Winter Wonderland vs. Chaos on our 51st Anniversary

I had planned to do a post on afternoon tea but the snow bug caught up with me!

Before getting into the chaotic winter wonderland I would like to wish my dear husband a Happy 51st Wedding Anniversary today.

Cannot believe that a year has gone by since our Golden Wedding celebrations. With so

much going on I confess I made him quite a simple card and entitled it 'two hearts joined as one' 

We had our house church Christmas buffet and secret santa today and forgot to mention it to anyone

The snow you will see in the following pictures came down in the space of an hour yesterday. It caused so much disruption with travel chaos with many of the major airports closed including Gatwick and Heathrow and making the roads impassable for people stranded at airports to return home

I was watching it come down so fast as I began to decorate my Christmas tree

So.......Why HAVE we suddenly been plunged into a deep freeze?

The cold winter is being caused by a flow of freezing air from the Canadian Arctic. Normally at this time of year the UK enjoys the benefits of a jet stream from the Atlantic, which brings milder weather than being currently endured.
But a large dense block of cold air is sitting over Greenland and Iceland, blocking the stream's progress over the British Isles and diverting it south over continental Europe.
Meanwhile winds from the Arctic and Siberia, via Scandinavia, are blowing from the north, putting the country into a deep freeze.
The phenomenon is called an Arctic Oscillation and the bad news is that it generally brings long spells of cold.
Tim Thorne from the Met Office, said the big freeze is expected to last past Christmas and perhaps into the New Year. He said: 'The problem is that the jet stream from the Atlantic has been forced south and when this happens it is very difficult for it to correct itself and flow up north again. The cold weather is entrenched over the British Isles I am afraid'
Taken from The Mail on Sunday

The steps down into next door's garden

(we are on a hill)

Cars stuck in the snow outside my house

and that's a car in the foreground almost invisible

The snow has stopped  for now so it's off for a walk in the park

We are so blessed to have this park at the top of our road

My footprint

Alan seems alone

London on the horizon 15 miles away

Someone left behind a snowball

But the outdoor gym is deserted

And the children's playing areas