The Beast from the East

We're having a 'weather event' this week, much hyped in the preceding days and popularly dubbed 'the Beast from the East'. A 'disrupted polar vortex in the upper atmosphere' means that cold air is being funnelled down over Britain from Siberia, bringing snow, wind and freezing temperatures, around -5C and colder with the windchill. In this area it's not, I gather, as bad as further east, but there has been enough snow already to cause disruption to travel and more is forecast. It's not our usual type of snow (!), being dry and powdery. It doesn't stick together like the wetter stuff usually does. Good for sledging (even skiing) but frustrating for building snowmen.

I went for a short walk in a brief sunny spell but it really is cold. Luckily, I got back home before the next blizzard arrived. The canal is frozen over, apart from where it is close to buildings. The 18th century cottages at Jane Hills, once homes for canal boatmen, looked picturesque with their covering of snow.