Bad Weather
a lot of folk are saying you shouldn't cancel a booking if it's going to be a wet weekend ,but how many of you were at York over Christmas when it flooded and it had to be evacuated ?? or like me drove to Bury on Boxing day when the motorway was shut as
it had collapsed with the rain ,when I got to Bury the entrance to the site was flooded and a few pitches were out of action the forecast may say heavy rain but not how much so over a few days could cause a lot of problems ,a bit of light rain is fine but
torrential downpours isn't !!
Comments
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One of reasons we don't tend to book in advance, unless for something special. York Rowntree Park is a difficult one, to get a date there, you may have no option but to book in advance. But likewise it is well known for flooding, so you have to take a chance. Not a Club Site we would ever use anyway.
We take a look at forecast and decide where to head a few days before. Heavy rain wouldn't put us off, but flooding and not being able to complete our journey is different. I drove home through flooded Cotswolds in 2007, used Roman Fosse Way, water on both sides. Everyone is different, using different tourers as well. Has to be what people feel safe with and how confident they are, and what they can cope with. We have done thick mud, heavy snow, thick fog, torrential rain, exhausting heatwave. Gales and fog are the worst, too many prats on roads to feel totally safe.
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I think there's normal bad weather (rain wind...) and there's exceptional bad weather, (snow floods...) I think when most people talk of cancelling for bad weather being wrong they are talking about the normal stuff. For example cancelling as its due to rain all weekend is not on.
Having said that if someone isn't happy with the driving conditions then their safety is more important than a site booking,
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To be fair to OP, you have mentioned that you have a very small tourer and dogs, so it is perhaps a bit different for you. But on the whole a bit of rain shouldn't put most folks off. But the Club allows folks to cancel within 72 hours without penalty, so
if it perfectly allowable.0 -
I agree with the first part of your post, Corners.
you would want someone to drive in conditions they didn't feel safe in? do you do that?
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I agree with the first part of your post, Corners.
you would want someone to drive in conditions they didn't feel safe in? do you do that?
Hey come on Corners....I did agree with you a bit!
Anyway, about the second bit......if you cannot drive in 'normal bad weather' then you shouldn't really have a driving license. Happy?
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The simple answer is if the individual does not feel safe to travel in the prevailing conditions then they should not have to. I have personally towed through snow, fog, floods torrential rain & gale force winds, but can't say I enjoyed any of it, but usually
was a case of having to get home. Having said that, we now tend to watch the weather forecasts as we get closer to a booked holiday & if it looks better somewhere else in the country, we switch sites - but always before the 72 hour rule.0 -
Are weather forecasts that good to predict 72 hours in advance?
About as much use as financial forecasts that todays businesses run on.
Prepare for the worst weather and be pleasantly delighted by how good it turns out to be
Your skin is waterproof and soon dries.0 -
Having said that, we now tend to watch the weather forecasts as we get closer to a booked holiday & if it looks better somewhere else in the country, we switch sites - but always before the 72 hour rule.
and that is exactly why I criticise the current system. Why not only make your booking when you have seen the weather forecast or book to go where there is a high chance of good weather it the first place.
peedee
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I personally don't think it is acceptable to cancel just because the weather is better somewhere else. This has not been mentioned, but can be done within the 72 hours without sanction, as long as you book another CC site. In over 40 years of tenting and caravanning we have never canceled anything just because it is going to be wet. Extremes of weather are quite different. I would certainly not want someone to tow, in say high winds, if they were unhappy. These days, as we are retired, we monitor the weather and if high winds are forecast, go a day early or come back a day later, if possible. If I was still working in these situations, I would have canceled or left early.
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We were at Moreton in Marsh in July 2007 and due to go to the little site near Derby (the name escapes me) We got there to find the site becoming a muddy mess, drove round once and decided to give it a miss and drove home. We drove back in the worst driving
weather I've ever experienced short of heavy snow, and got up the M1 just before they closed it. This was before the 72 hr rule. The sole warden at the site agreed that we had made the right decision.0 -
It was certainly a sight to behold nuts! Chinooks and other rescue helicopters up above, abandoned cars everywhere! Good old Romans knew how and where to build roads though, on a raised ridge. Most of it luckily when I went through was water free, but the
fields were like lakes! Ironically, I was heading back to see if my horse had been rescued from close to where the Ulley reservoir wall had collapsed. He was fine!0 -
I am not a fair weather camper ,I go away all year round not like some that just go March to October ,and yes Tda your right it's different for me having a small camper and 2 dogs I don't have any where to put a wet coat ,I don't like to go away if its heavy
rain all day as it's too tiny to be cooped up all day in it ,but I was away both Easter and May day when we had rain and hailstorms both sat and sun ,so I do't expect the weather to be perfect but during the Winter months I am more concerned ,I actually don't
even mind cold and sunny it was like that when I was away in February for my birthday and I try not to book too far in advance but unfortunatley as everyone loves Yorkshire site are often that full you need to book in advance0 -
I have never cancelled a trip due to bad weather. But have had holidays cancelled by the club a couple of times due to flooded/waterlogged pitches.
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GC, take a look at Cliff Farm at Sinnington near Pickering. Open all year and cheap in Winter, we use it a lot. Excellent showers and toilets, heated and spotlessly clean. Dog walking is ok, bit muddy in rain. Hard standings. Couple of miles from Pickering,
which has plenty to see and do. Not sure if price will suit you as a solo tourer, but it is very nice.0 -
We caravan all the year round and in all weathers. We use storm straps for our awning and these are now re-inforced with guy ropes following our experience of Storm Katie on Easter Monday. We also use extra poles.
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We use our caravan all year round too, but in the winter i tend to wait until about 48 hours beforehand before making my booking. I don't want to tow in icy conditions or gale force winds. Last winter i had boked a CL for 4 nights and the night before we
were due to go, the weather took a turn for the worse and we had severe gales.I phoned the CL to inform them we would not be coming that day due to the weather and all being well, we would come the following day. I offered to pay the cost of the night we would not be there but they were very understanding and said it would have been
crazy to take the caravan out in those conditions. They would not take the money offered.0 -
Since 9th June 2015, we have not spent a single night away from our caravan. We move between sites all the year round regardless of the weather conditions and we're still here to tell the tale. It proves that it can be done. We and the caravan survived and
so did our awning over ten storms last winter. Granted, we did have one or two sleepless nights in the worst of the storms but we got through it somehow. Necessity is the mother of invention and where there's a will, there's a way as the saying goes!0 -
What actually are the "normal" extremes of weather in the UK? Where I live we regularly laugh out loud at news reports of armageddon having arrived in the south of england when it rains, snows or freezes, all of which we have had in a greater degree in
the previous two hours and not bothered with.As Ranulph Fiennes put it "There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."
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I thought that was Billy Connelly
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. . . or Noah.
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