On the way to the airport...

Left home at 0700 this morning to drive to Manchester Airport to catch the 1050 flight to Chicago. There was a warm glow on the eastern horizon with the remnant lights of a few bright stars still just about visible. Little did I know what I would be driving through in about 20 minutes time.

Driving past the west side of Birmingham on the M5 it started raining. The rain started getting heavier but it wasn't big splotches of water. The view from the windscreen started to resemble a room where several feather-filled pillows had exploded. Big flakes of snow filled the air. Beginning to feel the highly variable traction under the tyres of the car. The grip was especially poor in the outside lane. By this time I had slowed down to a sensible speed for the conditions and stayed in the middle to inside lane where it was just water rather than a slushy mixture.

Before long there were blue flashing lights ahead where a police patrol vehicle had stopped because a car was stuck on the inside barrier facing the wrong way. It must have lost traction somehow and spun round. There was another similar incident a bit further down the motorway, and then another. This went on for a bit and I must have counted at least 4 more. Pretty scary. Maybe they were driving far too quick for the conditions.

Just as quickly as it started, the snowstorm ended. It must have been a wave of cloud passing through. Bright morning sunshine again ahead. Got to Manchester Airport with plenty of time to spare. Refueled and dropped off the hire car (Peugeot 307, not very exciting to drive so no review) only to get stuck in a slow moving queue at check in...

Location 53°N 2°W