Snow! The Series [Books 1-4]

by Clifford, Ryan

  ‘Prime Minister, may I have a couple of minutes. There is something happening with the weather about which you should be apprised.’

  ‘Yes, yes, of course, please come in Phillip – sit down.’

  ‘Thank you Prime Minister, I’ve also taken the liberty of bringing up George Greene, who is a Meteorologist attached to the BBC. He has some rather alarming news.’

  The PPS ushered in the weatherman and they laid out the map on the dining table, after clearing away some papers.

  ‘Good morning, Mr Greene,’ countered the PM and walked over to the table. ‘What’s happening then? I can see it's snowing but I haven’t watched television for at least twenty four hours, so I’m in the dark so to speak.’

  Greene looked up and after getting an encouraging nod from the PPS began to talk:

  ‘Good morning, Prime Minister and congratulations by the way. However, any celebrations may have to wait as the UK weather is about to cause us some very serious problems. The weather HQ at Bracknell has been monitoring a rapidly developing and a rather unique weather pattern that is engulfing the UK. A large low-pressure system has transitted the Atlantic, and is, as a matter of interest, the back end of Hurricane Francis that devastated New York last weekend. This now sits two hundred miles off the west coast of Ireland and is rapidly slowing to a halt. It's bringing pretty bad weather. In addition, there is a very large high-pressure system sitting over Spain which has been bringing them glorious weather for some weeks now. In fact, this high pressure extends across the Med up into Austria and Poland. In between that high and the UK is another low that is trapped over the Netherlands’

  His hands pointed vaguely to the relevant areas of the map as he continued.

  ‘If that wasn’t bad enough, there is another low sitting over Iceland moving slowly south towards Scotland. In essence, we are surrounded. All three of these low-pressure systems are very deep and are bringing severe wintry weather to the UK. To add to the problem, the residue of the Icelandic volcano eruption of last month is now sitting like a cover over the top of the whole shooting match. Basically, we are boxed in’.

  The PM took in the situation and fired several short, sharp questions at George Greene, who clarified and underlined the essential points.

  ‘Could we have foreseen this?’ the PM asked the PPS.

  ‘Possibly, Prime Minister, but it's too late now for recriminations. The situation is already upon us and, quite frankly, I’m extremely concerned. Essentially, we have no government in place to deal with this. The snow started last night and just fifteen hours later communications and travel infrastructures are starting to break down. I have been monitoring the situation, and this is not just a brief snowfall that will melt and allow everyone to get back to normal in a few days. This is a major life-threatening issue and we’ve been caught on the hop. You’ve been busy with the fallout from the election and this situation has just sort of crept up on us. The question is – what do we do about it?’

  The Prime Minister swept his thick brown hair back with his hand and turned to George Greene.

  ‘What’s the bottom line here Mr Greene? What’s the worst case scenario? How much snow can fall here – can't be more than a few feet, surely?’

  Greene sucked his teeth, thought for a few seconds and replied.

  ‘It's ominous, Prime Minister. Unless the high pressure over Spain collapses and allows the three low-pressure systems to move eastwards, the UK is going to be trapped in a massive area of hard, wind-driven snow. I estimate that it could be a week or more before the skies clear. Temperatures are going to drop dramatically, perhaps to minus twenty degrees Celsius or worse. Snow will build up rapidly and we could have as much as five or six feet of snow nationwide – with some areas up to ten or twelve feet deep. As I said, it's bad – very bad. As a matter of interest and comparison, in one town in Alaska in November, eighteen feet of snow fell. The record for a season – about three months - is 1,259 inches!’

  ‘That's only ten feet or so – not an issue!’ blurted the PM.

  George Green smiled thinly at the PPS and re-addressed the new British leader.

  ‘No sir, that's not ten feet, your maths are slightly in error, it's one hundred feet! – which, to give you an analogy, is about enough to cover a ten-storey building!’

  The PM hung his head. This was not what he needed on ‘Day One’ of his Prime Ministership. It was a disaster – in more ways than one. The bloody press would have a field day.

  ‘Are you absolutely sure, Mr Greene. You’re not over-reacting to protect your position, are you? We all know that can happen for the best of motives,’ glancing at the PPS.

  Greene looked dismayed and answered sharply.

  ‘Not at all, Prime Minister, we would have come to you sooner but all day yesterday you were just not available. So I repeat. This is very, very serious. This could be the worst storm that the UK has ever seen. There is also a large ‘blocking’ high-pressure system out to the west of the UK which – as the name implies – is blocking the normal west to east progress of Atlantic weather systems. Everything is just deflecting around us.’

  The PM walked away and sat down.

  ‘Thank you Mr Greene, I meant no offence. Please leave us now and I’d be obliged if you could remain in No 10 until further notice.’

  The Met man filed out, after passing a typed report to the PPS, leaving him and the PM alone and in silence. After a full minute the PM spoke.

  ‘Right, Phillip, I’m the new boy and you’re the long term professional with years of experience. What do we do now?’

  The PPS frowned and answered as calmly as he could.

  ‘Well, sir, first of all I would invite Sir Ian to join us – he has just arrived for his luncheon appointment. I think we are going to need his advice. Perhaps you should read this report from Mr Greene?’

  ‘Yes, of course, Phillip. Call him up and let’s see what we can do to save the country - and my career - from this snow’.

  Day 2

  Met Office Snow News Report – for PPS to PM

  Greene’s report contained excepts from the Associated Press to amplify his concern:

  ‘Extreme winter weather has left one Alaskan town battling huge snowdrifts and forced another to seek fuel supplies from a Russian tanker.

  National Guard troops are in Cordova, helping the town dig out after fresh snowfalls on Tuesday added to the 18ft (5.5m) that has fallen since November.

  A US Coast Guard icebreaker and a Russian tanker are trying to resupply the town of Nome, cut off by thick sea ice. The town is running out of fuel after a previous storm blocked a shipment.

  Shifting ice up to three feet thick in the area is hindering the process, forcing the ice-breaker to double back to recut the path.

  ‘The scale of the rescue and supply mission is unprecedented for the US Coast Guard in the Arctic,’ Commander Greg Talapa told the Associated Press. If they succeed, they would be the first ships to make a delivery to western Alaska in the depths of winter. Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley said the two vessels were less than 100 miles (160km) from Nome on Tuesday afternoon, having covered only fifty-three miles on Monday.

  A severe autumn storm prevented the usual pre-winter delivery of fuel before the town was iced-in and cut-off until spring. Temperatures regularly drop below zero Fahrenheit (-18 C) in January.

  In Cordova, a fishing town only accessible by air and water in winter, fresh snow on Tuesday added to the burden of the town's 2,200 residents. Dozens of National Guard soldiers are helping dig out drifts in order to keep municipal buildings, including the hospital, open and make sure residents can leave their homes.

  Earlier heavy falls of snow were followed over the weekend by rain that weighed down the snow, creating dangerous conditions. Pressure on the ice is so great that the icebreaker has needed to circle back to reopen the path.

  Some roofs in the town have collapsed or caved in under the weight of up to seven feet of snow. "This is epic. Thi
s is snow in amounts and weights that we are not used to and it's difficult to handle," Wendy Rainy, who works in the Orca Adventure Lodge in Cordova, told the BBC.

  "The road to our airport has been closed again due to danger of avalanche and when there's high winds, the boats cannot dock in Cordova, so I'd have to say pretty much at this point we're cut off." Drifts from the pitched roof of one restaurant slid off and broke the roof of a back shed. A bank building also suffered an interior buckled wall. No injuries have been reported so far in the town, but Alaska officials declared a state of emergency on Friday. National Guard troops arrived on Sunday to begin digging out.

  Cordova is estimated to have received 18 to 20 feet of snow in the past sixty days, Mr Madden said.

  "It's the right time of the year for storms, but we have had so many", he said, adding that the town has been hit by three separate storms within the past seven days.’

  Met Office Comment:

  It should be noted that any rescue attempts anywhere can only commence or continue when there are regular breaks in the weather – i.e. the snow doesn’t fall continuously. In addition, the residents in Alaska are prepared mentally, physically and have excellent winter resources. The UK does not have those luxuries.

  In addition, Prime Minister, you may or may not be aware of the PARKA scale which has been devised by the Met Office at Bracknell to assess specific nation’s abilities to withstand sustained periods of snow.

  P: Preparedness – how ready is the country’s infrastructure and administration to cope with severe snowfall.

  A: Amount – How much snow actually settles over a specific period.

  R: Relief – Days snowfall before a break, so to attempt partial recovery.

  K: Knowledge – Readiness of the population to cope based on indigenous experience.

  A: Ability – Psychological and physical ability to survive prolonged snowfall.

  Each category is scored out of 10 and converted to a scale. High scores show a lesser ability to maintain order. A score of over .66 indicates a severe inability to sustain life.

  For example, Sweden scores as follows:

  P:1A:7R:6K:2A:3Total:19 = .38

  United States – East Coast

  P:3A:6R:4K:5A:5Total:23= .46

  Cyprus

  P:5A:3R:2K:6A:6Total:22= .44

  Now, look at the United Kingdom 7 days hence:

  P:8A:7R:7K:7A:7Total:36= .72

  As you will note, the UK is particularly poorly placed to cope with sustained snowfall - (we are already .48 in snow free conditions). In our opinion, based on the scale above, within a week, casualties will start to grow beyond the control of governmental infrastructure.’

  Day 2 – En-Route to Paddington – 9:30am

  Pardeep sat in the train carriage, engulfed with lethargy, caused by cold controlling his thoughts and actions. The weather outside continued to rage, and the snow now obscured the windows completely on one side of the train. Pardeep, with great effort, stirred himself. He stood up and walked into the corridor, looking into the sidings. There were many trains now covered in snow – their logos and graffiti stained sides obliterated. He could see no train wheels at all and soon this side of the train would be obscured as well.

  He must get out. Even if it meant freezing to death out there. There might just be a building close by – now out of sight – but maybe railway workers were just metres away supping great mugs of hot tea. Maybe.

  He looked up and down the corridor and saw the fire extinguisher. There was only one option. He wrenched it from its holder and grabbed it firmly by the nozzle end. Standing between two outside windows, with his back to the passageway wall, he turned his head away and swung the red metal tube as hard as he could at the glass window.

  The window didn’t even crack and the extinguisher bounced out of his grip onto the floor, and immediately went off. Dirty white foam spread quickly along the floor for about thirty seconds, and then fizzled to a stop.

  Pardeep slumped to the floor. Not only was the window not smashed, but he’d sprained his right wrist in the process. Would nothing go right for him? He was getting increasingly desperate, so he reached down with his left hand and recovered the extinguisher, stood up, faced the wall this time, and smashed the glass once more.

  This time it cracked and great spidery arms spread across the glass. Once more he hit the glass, and then again, and again, until finally he was through. There was only a small hole the size of a tennis ball in the centre of the window. However, it was a start and he used his adapted weapon to slowly smash out the remains of the glass, until there was a gap big enough to climb through. He sat down again, surrounded by glass slivers and fire retardant gunk, to take a breather. His wrist throbbed terribly, but he didn’t care. He now had a possible means of escape. However, the glass was very sharp, and he would have to be extremely careful not to shred himself when exiting the train. To add to his troubles, the snow outside below the window was littered with broken shards.

  He stood up and looked around. He eyed the compartment and spotted that the train seating was detachable. Cheap modern benches, thank God! He detached one and dropped it through the window onto the snow, at once protecting him from the glass and cushioning the coming fall. He ransacked the compartment and threw out four more to provide a solid landing area.

  He then made an internal platform from further train seats stacked up against the window right up to the edge of the frame. Getting two more bench cushions, he balanced and jammed them in the gap, so that they effected protection from the glass for the exit manoeuvre. Once the platform was finished, he looked round for his briefcase, picked it up and threw it outside.

  Then, tightening his coat, he lifted himself onto the platform, head first, and launched his slight frame up, over, and through the gap he had created. He tumbled head first onto the pile of bench seats and rolled safely into the snow. He lay for a few seconds, sat up and immediately wished he was still in the train. It was freezing out here, the snow blowing horizontally into his face. He tried to stand but slipped and fell four or five times before gaining his feet. Pardeep looked for his briefcase, but to no avail. It was nowhere to be seen, long buried by the drifting snow.

  Pardeep looked around him, utterly disoriented. Which way should he go? He thought he glimpsed a faint light towards the front of the train, so in the absence of anything better, he set off into the blizzard.

  Day 2 - Central London – 12:30pm

  Quincey Roberts was exhausted. He’d managed to get almost no sleep the previous night, found himself running the entire station and was now obsessed with the weather. Some of the ‘skeleton’ staff who had coped fairly well during the night had now given up and gone home. Even open threats of dismissal had no effect. People were tired, frightened and thoroughly fed up, and they desperately wanted to return to their families. So now there were just a handful of TV employees remaining to get the news out. It was unlikely that anyone fresh would be coming in to relieve the pressure!

  Quincey was fronting the news bulletins and Fred the met man had stayed on, to ensure that the latest information from the Bracknell Weather Centre got through to the general public.

  A couple of technicians, cameramen, the director and a tea lady were the remainder of the entire crew. All were single people with nothing to rush home for - except Quincey – and he was on the phone to Mary at regular intervals to keep her abreast of unfolding events.

  She, in turn, was in touch with their families who were dispersed throughout the country – and all deluged by the snow. It kept her busy and distracted from the fact that Quincey was effectively snowed-in at the studio.

  The station had been broadcasting regular weather updates for the past fifteen hours and it was now clear that a very, very serious scenario was developing. The snowstorm was truly nationwide and only parts of Northern Ireland and Eire had escaped the maelstrom. The station had tried to get some reaction from the government – but to no avail – no one was available
to comment – literally - as they’d mostly gone home for Christmas.

  Quincey was preparing for the 1030am bulletin to the London area that now was going out to many of the commercial TV stations across the South and Midlands, since many studios had already stopped broadcasting.

  The main issue was the relentlessness of the snowfall. It had not stopped since 7pm on Sunday evening, and winds of up to fifty miles per hour were causing drifts of major proportions in some more remote parts of the UK.

  Consequently, travel had become all but impossible. Trains were at a standstill – some trapped on tracks where they had halted with passengers still aboard, or abandoned at railway stations. Airports were closed with no aircraft movements coming in or flying out. Even the RAF was grounded. Ferries were cancelled due to high seas and ports were closed. Even the London Underground was shutting down in part due to lack of staff, and many entrances to stations were simply blocked by snow drifts. Many roads were impassable and most vehicles in the UK stood marooned where they had been abandoned, parked or merely left at home. There were serious traffic jams on most main motorways and trunk roads, caused by drifting snow or a myriad of minor traffic accidents.