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MG MGA - Snow in the UK

Just read a report issue 15min. ago, that the UK is expected to have its worst snowfall in 50 years.
Lets see who from the UK is first to publish a shot of their MGA in the snow...must be a photo taken in the last 24 hours!
Gary Lock

I would if I could get it out of the garage. Door frozen shut. Our part of the UK up here on the north west coast rarely gets snow. Last time 15 years ago. We are normally protected by the warm Gulf stream. This weather is from the opposite direction - Siberia and we have been sub zero for 3 weeks now. We had our snow up here yesterday, only about 3 inches. Sunny here now but still sub zero. It is South England that is getting a good pasting as I type. I believe most of Europe is the same.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve, now's the good time to do a consumer test on anti-freeze!
Gary Lock

We've had three feet here! Had a struggle negotiating this pass. Mike


m.j. moore

Tons of snow in the South with the usual immediate shutdown or severe disruption to most public services!
Bruce
Bruce Mayo

I am at work today in Brussels with the MGA, minus 4 degrees but the snow that came down on Sunday night is now mostly gone from the roads. More is expected so I may get a photo yet!!
Unfortunately I have no winter tyres on the car but I have some plans to do so for next winter.
Neil
Neil Purves

Nice one Mike. Very clever.

Steve
Steve Gyles

You've ruined that model now Mike!!
Cam Cunningham

I could not resist the challenge! Got the garage door open and went for a spin - literally. Our side roads are sheer ice. Nevertheless, got a photo in our adjacent village of Wrea Green.

Steve


Steve Gyles

Just looking at the photo, I think the church, pub and school could do with some roof insulation!

Steve
Steve Gyles

Is the treatment for Frostbitten ears and nose just as painful as they say it is Steve?
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Steve, you are indeed a brave soul. I'd gladly buy you a pint to warm up with if I was there. Great photo though, I'll save it into my slide show.
Bill Young

Well done Steve - our slip road is literally that - a sheet of ice - cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

for those interested, 40 plus degrees in Adelaide South Australia for the next 4 days !! Think I'd swap.
Matthew
M S Randell

Looks good..the snow...and 40 sounds a wee bit hot....but lived in both and latter still better. After coming to Oz and previously living in UK, Holland and Norway it was a delight to find that shoes lasted forever and MGAs without the dreaded internal rust affliction forever eating outwards. Just read that the UK might run out of salt for the roads. I am sure the car industry will subsidise imports...
Neil Ferguson

Well done Steve and Mike...equal first prize! BTW Mike, should get some new tyres on that car, as it looks like a sideways slide! (what model is it?)
Gary Lock

Minus 9 outside my house this morning. The national weather service is reporting minus 20 in some of its observation stations. Most unusual for the UK. Could be like this for another month or so they say.

Neil, the local authorities usually hold have stocks of salt for normal winters. This is extreme for the UK. We have a massive salt mine in Cheshire that supplies most our needs. It must be working overtime. Most of our gas is imported now the the North Sea wells are running low. You will need to start selling us your supplies in Oz. I understand you have huge reserves.

Off to buy candles for the forthcoming power cuts!

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve, I'm sure you can use four of those Shelley jacks on each corner of the A, and rig up some sort of generator to the rear wheels..sufficent for all your heating needs at least...and you can enjoy driving the A at the same time! (at least sitting in the drivers seat).
Gary Lock

The temperature at Woodford (about 2 miles from here) was still -15C (5F) at 9.00 am. Dread to think what it was during the night and I am now wondering if I have enough antifreeze in the radiator. I am stealing myself to go and lie on a concrete floor and run off some water so I can add more. My garage is not heated and is not attached to the house. There is about 8 inches of snow lying on the drive and it goes uphill so the car will not be moving out in the foreseeable future.

I have driven the A in the snow in previous winters and it was, shall we say, a bit of a handful. It really fills you with massive respect for those who drove them on winter Alpine and Monte Carlo rallies.
Malcolm Asquith

Malcolm

You are right. I did not enjoy handling the MGA on the sheet ice on the road outside. I had been out earlier in the Merc (also rear wheel drive) and had no problem. The A is so light at the back end; no grip. I had to stop at a T junction at end of the road on the way back and I could not get going again in first or second gear with low revs. I managed to back it up onto the pavement where it was just snow and drove round the corner, getting momentum before coming back on the road!

Steve
Steve Gyles

Just remember chaps that when our American and Canadian friends start banging on about their snow and ice we MGA owners in the UK can now say 'yes we know we've been there'!!
J H Cole

Yes I agree Gary I need a new set of tyres. I blame my grandaughter who keeps chewing them! Mike
m.j. moore

JH, the difference is that here we're expecting the cold, snow, and ice in the winter so we're prepared for it and have all the infrastructure in place to deal with it. Most vehicles wear winter tires from November through to April. The plows are out clearing the streets as soon as it starts to snow and normally spread salt/sand ahead of the weather.
Andy Bounsall

I do understand Andy but you know how the British like to struggle alone against the elements -the worst in living memory etc. Just to make it a little harder we only keep a modest supply of grit and in the south there's only 3 days supply left and the cold is predicted to last another 12 days. I wonder if America could do us a lease lend deal on salt!
J H Cole

"Global Freezing" has hit the Southern Hemisphere as well! These 3 MGAs were trapped in yesterday's snow fall at Mr Buller in the Victorian high country.


Mike Ellsmore

Mike, I wish that photo had a time and date on it!! What was the temperature there yesterday?...40C!
Gary Lock

Think I'll stay on the coast....43deg c down here...and to think it only about 130km away...!!
Damn this poisonous CO2 gas that is changing our climate.....
Neil Ferguson

Steve, that is a really neat looking village. I spent a couple of years in Cambridge in the late '60s, I miss it to this day!

I live in the foothills south west of Lake Tahoe and drive an SUV as a courier for the US Veterans Administration. My route takes me from Auburn, Ca to Reno, Nv and on to outlying medical clinics in Nevada. I drive about 1200 miles per 4 day week. Bottom line is it is finally (rain and snow have tapered off over the last few years, we are getting worried about our water supply) snowing here, expecting between 2 and 3 feet over the summit and around Lake Tahoe. My Maggie is in the garage until this weekend, I'll take my wife out for a cruise if the weather clears. BTW, the coldest on my route so far has been -16F through Truckee, CA north of Lake Tahoe. Don't touch the windows!

Sorry about the change in the Gulf Stream, the world wide increase in temperature is no myth. The impacts to our lives and our children's lives will be substantial.

I wish I had a picture to show, My MGa has not even been out in wet weather since 1973. Be careful out there!!
Russ
Russ Carnes

Russ, the world temperatures change every few million years, so this is nothing new. If you wait long enough, they will come down again....and really, what is normal?
Gary Lock

This thread is making a not so slow 'drift' into things 'climate change'. So let me get in a personal opinion and my own slant ( and I am an offshore oil industry engineer so not biased).
It is time to cease using coal and oil and other fossil fuels for base energy whether they are contributing to the planet climate or not ( and hindsight will be the judge of the whether they are...but we cant wait for that! ). To me this takes pollutants out of the air( and I don't include CO2 in this category ),oilis a diminishing resource ( and needs to be kept for specialised tasks like powering our MGAs ) and the baddies have too much of it. So a win-win-win...
As an aside it is interesting to note that history shows clearly the great advances for the human species have been during periods of global warming...but latter did involve sea level rises,migration etc etc ....climate and nature are not stagnant as many folk seem to believe ( including the ever growing Al Gore).
But enough of all this drivel and talk of 'Speckled Hen' beer ( horrible whether warm or cold) it is time to start technical threads about MGAs again and get off the pulpit...
Where would you put the batteries and motors for an electric conversion for the MGA?
Neil Ferguson

Some old Courier and Ives greeting cards depicted people ice skating on the Thames river in London. So in spite of current cool weather in the UK, you might consider that it isn't even back down to "normal yet".

Barney Gaylord

And I was out driving on3rd January, a beautiful (cold) but sunny day.
dominic clancy

The thaw is nigh. Yippee. Rain forecast. Great MGA weather! Get the salt washed off.

Steve
Steve Gyles

The difference a week makes. Thaw complete on the Fylde. A blistering 7 degrees and the sun is shining.

Steve


Steve Gyles

LOL Gary

Let me put this too you: how do you know the earth's temperature is cyclonic?
Have you monitored it personally over millions of years?

Of course you haven't you are like the rest of the doubting Thomas's you take the word of Scientists! The same scientists who are explaining to you that the worlds climate is changing over and above normal cyclonic effect.. LOL

Why do you choose only to believe part of the story?

The strange thing about Australia is it's import controls. They do not allow ANY organic matter to be brought into the country, Why? because even with the enormous size of the continent, a small amount of virus(polution by another name) can change the country unrecognisably and they are unwilling to take that gamble, the worlds climate is no different.
Nice one Russ.
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Rob, I'm sure you would be welcome into Australia. organic or not! At least we are all sensible, and it would be terribly boring if we all had the same view of life.
Gary Lock

I had a clear day on Saturday, took Maggie out for an hour or so for grins, warm up, and charge up. Weather was mid 40s F and partly cloudy. We live just below the snow line so we got 2.75 inches of rain yesterday! Now it's snowing like crazy in the Northern Sierras all this week, expecting 10 to 12 feet of snow over the high passes! Wind gusts have been up to 58 mph, combined with snow means whiteout conditions and getting pushed right off of the road. Time to stay home by the wood stove!
Russ
Russ Carnes

I don't know where this is, but I think it's Michigan's UP:




Mike Parker

Brrrr!
Russ Carnes

This thread was discussed between 06/01/2010 and 20/01/2010

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