Has everyone coped with the extreme cold?>

[diamond lil]

It does get bloody cold The Highlands had sheer chaos with wee village halls having to open overnight to heat stranded drivers, lots on fb about it. And the north east had over a foot of snow that froze hard.

[Nurseandy]

Hi all, yes, rural aberdeenshire at altitude of 600ft.
However, not a native, been here 20 years but I'm from Hampshire originally so don't like to be the bloke who moved from South of England to North of Scotland and whinges about the weather
Wife's a local lass from farming family though so she's allowed to comment on the weather.

[Winterprep]

I’m not far from Andy. I was working the whole way through the cold spell. Today there’s almost no snow on the ground as we had a massive thaw overnight.

For us there were a couple of days I left the heating on during the day when no one was in as it was well into the minus figures and I didn’t want to risk any problems. My house is a traditional 1850 granite built house with no insulation apart from the top floor which was stripped back and insulated.I’m lucky to have a log burner and a open coal fire.The log burner gets lit every night or during the day if someone is in.To be honest nothing was different I’ve worked in temps of -15 and as has been said we are in the north so it’s normal for low temps.

If anything due to the “cost of living crises” we have turned down the heating and using the fires more. The kettle is on the log burner and I fill up five flasks with the water. I scavage white wood pallets from work when I can to supplement the log pile. I have enough coal for the next two winters and logs for all this winter.I invest money in my preps ie food heating tools etc.For me this is a better investment than having money in the bank just now.

WP.

[korolev]

We've just moved back in properly after having a loft conversion, downstairs remodelling, rewire, replumb, the works.
New boiler is working well but I've kept the thermostat at 18 and we wear jumpers.
Given the amount of money we;ve spent on the works and the discomfort we've endured living in our garage (converted into a hobby room) through the summer, an extra few quid keeping warm is nothing.

[Vitamin c]

-10 was the worst but roughly-6 lit fire from 6am to bedtime 10/11pm could not get living room above 50 all the way through my bed room 60 with lead radiator red hot.
So not great for me iv used loads of wood , I'm super glad it's passed.
Nb, even with fire on 16 hrs a day still had to put on jumpers and hat and coat.
Our homes are just built for these temperatures.

[grenfell]

Home wise we've been fine. The house is well insulated and has south facing windows so stays fairly warm without heating during the day. Biggest impact has been on work as outside jobs have largely been put on hold. A pointing job for instance ,and anything that involves paint or water based glues . Roofing felt tends to crack in cold weather , scaffolds become unsafe, even walking on frosted grass can burn it so not a good idea. Thankfully I have a workshop so could do a bit in there.

[itsybitsy]

I gave up and just put the heating on.

I read an article somewhere that said some people could be spending up to £20 a DAY on heating their home which did give me pause for thought but I refuse to sit and freeze in my own home.

I am also angry that others are actually having to freeze in their own homes. It's beyond reprehensible that we are in this situation.

[Kiwififer]

Mrs Kiwififer had the heating on a couple of times as she was working from home, other than that we had a hot water bottle at night which helped no end.

Who knew that an extra blanket and a hot water bottle worked? Well apart from us and pensioners….

[itsybitsy]

Mrs Kiwififer had the heating on a couple of times as she was working from home, other than that we had a hot water bottle at night which helped no end.

Who knew that an extra blanket and a hot water bottle worked? Well apart from us and pensioners….

A hot water bottle is amazing - I have been using one in the bed, it's in a fluffy cover which keeps it warmer longer - when I woke up this morning there was still heat in the bottle from 11pm last night!

I also have a lovely, original Witney blanket on the bed, on top of the quilt.

[Frnc]

I am also angry that others are actually having to freeze in their own homes. It's beyond reprehensible that we are in this situation.

Couldn't agree more. I've seen people saying their room is 3°C, Googling hypothermia. This wasn't even on the coldest day.

Government advice is to heat your home to at least 18°, more if you are vulnerable. Easy to say.