Weather problems and snow in UK?

[HAQQAH]

Why are we still struggling to cope with extreme weather and especially snow in the southern UK where Heathrow and gatwick as well as surrounding airports experience severe delays and closures due to snow?

I've been to airports where conditions are far worse such as Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm but they still somehow manage to operate efficiently! Can someone shed some light on this??

What are they doing that we aren't? I am very curious...

[Musket90]

Possibly the type of snow in the places you mention is dry unlike the UK where it is normally wet. In dry snow it can often be compacted and therefore the runway can be used safely with the compacted snow surface. Also dry snow is lightweight and can be easily cleared. With wet snow it becomes slushy very quickly and therefore is not acceptable for safe operations. Also wet snow has to be cleared before it freezes otherwise the runway suface ends up being like an an ice rink.

When busy runways are closed in the UK for snow clearance in the above situations, particularly for lengthy periods, it will cause significant disruption to schedules at airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted where runway utilisation is high.

UK airports nomally plan to clear runways of all snow/slush contamination for the reasons given above.

[SawMan]

Wet and dry snow are very different things. Here in the SE US, us locals like to listen to the northerners who move here talk about how good they drive in the snow. We take bets on how far they will get up the road before skidding just for fun :p and it's rarely far. Plus we have our own indigenous brand of idiots who aren't any better though they should know better by now. Wet snow is no-go, but dry you can try.

[Piltdown Man]

I'm afraid one part of the answer is very simple. In the southern part of the UK there are very few days with snow. A snow plough/brush/blower device costs in the region of £400,000 and they come in packs - five or six at a time and an airport like LHR might require 20 or so of theses machines. Each has to be crewed and the drivers trained. In addition, stockpiles of chemicals (with 'best before dates') have to be built up and stored somewhere. And we also have to make it possible for the people who perform the snow clearing to get to work. This has to be paid for by the passengers who use the airport. To ensure a 'worthwhile' response, someone has to sign off several millions of pounds every year - and I think they are probably correct in not doing do.

The remaining part of the answer is responsibility. Historically, UK airports are very reluctant to offer pilots up to date braking action reports - so as soon as any contamination occurs, those who should be able to provide information develop a severe case of 'sloping shoulders'. So unless the runway is cleared 'back to black' the runway becomes effectively unusable because nobody wants to take responsibility for passing on any information which they might become financially liable for. Yet another of the costs of living in a compensation culture.

Solutions: Pay more for your ticket and strangle anyone who thinks compo lawyers are good people.

PM