Edinburgh faced several disruptions from Storm Bert this past week, including severe road freezing and widespread bus cancellations.
Many students commented on how their routines were affected as a result.
Laurie, a second year, explained he was stuck at Portobello Beach after finishing his job at a cafe along the waterfront.
“I’m just like stuck in Portobello. Which is like [a] two-hour walk from my flat in the freezing cold and snow.”
“Luckily, my bosses offered to drive me home, but it was crazy. I did not know what I was going to do.”
Another second-year student was not as lucky and experienced injury as a result of the weather.
“I was walking down the stairs by New College on the day of the snow, and I caught myself on an ice patch and slipped, falling down the flight of stairs.”
Junghee, a second-year student, found the snowstorm pleasant. He said, “I was happy to see it because it was unexpected, and the scenery looked nice.” Junghee also explained, however, Edinburgh’s significant bus cancellations and “slippery” sidewalks annoyed him.
“Because of the road conditions, I had to walk to the Christmas market, which was supposed to take me 30 minutes, but that turned into 50.”
Another student explained how they did not receive any personal impacts of the weather but witnessed others.
“I saw about ten cabs being pushed by larger groups of people” The student added how they were surprised that Edinburgh council did not appear to salt or grit the road for a long time.
“It was amazing, you would think that a city like Edinburgh is used to experiencing this kind of weather.” They added: “I didn’t see a single road get treated with grit or salt for hours. It is funny watching all the cars getting pushed but it is also frankly unsafe”
“Marching Through Edinburgh Snow” by Martin Burns is licensed under CC BY 2.0.