever see them at the feeders is when there is snow and ice.

Our Border collie Sophie has only been a hot-weather dog, until moving to England. This winter is the first encounter she's had with ice and snow. The look on her face when she initially jumped into the foot-high snow was priceless! She has since figured out how to get around, and it seems to make her very frisky. Since she has a long coat, balls of snow seem to freeze onto her.

In the afternoon, Niall and Branduff went outside to play in the snow. As usual, Branduff was more interested in deconstruction (throwing snow balls) and Niall was more into construction (building interesting robot snowmen). I hope to have more video of their antics later.

The normally busy road in front of our house was mostly empty in the morning. A few more cars have braved the road this afternoon, as the tires have slowly melted the road snow. There have been many walkers and kids on rambles to see the sights. One poor soul was walking all the way to work at Sainsbury's in Leatherhead. I felt so sorry for him. Surely the store would have been closed? There were no buses to take him on his journey.

Some experts have said it's been 18 years since snow like this in the London and surrounding areas. Heathrow Airport has been closed all day and the buses and the Tube have not been running. It's eerily quiet . . . fortunately for us, the phone and internet lines are working.

Best wishes, from Kathy, Niall & Branduff McAllister