Thundersnow is quite an unusual event in these parts (Angus in Scotland). I was awakened at 3:20 AM this morning by a very loud flash bang and thought that the North Korean thingy had kicked off (no James Blunt to save the day this time around), but it was just Thundersnow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11857086

Winter has arrived very very early this year.

Edit Looks like someone has already posted a youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aNmGrkk5rM

The Thundersnow has now being ongoing since about 3 am this morning well into this afternoon. i.e. more than 12hrs.

12 hours!!..here in Minnesota we have thundersnow every few years but never for anymore than 15-20 minutes,and even then it's just booming in soft, heavy,warm snowfalls.

The thunder snow lightning took out Tayside Police Headquarters at 6:30am this morning, taking out their telecoms and central radio communication transmissions.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/tayside/212556-police-headquarters-struck-by-lightning/

There have been substantial snow falls as well, with the main Dundee to Aberdeen motorway route now impassible. Much of the motorway network thoughout Scotland is now very difficult to use.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11856694

Reports are that another 10-12 inches of snow are due in the next 24 hrs. The UK has just had the coldest recorded November night ever recorded at -18C in North Wales with Scotland slighty warmer at -15C.

Now if this happened in the London area it would be a National emergency!!

I'm now going off to watch the film 'The Day after Tomorrow' to get some tips on how to survive.

I guess this might be what we ran into snow skiing at Vail many years ago. We rode the lift to the top of the mountain. It was a blizzard up there, you couldn't see anything. Then lightening came. I had never run into that before in a snowstorm. They closed the lifts right after we hit the top and the ski patrol corralled everybody together into a controlled group kept us skiing down the hill as fast as the group could make it.

I would welcome snow any way I could get it! I have the snowshoes cleaned up, the cross country skis ready and the downhill skis are set as well. The snow is usually about 140 miles, uphill from here, This year there is little to none so far. I remember going ski touring on Halloween before and these days almost no snow all winter.

I have seen the thundersnow thing before and it was at the top of a ski lift and while no one was overly concerned, I made for the bottom of the hill ASAP. Being the highest point it a few hundred miles is not safe in a thunderstorm. Cheers!

Like it was said above we get them in Minnesotat every few years. It really isn't anything major though.

The thundersnow was something like this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7864183.stm

but much louder and more intense.

You can see one of the towns Wind turbines being struck 3 times in around 20 sec.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Dundee/...-lightning.html

The thundersnow lasted around 12 hrs.

Apparently some light snow has fallen inside the M25 ring road around London and we are now beginning to see a National Emergency starting to take shape.

Good luck -- looks like a serious storm. Eight inches is a lot of snow for a major metropolitan area. Looks like Washington, D.C. residents aren't the only ones who get a crazed hankering for milk and eggs when snowflakes fall.

Lots of photos (including roads and empty grocery shelves) at this link:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-late-work.html


Millions are facing nightmare journey home from work as forecasters predict EIGHT INCHES of snow tonight

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:01 PM on 1st December 2010


Woman dies after falling into freezing lake in West Yorkshire
Body of man in his 50s pulled from stream in Surrey
Eight inches of snow forecast tonight for London and South East
900 flights cancelled as Gatwick and Edinburgh airports close

Shops running out of basics as lorries struggle to deliver

Passengers stranded overnight on freezing trains in South East
Police advise people not to go out unless absolutely necessary
Temperatures set to fall to -6c, with winds making it feel even colder

The weather in Scotland at this time is extremely unusual for this time of year. Forecast overnight temperatures for the next couple of days could get as low as -25C inland and around -10C to -15C on the easterly coastal areas. This is unheard off at the start of December mainly due to the country surrounded by relatively warm water from the Atlantic gulf stream. i.e. the coldest time of year should be a couple of months away at the beginning or February.

Today there has been no newspaper deliveries and the supermarket has run completely out of bread. Milk and eggs were still available. What was interesting was that there was plenty of bread flour and bread yeast available still. I guess folks don't know what bread is made from.

The main road to the main supermarket was littered with abandoned cars at the side of the road and the snow ploughs/gritting lorries were have difficulty clearing the road of snow. Public transportation within the city of Dundee is only able to run a very limited service on the main roads which can be kept open with the snow clearing vehicles.



Snow piled 8 feet high at the local Supermarket attempting to keep the car park open. There were very few vehicles able to make it to this supermarket, the ones that were able to get there were the 4x4s. One little tip if walking to and from the supermarket in 12-18 inches of snow is to not use traditional shopping bags as they drag along in the snow. Best to use a large capacity backpack as it is a lot easier to haul 50-60lbs of shopping over 2-3 miles in the snow.

The problem is you guys are using lorries. We should send you some trucks.

Wasn't it Winston Churchill who said the British and the Americans are separated by a common language? By the way I think "gritting lorry" is a fabulous term.... I presume that it is what is known in our language as a "sand truck".