Snowing in London

It was late 2008 when I decided to go for another holiday In London. I booked the tickets for a 7 day holiday between the 28th January 2009 and 3rd February 2009. I also booked a hotel in the vicinity of Victoria Station. The hotel’s name was Luna Simone Hotel, run by a family of Maltese descendants. It was very accessible even by bus as there was a bus stop just in front of the main door.

Everything was normal in the first days, but during the morning of 1st February there was sleet. Then suddenly, in the afternoon is started to snow and it kept snowing for some 36 hours. London was totally covered in snow; roads, parks, and gardens were all white. There were people who had never saw snow before. Children were running in the park throwing snowballs at each other. London was not the same, quite different.

Although it was fun, it was dangerous too. When the snow was melting, the pavements had a layer of ice. It was very easy to slip and fall down.

The London economy suffered during these days as employees were unable to reach their working place. Nearly everything was at a halt in London – Heathrow Airport was shut, bus services and taxis were not available, and all the underground lines were closed with the exception of Victoria Line, Since the Victoria Line passes through Victoria Station, I was lucky enough that I could still travel. In fact, on the 2nd February 2009, I went to visit the British Museum as I reached Euston Station via the Victoria Line.

Luckily for me, Heathrow Airport opened the doors once again, on the day I had to depart. I went early at the airport as a good number of flights were cancelled on the two prior days. Part of the airport were still covered in snow.