Floods Floods Glorious Floods

[Wayne]

Locally almost every major road has some degree of flooding at the moment. I’m amazed at the lack of skills shown by the vast majority of folk driving in poor conditions.

No idea how to handle understeer. (Front wheel Skidding).

Absolutely no feel of the road and understanding where the deep puddles are going to be.

Then when faced with standing water no idea how to approach it.

Driving a fiat 500 with barely a pause into unknown depths of water. Then being surprised when the engine stops playing the game.

I don’t own a 4x4 never really needed one.

I did invest in training to drive in entertaining conditions. Although many modern cars really struggle in marginal conditions.

I had to get wet checking an idiot that drove into a lamppost during the torrential rain. Visibility less than 25m. Fortunately just a wrecked car. I didn’t fancy staying with them in those conditions. Too fast for the conditions and poor skills. Luckily for me the police turned up to manage scene safety. They didn’t look happy getting soaked.

How do you prep for the winter?

 

[Broch]

1. check tyres - legal tread depth is far too low to give best traction in winter conditions
2. fit all-season or winter tyres - no more expensive than normal (good) tyres and much better cold weather traction
3. check brakes - even slight uneven braking can cause a severe skid in wet and icy conditions
4. carry benighting kit in the car - including food and drink
5. carry recovery kit - including spade/shovel, torch, shackles, hi-vis jacket etc.
6. carry wellies in the car - where you can reach them, not in the boot

I instruct off-road and bad weather driving and would encourage everyone to do a skid training course. That extra half to one second response it will give you can make the difference between staying on the road or hitting that tree (or not getting into the situation in the first place).

 

[Paul_B]

We got rid of our seat. That alone is a good prep as it is terrible in compromised conditions. Now my old astra estate was surprisingly good in snow even with summer tyres on. Took us 3 hours getting home from Grasmere after a big dump of snow one winter but we made it when big 4x4s were abandoned sideways on the side of the road from Windermere to kendal. Great little car should not have replaced it with the seat.

Basically right car, well driven makes a good start. Winter or good all season tyres help a lot too. Make sure your lights are good and well aligned (not pointing skywards like you can often see on uk roads blinding other drivers).

 

[Dogoak]

Much the same as Broch

I‘d add, parts of my routine.
Overnight, pull the windscreen wipers away from the screen, stops them freezing to screen and makes it easier to clear.
Hand brake off and leave in gear, saves the brakes freezing up!

Clear all windows totally before driving off! I also clear all lights, bonnet and roof.
Keeping speed down anyway, drive in the highest gear possible for your speed, helps eliminate wheel spin/skidding.

Windscreen washer fluid topped up. I try and find the -20° variants and run that neat when it’s really cold, I’ve found the -5° stuff pretty useless up here. Aldi or Lidl used to get the Arctic Survey stuff but I’ve not seen it for a few years, I may have just missed it? I also keep my anti-freeze % correct for the temperatures.

Most folks round here, that have them, now have their winter tyre/wheel sets fitted. A few local garages store clients tyre/wheel sets for those that don’t have space at home.
I’ve read somewhere that winter, and all season tyres, worn to 4mm or less are basically the same as summer tyres?

I used to carry a small bag of sand and some salt in the back of my van in case of sticky moment and the extra weight helped the traction.

 

[Tony]

I need to prepare more, I put a few things in the car just in case, I drive more carefully, check fluids etc but I don't do a lot to accommodate winter.
I lived in Canada for a couple of years and get used to driving in snow, but we get snow so rarely that I've probably lost the skill.
This thread does make me think I should take it more seriously.

I've often wondered about doing some skid training etc, driving cars under different conditions, never got to doing it though. I used to feel much more secure in the Defender, now I'm just driving a Zifara, quite different...

 

[Broch]

I used to feel much more secure in the Defender, now I'm just driving a Zifara, quite different...

The Defender is deceptive though - it's a heavy beast and has a lot of momentum if traction is lost compared to smaller cars. People also drive around with diff-locks in on snowy and icy roads. That forces the rear wheels to turn at the same speed as the fronts meaning the tyres have to break traction on a corner and leads to skidding.

This isn't Defender slagging (I own a 110 and a Series III), just pointing out that heavy 4x4s need to be driven carefully to get the best out of them.

 

[swyn]

I stay at home in snowy times.
Nice and dry and warm.
I do have a huge grab bag with everything I could possibly need for a few days stuck on the A12!
S

 

[Tengu]

You are so sensible.

Unfortunately, upon seeing snow, I want to go out and have adventures.

 

[MrEd]

Locally almost every major road has some degree of flooding at the moment. I’m amazed at the lack of skills shown by the vast majority of folk driving in poor conditions.

No idea how to handle understeer. (Front wheel Skidding).

Absolutely no feel of the road and understanding where the deep puddles are going to be.

Then when faced with standing water no idea how to approach it.

Driving a fiat 500 with barely a pause into unknown depths of water. Then being surprised when the engine stops playing the game.

I don’t own a 4x4 never really needed one.

I did invest in training to drive in entertaining conditions. Although many modern cars really struggle in marginal conditions.

I had to get wet checking an idiot that drove into a lamppost during the torrential rain. Visibility less than 25m. Fortunately just a wrecked car. I didn’t fancy staying with them in those conditions. Too fast for the conditions and poor skills. Luckily for me the police turned up to manage scene safety. They didn’t look happy getting soaked.

How do you prep for the winter?

You and me are in similar areas (you know that) and recently I have seen people bombing into floods in ‘normal’ cars that I would hesitate to dive into in my wading prepared Land Rover….

You also don’t know what’s in the depths - has that drain grate been forced up, or the manhole collapsed or is there a metal Road sign laying flat in the puddle that was knocked over by the torrent? All of those will wreck you car and possibly you. Not worth it. It may be ‘fun’ but only until it goes wrong.

I did have great pleasure in crawling through 2ft deep water in the LR a couple years ago when the a23 flooded!

 

[MrEd]

The Defender is deceptive though - it's a heavy beast and has a lot of momentum if traction is lost compared to smaller cars. People also drive around with diff-locks in on snowy and icy roads. That forces the rear wheels to turn at the same speed as the fronts meaning the tyres have to break traction on a corner and leads to skidding.

This isn't Defender slagging (I own a 110 and a Series III), just pointing out that heavy 4x4s need to be driven carefully to get the best out of them.

100%

People always say to me ‘i bet you don’t worry about the snow’

My reply is always the same, ‘it gets going when others are stuck but slides just as easily and a kerb doesn’t stop that slide’

 

[Athos]

100%

People always say to me ‘i bet you don’t worry about the snow’

My reply is always the same, ‘it gets going when others are stuck but slides just as easily and a kerb doesn’t stop that slide’

As I like to say, it’s four wheel drive, not four wheel stop!

 

[Woody girl]

Well, both roads out of where I live cross big rivers, both have flooded.
I'm cut off!
All good fun, but I think it may well delay my coal delivery due tomorrow.
Luckily I still have enough for now, as long as they get to me on the next delivery day, a fortnight away.

 

[Paul_B]

There's been discussions on here about preparedness for various eventualities but do we have to factor in where we live and risk of being cut off? If WG remains cut off by high rivers is that sort of eventuality some in the countryside might need to consider going forward.

Where I live there's a route out towards the south over a few hills, however a few stretches of roads can flood very occasionally. Another way goes mostly over hills but it drops down to a little bay in Morecambe bay, theoretically a storm surge could cause issues there. Unlikely as that is there's still a rare chance of it. Another way goes alongside the estuary and floods a lot, well every time there's a high tide and a lot of rain. It's possible to go around the back roads to miss the worst spot for this but you always have to come back to the road alongside the estuary albeit after the stretch most prone to tidal flooding. Plus you can avoid high tides to avoid the flooding.

Basically whilst we're at the end of a few country roads to nowhere there's often alternative roads out if one has issues. Plus there's a raised train line out of the village with a raised station. I can't see that being flooded out.

So do you see issues with flooding or other possible disaster affecting your life? Do you have contingencies in place to cope or at least considered potential issues?

 

[Nice65]

Locally almost every major road has some degree of flooding at the moment. I’m amazed at the lack of skills shown by the vast majority of folk driving in poor conditions.

No idea how to handle understeer. (Front wheel Skidding).

Absolutely no feel of the road and understanding where the deep puddles are going to be.

Then when faced with standing water no idea how to approach it.

Driving a fiat 500 with barely a pause into unknown depths of water. Then being surprised when the engine stops playing the game.

I don’t own a 4x4 never really needed one.

I did invest in training to drive in entertaining conditions. Although many modern cars really struggle in marginal conditions.

I had to get wet checking an idiot that drove into a lamppost during the torrential rain. Visibility less than 25m. Fortunately just a wrecked car. I didn’t fancy staying with them in those conditions. Too fast for the conditions and poor skills. Luckily for me the police turned up to manage scene safety. They didn’t look happy getting soaked.

How do you prep for the winter?

I’m also not far off from you, in the Lavant Valley. There’s a lot of standing water, the Lavant is now flowing along Charlton Lane in Singleton. There are a lot of idiots going in both directions without any sort of knowledge or apparent awareness, treating the car like some sort of amphibious tank. I was beeped and nearly rear-ended by a driver who’d been right on my tail when I braked hard for a flooded dip on the A268 headed to Midhurst, and continually jumping on the brakes when oncoming traffic either swerved around a flood or ploughed through it and deluged my windscreen totally blinding my view until the wipers swept it off.

 

[Woody girl]

I've lived here 23 years and been cut off for a few days quite often.
I'm not at risk myself, as though I live in a valley, I'm 50m above the river.
I've never seen the depth of flood we have had the last day or two.
Our local town 15 miles away is badly flooded too, and I've not seen that before. It does have floods, but this time, the school, supermarket hospital and petrol station are affected.
There is no way you can get into town, as the road follows the valley all the way there, and its completely inundated with deep water.
80cm of rain in 24 hrs is bad enough, but we get all the run off from the top of the moors adding to it all.
Being prepared for it is a normal part of living here. I'm lucky in that I don't need to go anywhere at the moment, but it is a big problem if you need an ambulance, so that is something to consider.

 

[SaraR]

There's been discussions on here about preparedness for various eventualities but do we have to factor in where we live and risk of being cut off? If WG remains cut off by high rivers is that sort of eventuality some in the countryside might need to consider going forward.

Where I live there's a route out towards the south over a few hills, however a few stretches of roads can flood very occasionally. Another way goes mostly over hills but it drops down to a little bay in Morecambe bay, theoretically a storm surge could cause issues there. Unlikely as that is there's still a rare chance of it. Another way goes alongside the estuary and floods a lot, well every time there's a high tide and a lot of rain. It's possible to go around the back roads to miss the worst spot for this but you always have to come back to the road alongside the estuary albeit after the stretch most prone to tidal flooding. Plus you can avoid high tides to avoid the flooding.

Basically whilst we're at the end of a few country roads to nowhere there's often alternative roads out if one has issues. Plus there's a raised train line out of the village with a raised station. I can't see that being flooded out.

So do you see issues with flooding or other possible disaster affecting your life? Do you have contingencies in place to cope or at least considered potential issues?

Twice we've been cut off in all directions (North, South and East) to all road and rail traffic, but that was as a county basically, so still able to get food etc (until the shops ran low). A most curious feeling - not being able to leave.

 

[walker]

Drove more off road than I can remember and done skid pans in lorry's Inc drags ,any body can get caught out , no matter how good a driver you think you are we can all end up eating our own words . Ex professional driver and eater off own words