As U.K. shivers, hundreds of cars stuck in snow
Flights, trains and classes cancelled amid winter blast, worst in 30 years

Extreme weather hobbles Europe
Jan. 6: Extreme winter weather has walloped Europe. Heavy snow and freezing temperatures are causing transportation havoc. As NBC's Tom Aspell reports, the forecast is for more of the same.

Britain facing gas shortage as cold blast continues


updated 11:18 a.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 6, 2010
LONDON - Unusually heavy snowfall stranded hundreds of motorists, disrupted trains and shut down schools and airports across Britain on Wednesday as the country suffered through its longest cold snap in nearly 30 years.

Airports across the country were paralyzed, with London's Gatwick and Stansted unable to operate and hundreds of flights canceled. At Gatwick, where the only runway had been shut for snow clearance all day, more than 240 flights were canceled. London Luton airport was closed until early afternoon. A dozen flights were also canceled at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, with long lines building at check-in desks.

The foul weather also badly hit Britain's road network. Sections of the country's most important highways — including the M1, which links London and Leeds — were closed, and the military was called in overnight to help rescue motorists when up to 1,000 vehicles were caught in a snow-related traffic jam in Hampshire, in southern England. Many people were evacuated to nearby rescue centers but some slept in their vehicles overnight.


The demands on rescue workers in southern England were so overwhelming that coast guard workers turned their skills from sea to land to help out.

Train services were also affected, with lines in southern England reporting reduced services. Eurostar, whose service through the Channel Tunnel was frozen for days by snow-related problems in the run-up to Christmas, said it was canceling four services Wednesday due to the weather. Nationwide, thousands of schools closed down.

However London's transport system, which practically ground to a halt when snow hit the capital in February, only suffered minor disruptions.

Ill-equipped for heavy snowfall
British winters are typically mild, and cities and towns are generally ill-equipped to deal with heavy snowfall. With the worst-hit areas seeing up to 16 inches of snow, officials and road crews were struggling to keep up.

Several local governments were running out of sand and salt — with some reportedly emptying department stores of supplies. The wintry weather has prompted some police forces to urge drivers to stay off the roads and some trash collectors to suspend their rounds.

The national weather office says Britain is experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981. The unusually cold weather is expected to continue for the next two weeks.

Forecasters say that, while rare, the recent bout of cold weather isn't necessarily a sign of climate change.

Robin Thwaytes, the duty forecaster at Britain's weather office, said "it's very unusual for something like this to last as long as it has," but noted that such events can happen every 20 to 30 years.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34706351/ns/world_news-europe/

all u nigerians in u.k. . .make una no go die for there oh?
na so una go dey come here dey misyarn dey defend that miserable country wey dem call uk
some of una don even sell una souls to the queen. . .

una no go gree say nothing special about u.k lol. . .
give me naija sunshine over that nonsense freezing weather anyday. . .

una no go gree say nothing special about u.k lol. . .
give me naija sunshine over that nonsense freezing weather anyday. . .

bad belle don start.

u abuse nigeria (Criticism), you abuse obodo oyinbo (bad belle)

Lwkmd
this must be global colding

This has to be the most st'upid thread ever.
What does UK weather have to do with politics?

Daft.

u abuse nigeria (Criticism), you abuse obodo oyinbo (bad belle)

lol. . .so true

This has to be the most st'upid thread ever.
What does UK weather have to do with politics?

heres what it has to do with politics. . many of the so called diaspora or u.k dwellers come on here
abuse nigeria non-stop while making us believe they live in some kind of paradise. . .

i am just exposing the rot available in the u.k also,besides if people are dieing from this
and there is gas shortages,then it is a failure on the part of the UK govt

if this happened in naija u will be the first to blame naija govt
sorry i hurt your feeling about your beloved uk

Paddy lo - there is no gas shortage as such. . . boilers are firing at will all over the UK providing heat for people.

All that happened was that the supplier requested a temporary ease on gas removal from the grid in order to ensure adequate supply to everyone, otherwise known as a balancing alert.

Do people get informed in Nigeria when petrol is about to run out? Even if they get informed what happens? It starts getting hoarded and sold at exorbitant prices.

Nothing has happened - a temporary issue with a gas field led to the gas balancing alert. The issues have been corrected and any claims of 'shortage' are actually being made to cater for FUTURE demand growth not current demand and they had the alternative to switch to more coal generation and thus freed up more gas to supply homes.

Abeg leave matter!

paddy_lo:

all u nigerians in u.k. . .make una no go die for there oh?
na so una go dey come here dey misyarn dey defend that miserable country wey dem call uk
some of una don even sell una souls to the queen. . .

una no go gree say nothing special about u.k lol. . .
give me naija sunshine over that nonsense freezing weather anyday. . .

Ignorance is an STD!!!!

Na wa for UK ooooooooooo!!
I wonder how naija janders dey take enjoy that country . . .

Paddy lo - there is no gas shortage as such. . . boilers are firing at will all over the UK providing heat for people.

That is really not true- the main reason, I clicked on this thread was because I read a previous article in the economist about a year ago talking about the inevitable gas shortage that would happen in the UK. Tie will tell though.

paddy_lo:

lol. . .so true

heres what it has to do with politics. . many of the so called diaspora or u.k dwellers come on here
abuse nigeria non-stop while making us believe they live in some kind of paradise. . .

i am just exposing the rot available in the u.k also,besides if people are dieing from this
and there is gas shortages,then it is a failure on the part of the UK govt

if this happened in naija u will be the first to blame naija govt
sorry i hurt your feeling about your beloved uk

Will this bring Yar Adua back or stop Boko Haram and Kala Kato? Are Nigerians in the UK the reason why the country is doing badly?
You really display a serious lack of intelligence. So Nigerians who live abroad can no longer criticise the rubbish going on there, or they have no right to contributing to making Nigeria a paradise?
Boy you are really st'upid.

This is the time for Russia to flex their muscles as the gas comes from there.

Meanwhile, I'm loving the weather. Long may it continue.

Ignorance is an STD!!!!

mister no 1 UK defender,welcome to the thread. . .just dont freeze to death as u take off your gloves to type rubbish

Boy you are really st'upid.

i guarantee u that pound for pound,word for word i am more intelligent than u are . .

OMO IBO:

This is the time for Russia to flex their muscles as the gas comes from there.

Meanwhile, I'm loving the weather. Long may it continue.

Little UK gas comes from Russia - it comes mostly from Norway, the North Sea and LNG imports from Qatar.

There's no gas shortage, the only thing needed is increased storage capacity.

The weather should continue. . . . this is like normal weather in Canada and everyone is freaking out.

~Bluetooth:

Lwkmd
this must be global colding

Well, I would rather thank the Almighty that most of Africa was spared!!!

debosky:

Little UK gas comes from Russia - it comes mostly from Norway, the North Sea and LNG imports from Qatar.

There's no gas shortage, the only thing needed is increased storage capacity.

The weather should continue. . . . this is like normal weather in Canada and everyone is freaking out.

Oh Debosky, give it a rest.
A  considerable quantity of gas used in the UK comes from Russia.
Infact, Russia supplies Europe with gas.

UK must tackle reliance on Russia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2809383/UK-must-tackle-reliance-on-Russia.html

debosky:

Little UK gas comes from Russia - it comes mostly from Norway, the North Sea and LNG imports from Qatar.

There's no gas shortage, the only thing needed is increased storage capacity.

The weather should continue. . . . this is like normal weather in Canada and everyone is freaking out.

I am saying the same thing. I think they aren't equipped for a tad inch of snow or something hence the out cry as if the world is coming to an end. LOL

Hopes of deep cuts in heating bills for British homes before the winter is out were evaporating yesterday after Russia turned off the gas supply to neighbouring Ukraine over alleged payment arrears, raising concern about the security of supplies throughout Europe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/02/russia-ukraine-gas-war-eu

The moment Russia turn off the gas, we all freeze to death.

OMO IBO:

Oh Desbosky, give it a rest.
A  considerable quantity of gas used in the UK comes from Russia.
Infact, Russia supplies Europe with gas.

UK must tackle reliance on Russia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2809383/UK-must-tackle-reliance-on-Russia.html

How much UK gas comes in through Russia? It seems you are able to quote articles but unable to read and comprehend. My assertion stands - little UK gas comes from Russia - most of it is from Norway and the North Sea UK production.

While actions of Russia will affect gas prices worldwide (including the UK) because it is a major supplier, it does not have as much of an impact on actual UK supplies.

debosky:

How much UK gas comes in through Russia? It seems you are able to quote articles but unable to read and comprehend. My assertion stands - little UK gas comes from Russia - most of it is from Norway and the North Sea UK production.

While actions of Russia will affect gas prices worldwide (including the UK) because it is a major supplier, it does not have as much of an impact on actual UK supplies.

You are now being deliberately obtuse despite the links I provided.

Can you please tell us/me how much gas comes from Norway and the North Sea??

OMO IBO:

Oh Debosky, give it a rest.
A  considerable quantity of gas used in the UK comes from Russia.
Infact, Russia supplies Europe with gas.

UK must tackle reliance on Russia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2809383/UK-must-tackle-reliance-on-Russia.html

If  you know how this una idiotic copy and paste irritates me. How do you vermins manage in life if you can't comprehend the simplest of articles. The headline notwithstanding, the article does not show that  ''a considerable quantity of gas used in the UK comes from Russia''. That's just complete hogwash.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Infrastructure restrictions mean that Gazprom supplies about 2pc of UK gas, but this will rise to 10pc and then 15pc in the short to medium term.

Here is another excerpt from another article

At present, Britain imports negligible quantities of gas from Russia but that is about to change.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2009/12/02/2474976.html

Effectively, at the moment, a very small amount of UK gas comes from Russia but this will change in the future. No need to garnish the story by claiming that a considerable quantity of gas comes from Russia.

paddy_lo:

mister no 1 UK defender,welcome to the thread. . .just dont freeze to death as u take off your gloves to type rubbish

What a retard. . . .
You are comparing United Kingdom to the hamlet you stay where gas is a rare commodity.
Has anyone complained that they turned ON their gas and nothing came forth?

It's a disgrace the so called graduates Nigeria produce are half-baked.
You cannot decipher a simple article less than 300 words. . . .All you conclude was there is scarcity of gas in the UK.
I don't join issues with morons whose IQs are at par with their shoe-sizes.

OMO IBO:

You are now being deliberately obtuse despite the links I provided.

Can you please tell us/me how much gas comes from Norway and the North Sea??

If you insist - http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6935708.ece

That article clearly tells you, that ONLY in 2012 will 4% of UK gas come from Russia. At present, most of the gas imported comes from Norway. UK's OWN North sea production meets 50% of domestic use. One single pipeline from Norway has capacity to supply 20% of UK demand. Stick to facts and not alarmist article headings.

4 Play:

If  you know how this una idiotic copy and paste irritates me. How do you vermins manage in life if you can't comprehend the simplest of articles. The headline notwithstanding, the article does not show that  ''a considerable quantity of gas used in the UK comes from Russia''. That's just complete hogwash.

Effectively, at the moment, a very small amount of UK gas comes from Russia but this will change in the future. No need to garnish the story by claiming that a considerable quantity of gas comes from Russia.

Ol boy I tire oh - these copy and paste exponents na real wah. Even after providing evidence, blind arguing persists.

4 Play, You are a certifed bas.tard.
If you read through the entire piece, i'm sure you'd have seen this:

While the West needs Russian gas, Gazprom also needs markets outside Russia. As Spelman puts: "Europe is preoccupied with security of supply, but Russia is preoccupied with security of demand."

OMO IBO:

4 Play, You are a certifed naughty person.
If you read through the entire piece, i'm sure you'd have seen this:

What is your point? As little as 2% of UK consumption comes from Russia at the moment - that is LITTLE by any stretch of the imagination.

The 'West', in case you failed to realise, is not made up solely of the UK.

What a retard. . . .
You are comparing United Kingdom to the hamlet you stay where gas is a rare commodity.
Has anyone complained that they turned ON their gas and nothing came forth?

It's a disgrace the so called graduates Nigeria produce are half-baked.
You cannot decipher a simple article less than 300 words. . . .All you conclude was there is scarcity of gas in the UK.
I don't join issues with morons whose IQs are at par with their shoe-sizes.

na today . . . .?
b4 u finish to dey speak big grammer,make u make sure say cold no finish u for there

Bloody Tossers.
Read before you post balderdash.

Russian gas destined for the British market would be piped through the Netherlands and Belgium, across the North Sea via pipelines that run to Bacton in Norfolk.

Desbosky, is this what you mean by Uk gas come from the North Sea?

Calling Paddy Lo a retard is an insult to retards.

@Omo Ibo

OMO IBO:

4 Play, You are a certifed naughty person.
If you read through the entire piece, i'm sure you'd have seen this:While the West needs Russian gas, Gazprom also needs markets outside Russia. As Spelman puts: "Europe is preoccupied with security of supply, but Russia is preoccupied with security of demand."

Can you stop trying to save face, you have been shown up to be absolutely clueless. So that Europe depends on Russia automatically means that UK imports from Russia are anything but negligible at the moment? I suppose the UK is a synonym for Europe.

paddy_lo:

na today . . . .?
b4 u finish to dey speak big grammer,make u make sure say cold no finish u for there

U have a better chance of seeing snow in Sokoto than the cold killing me here. . . . .
Don't compare my breed with your kind.
Ewu Ara!!!

OMO IBO:

Bloody Tossers.
Read before you post balderdash.

Desbosky, is this what you mean by Uk gas come from the North Sea?

The UK produces gas in the North Sea. This is UK domestic gas. Did you eat an extra bowl of idiocy this morning? What a shameless ignoramus.