We can all reel off titles of films and albums where the first was the best.

“Jaws” released in 1975 was never surpassed in remakes; same with “Home Alone”, The Arctic Monkeys’ debut album is superior, in many eyes (and ears) to releases since. Further back to the late 70s Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures” is still a remarkable debut.

But can there be sequels that are better?

Yes.

Absolutely.

A few spring immediately to mind – “After the Gold Rush” by Neil Young is arguably his finest and many would argue that “Godfather 2” trumped the original as did “Toy Story 2”.

But what has this got to with winter weather, gritting and snow clearance?

Bear with us on this.

If you’re of a certain age, you’ll easily recall the summer of 1976 (not the Bryan Adams’ near-named song) but the heat of that year, when the UK basked in mediterranean weather.

It was the hottest summer in 350 years.

Many regard it as the best year ever – who couldn’t with that heat, riding around on Choppers and Space Hoppers?

Yet 2016, its sequel 40 years later, almost matched it, but never has acquired the epochal status of 76.

1976 was the year of dancing to Abba, 2016 saw Justin Bieber crowned.

Enough said. 

February / March 2018 and January 2021

We have another sequel heading our way to match that of March 2018. If you recall there was an arctic blast called “The Beast from the East” and at the end of this very month, its successor allegedly arrives “The Beast from the East 2”.

In the original version in 2018, Britain was gripped by snow and ice.

Anticyclone Hartmut was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a cold wave to Great Britain and Ireland. Anticyclone Hartmut also brought widespread unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfall to large areas.

You can revisit that time here.

So what will the sequel bring?

It’s been an incredibly busy few months for all the team at Weatherwise Services Ltd. You only have to look at our Instagram or LinkedIn feeds to see evidence of this.

We’ve not had the snow drifts of 2018, but we have seen temperatures regularly falling below 4 degrees across the East and West Midlands during the day and overnight.

And now Beast from the East is imminent

What will this cold blast bring?

We’re expecting snow, some heavy across Scotland (not our patch), northern England and the east and Midlands. Whether or not this causes the disruption of its predecessor remains to be seen.

What we do know though that you need to be prepared for this weather pattern and any others that come after it.

We can grit and clear your business, retail and commercial premises whilst you, your customers and staff sleep. We only appear at night when there is a need for it. Trust us, gritting is never triggered when frost or ice is not expected. We have an app that alerts us and our team to service those places that need it.

“While an extreme cold weather event is not a certainty, around two thirds of SSWs have a significant impact on surface weather. What’s more, today’s SSW is potentially the most dangerous kind, where the polar vortex splits into two smaller “child” vortices,” Richard Hall, a geophysicist said.

Now whether it will exceed the original is a matter of conjecture.

But rest assured, our team will be out supporting businesses, whatever the weather.

Contact us today to become a part of our winter gritting services.