[theo_luddite]

After a week of snow that became ice with more snow on top, (a week of this in Wolvo is almost unheard of) just before it all thawed out we got the heaviest dump of snow I can recall down here in 30+ years last night. My once proud humungous rosemary bush couldn't take the strain and has collapsed in a heap. The loppers are going to be busy in the next few weeks as the damson tree also needs reigning back a it too. The severial inches (in old money) of snow is rapidly thawing, turning the whole area into a treacherous slush puppy with deep hidden puddles under the snow waiting for the unwary.

Rain now forecast for the rest of the evening but overnight temperatures down to -4° means it's likely going to be more Torvill and Dean than Eddie the Eagle down here in the morning.

Good luck to anyone going over or under The Pennines tomorrow. It actually looks like it will be a degree or two warmer oop Noooerth tomorrow than down here. Whether or not they've got their pitch covered is another matter. If they've one of them big balloons you can blow warm air into it should be OK, otherwise tarps alone won't stop the pitch from freezing, if it's not already frozen.