White terracotta army?

I was amused to hear the rather bizarre advice from the Environment Agency that building snowmen could help to slow down the rate of thaw and also help prevent flooding!

But according to the BBC news web site, although the Agency has since qualified its comments, saying that it is unlikely to make much difference, experts say that, as strange as it may sound, there is some truth behind the suggestion.

Dr Sim Reaney, lecturer in physical geography at the University of Durham, said: "On a very practical level, it does actually make some sense....The more you pile up snow, the longer it takes to melt."

"Rain on snow is a big cause of flood events. Any snow that is compacted takes longer to thaw, whether it be on a road or as a snowman."

Dr Reaney said that in urban areas, where melted snow runs directly off roads and pavements into drains, snowmen would make more of a difference than in fields where it would take longer for the water to filter into watercourses.

But Dr Reaney was sceptical that snowmen could have a major impact on the rate of thaw. "If everybody made a snowman, it doesn't actually take up that much snow," he said. "The country is covered from top to bottom."

Weather forecaster Jim Bacon of WeatherQuest, based at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, agreed." If you look at the masses of fields we have, you'd probably need a white terracotta army," he said.

That said, I'm not sure whether 3 little snowmen really constitute a white terracotta army! :)