Anticipating Extreme Weather

Anticipating Extreme Weather
By Alan Cray

We're no strangers to extreme weather, and the homeless residents of Cornwall, York and Devon can certainly attest to the fact, being evicted by the nationwide floods damaging over 8,000 homes. Global warming has left the UK experiencing a surprisingly temperate December, and aside from a few fortunate towns the rest of the country experienced shocking levels of rainfall, leaving 2012 as the second wettest year in UK history despite a rough spring drought.

But now the cold fronts are moving away and experts are predicting the unfathomably extreme weather won't improve, as such, it'll simply get more white and powdery. With the worries ahead it's definitely worth checking your stock of winter gear at home and making sure you're stocked up to survive the season.

If you're planning to spend a lot of time outdoors you'll want thick gloves and thick shoes. Both should be waterproof, since the moment they get wet it'll be like they're not even there. Brief thaws often set in mid-winter, so it's worth having a set of cheap wellies around in case you find the outside transformed from pristine blankets of snow to ankle-high swamps of mud overnight.

Shovels are a must, both for clearing gardens, paths and roads. There are plenty of plastic and foldable models out there, so picking up something sturdy on the cheap shouldn't be difficult. For a more permanent solution it might be worth finding some grit and de-icing salt, the path to your car and garden should at least be safe. Speaking of cars, some de-icing solutions work wonders for your window screen in the morning. Leaving the car to run is slow and inefficient, and the practice of throwing warm water over can lead to micro-cracks, a rare but all-too-present present risk.

A major issue many people face over winter is heating bills and heating problems. For a full and busy house you'll want to keep the heating running all the time. The pipes won't freeze so long as they see at least a small amount of regular use, but if you house is empty most of the day this is a waste of money. Unfortunately, coming home to find your pipes have burst and the leak froze through the ceiling doesn't help with the winter spirit, so halogen heaters are a worthwhile investment. They're more energy efficient than fan heaters and radiators, though they only beat out the latter if you only plan to heat one room. They can help cut down on water usage, as well as providing a useful backup if the pipes do fail in a flash freeze.

Keeping warm, safe and dry is important, so make sure you've got all of these things in your home to set a comfortable baseline for winter enjoyment. Shop around and pick up any noticeable absences on the cheap, with Christmas over the shops should hopefully be competing for January sales, and be sure to stay prepared.

Alan Cray has worked with GardenCentreOnline.co.uk for many years, producing articles on subjects such as Hunter wellies all the time. Alan used the company as a resource for this article because they have the expertise he needed to improve the article's quality.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Cray
http://EzineArticles.com/?Anticipating-Extreme-Weather&id=7452456