30 December 2009

The Coldest Winter in the West of Ireland

...or so it seems. Nobody here can remember another winter with so much frost and ice for such a long time.
All over the Christmas period, many people were housebound as walking outside or driving was hazardous. A thick icy blanket formed on every yard, path, minor road and pavement, and with Ireland not being used to this kind of weather, it stayed there. Environmentally dangerous salt was deposited on the main roads by gritting trucks, but all the minor roads and pavement remained covered in ice.
Old people couldn't leave their houses for fear of having an accident and even younger people had a difficult time getting about. There were lots of accidents on the roads and how many people slipped and injured themselves is anybody's guess. I myself fell twice on the ice and I know of an old man who died after slipping and falling at Christmas.
The worst thing was that the ice was melting and when the frost came back, it would freeze over again. This happening several days in a row and resulted in a shiny and extremely slippery surface covering just about everything outside.
And just as the last of the ice was melting away, the snow started coming down.
This evening, things are not too bad as the snow has started melting (in our area, that is), but the night is supposed to be cold again. That being the case, we could find ourselves on another ice skating rink tomorrow morning.


Vitamin World

2 comments:

Midnite Skys said...

I was lucky this last snow storm I had the 2 days off when it was blowing up a storm.. I just stayed in and hibernated! We had accidents and that mess but not the refreezing like you did.... stay safe!!

Unknown said...

Oh, that's too bad. Well, as you mentioned it is very dangerous while driving. Hope you are OK after the fall.

Anyways, a Happy New Year to you! May your place be snow-free soon!