Snow threat gone... for now

I barely managed my journey to work this morning. I dare say a number of you experienced similar problems?

After removing what seemed a ton of thick snow from my car at 0330hrs here in Bradley Stoke (at least 5cm of wet snow having fallen by then), it proved almost impossible to actually reverse onto the road.

Ten minutes later, I was breathing a major sigh of relief and tip-toeing my way around an almost deserted and decidely slippery Almondsbury interchange, have chosen to take the (longer but well-gritted) M5-M4-M32 motorway route to Clifton this time... the idea of tackling Bristol's snowbound urban streets across the likes of Horfield and Redland didn't seem altogether clever. Or safe.

There's a well-known early '90's Hollywood film, Groundhog Day, about a beleaguered local TV weatherman - Phil - played by Bill Murray. And over the past week or more, I've felt like I'm actually in it.

I've lost count of how many times I've been scraping snow and/or ice off my car at highly unsociable hours in the morning and disturbing the neighbourhood with the sound of a frantically-revving engine.

Am I actually getting rather sick of snow? Possibly.

But only because I'm experiencing (as well as forecasting) a few of very same difficulties shared by so many others across the nation: in my case,getting to work in a safe and timely fashion; but for many others, running a business; keeping roads, rail and runways clear; maintaining vital emergency services or for that matter, trying to take important exams as schools routinely remain shut.

A rare escape from the studio this morning, as veteran cameraman Richard Clutterbuck films a robin singing amongst the picturesque snow of Brandon Hill (while producer Robert Wicks and I try not to scare it away).

I had far more fun, thankfully, later this morning - filming snowy scenes on Bristol's Brandon Hill.

I rarely get out of the studio, so the opportunity to present a documentary feature being filmed for BBC ONE, about extremes of seasonal weather here in the West, came as a welcome break.

It'll be screened sometime in September as part of a week-long strand of BBC programming dedicated to British weather. We decided to take the opportunity of snowfall while it lasted, and get some early pieces to camera and other sequences 'in the can'.

A good call, I think: because for the next 24hrs, our concern turns to different hazards including fog, ice and freezing rain; with some very wet, windy and notably milder weather then setting-in for Saturday.

With increased snow melt and the potential for heavy rain, for sure we'll see a lot of standing water through Saturday and a risk of localised flooding.

Beyond that - after the somewhat milder weekend interlude - next week's forecast keeps hinting at colder weather potentially establishing itself again.

I'm far from convinced that my personal version of Groundhog Day (i.e., the snowy variety) is over for this winter....ice scrapers at the ready and watch this space!