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Good news for anyone flying back to southern England next week, and who likes to see a festive white background. It's a picturesque scene with loads of snow around. It's even settling on central London roads, so the parks are absolutely beautiful. However not so good news if you're flying this weekend - expect major delays - today is probably a no-no for flying into Heathrow, and Gatwick is already closed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12025538

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I heard on BBC radio news this morning that people in the UK are advised to set their heating at between 18 and 21C to keep warm.

Just out of interest, I checked my thermometer in the kitchen (in an old Spanish house with no heating having been on anywhere in the house since midnight) and it was 17C. So not too far from what seems to be the official norm for Britain then, although I'm sure some will prefer to keep their houses warmer than 21 degrees.

But then again I'm another hardy Lancashire lass - I still remember having ice on the inside of the bedroom windows of the house I grew up in. Maybe it was good training for a life in Spain?

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I would find a house cold if only 18C unless doing lots of housework. A CH heated house in the UK will probably feel warmer at -4 outside than a spanish house ar 12C outside if heated with an odd assortment of electric/gas appliances.

Someone in Barbados said to me that she was freezing the night before as the temperature had dropped to 68F at 5am:D It's all relative you can always find a country with better/worse weather than the one you are in.

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You can still come home to a real fire or wood burning stove in the UK, gas central heating just keeps the chill off and makes life more comfortable.....Inland Spain can be quite cold in the winter..the unheated, thin walled houses can build up condensation and mold, calor gas heaters can make this worse, water can run down the windows and walls...the tile floors are cold....the electric oil radiators are very expensive to run.

So all in all if your house in Spain is not suitably insulated it can cost as much to keep warm in the winter than a double glazed, cavity wall and loft insulated home in the UK.

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Well, if you are dumb enough to run those catalytic gas stoves, you really will have water running down the walls fast enough to wash to mould off.

Best thing is to live nearer to the coast in a civilised area. We have the stove on at night, but never on overnight. This evening when we are starting to think of lighting it again as it starts to get dark, the temp in the house is 20C.

It will get colder than this in January, but then as I sunbathe in February, I'll try my hardest to give a damn.

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But I don't want to live near the coast....I came to Spain to escape the traffic and concrete, I prefer the olive and lemon groves and feel more at home in the hills with the animals, flowers and birds around....I hate shops, people and parking.

We can sunbathe in February sitting on the roof with some clothing on.

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Gee, traffic and concrete? What's that? We are 25 minutes from the sea on the south Atlantic coast, the nearest to concrete is the hilltop town of Vejer de la Frontera, I live down a little campo road, and the noisiest thing down there is a dog. Or possibly the demented rooster down the road.

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25 minutes from the sea is not near the sea in my book...I live 45 minutes drive from sea, the crow would get there much quicker... but can see the sea on a clear day, even saw a large boat go past one day, the only thing that goes past our front door in the local man on a donkey making his way to the fields each morning, you can set your watch by him, on the way home he might drop a bag of oranges or tomatoes on the doorstep.

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its a good job we dont all like the same things isnt it!! I've lived in the campo and altho it was lovely and had the olives, oranges, demented roosters etc, we have now moved to the costa and yes theres a bit of concrete here and there, but the sea views are lovely, everywhere is within walking distance, the electricity supply is better and it makes a nice change to be near civilisation, especially for my two teenagers!

I guess its like folk in the UK, some like towns and others like country!

Great weather today on the costa del sol - torrential rain that hasnt stopped all day, thunderstorms and floods!!

Jo xxx

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Well, my choice is that balance. Near enough to the sea but not too close. Don't forget that we were very lucky to get a finca here with a bit of land. They are like hen's teeth!

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I’ve dreamed about living on an inland finca, far removed from the madding crowd, ever since I came to Spain. I’ve even viewed quite a few of them with a view to buying one, and when staying with friends who live in one, in the summer, it’s idyllic for a few days.

But when visiting the same friends in the winter, the dream evaporates as soon as the car gets stuck in the snow. And when attending a wedding reception in such an idyllic location, a man collapsed with a heart attack. An ambulance was called, but there wasn’t one available. I watched a man die in agony because he lived in the middle of nowhere and couldn’t get to a hospital.

I’ll stay in town.

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We felt the same last winter. We lived in a lovely villa in the middle of the campo. When it rained we were unable to get out of the house as a river appeared that was impassable. The electricity kept failing so the only heating we had was a portable gas fire, we'd go to bed early simply cos it was dark and cold. The rain last year went on forever, during which my son tore a ligament in his leg, so getting to the hospital was a trial, my dog died cos I couldnt get him to the vets and then finally I broke my leg and couldnt drive - even to get to the rubbish bins!!! It was the winter of hell that almost put off living in Spain. Yes it was beautiful in the summer, but even then, a car is essential! The town (urbanizacion cos we're not actually in the centre of town), for us is much easier and far more relaxing. We can walk to a couple of small shops, the sea, bars, restaurants, the school. The rubbish is picked up from outside of the house everyday and its altogether a more enjoyable way of living


Jo xxx

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Well, like I say, it's all about balance. Here we have a few close neighbours, so there's always someone to keep an eye out for you and trade veg with.

Yes, the rain was a pain, and there were days when we couldn't cross the arroyo too, but if you keep a full pantry that's not a problem. As for the car getting stuck in snow? It just doesn't fall here.

As for death, well to be honest, if it's so bad that you die before the ambulance gets there then odds are you might not have made it even if you died in the town.

I'm a lot happier in the country. If I am ever so frail that we can't cope then we might consider moving, but until then I refuse to deny myself the pleasure I have here every day, on the basis that I might just keel over and die at some time in the future.

Living in an urb? Now that I suspect would kill me.

As was said, it's a good job that we don't all want the same thing.

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To me living in the country doesn't mean living in an isolated finca in the middle of nowhere....we are in a Spanish community on the outskirts of the village a short walk to 5 bread shops, fishmonger and butcher 2 hardware shops, a small supermarket, 20 bars most of them hidden in residential roads that look like ordinary houses, two chicken takeaways that cook chicken on skewers that goes around very tasty all free range, a hotel, restaurant and two bars that offer healthy home cooked local food three courses and a drink for 7 euros.

The houses are cold in the winter so some of the ladies still have the round tables with the heavy tablecloths with wood fire underneath to keep warm....like going back in time, but things are changing very rapidly...somehow I doubt it will be for the better looking at what so-called progress has done to many western countries. I would say to them, make the most of it while you have still got it.

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By what you’ve said in your previous posts I suspect that you live somewhere not very far away from me! :)

We too live in el-campo, but in a small hamlet on the edge of a village.
We are surrounded by the lemon orange and olive groves of the beautiful Guadalhorce valley, and we have far reaching views of the valley and surrounding mountains.

We did much research over several years before we moved here three years ago, the criteria was that it had to remain easy to travel about when we get older and when the day comes that we can no longer drive.

We achieved all things on our wish list and more than we could have dreamed of.
We are in the country but only a few kilometres from Alora, we are also just a five minute walk from the small village with its shops and bars, there is even a chemist’s shop there.
We get vans come most days selling fruit fish veg and all manner of things right outside the house, even the man with the gas bottles comes once a week right to our door, if we want him all we have to do is put the empty bottle out at the front and he changes it. :cool:
We live in a single story house, so no problems there in later years, and we can park our car off road in front of our garden, we also have a tarmac road runs past at the front and it’s a bus route.
We can if we wish get the bus into Alora where we can get the train into Malaga….from there it’s any place you want to go! :thumbsup:

All of our neighbours are Spanish and they have taken us to their hearts, we often get invited to join them in their celibrations, in fact they treat us like family.

We have a brand new health centre in Alora, on the occasions that I’ve needed to see a doctor I’ve mostly got an appointment that same day……unheard of in the UK where I used to live.
At the moment Malaga is the nearest hospital, but all that is about to change, a new hospital is well on the way to being built in Cartama….and that too will be a shorter distance than I had to travel in England.

So for me campo life is good… I can understand the desire of some to live amongst other Brits and have support and infrastructure around them…..but life on an urbanisation would see me end up in a strait jacket! :blink:

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I know Alora well, I would agree with everything you say we live not that far away and also have a Chemist, school, medical centre and swimming pool. I watched while they built the AVE line, very impressive to look at and the fast train is not a patch on the antiquated and expensive rail service the UK has to offer.....Alora has a lot going for it, good community feel and transport infrastructure without being out in the back and beyond, you can achieve so much more when you get your homework right....but like anything it is the right way of life only for the right kind of people, not everyone's cup on tea I am sure.

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Minus 7 when I got home from work today .....luckily I was in a nice warm office all day :thumbsup: but walking home it was cold but once indoors switch on the central heating and run a nice hot bath and ...... heaven :thumbsup: When we lived in a townhouse in Spain we had an open fire...no central heating ... smoke came into the room from the fire so we had to open the door to let out the smoke :p in fact I remember one evening when my daughter and son in law were with us we were all stood in the street because the smoke got so bad :lol: Luckily we saw the funny side :p

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If smokum house you gottum problem. Needum sweepum chimney.

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Wonder why more people don't think of that? :lol:

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Yes I too saw the Ave line being built, what a marvelous piece of engineering it is too, we have a perfect view of the second bridge from our roof terrace.
As you say...homework makes all the difference. Personally we wouldn't want to live in Alora itself, though it is a nice enough town we like being being some distance from it.
Our two daughters and their Spanish husbands on the other hand prefer life down on the coast and would find it too quiet here where we are.

I should maybe try that pool next summer. ;)

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I'm sure what you say is correct about where you lived in UK, but I have to say my experience is completely different. We also have a super surgery, with all the clinics, minor surgery, pharmacy, opticians all in the same building. I have never failed to get a same day appointment, in fact just phoned up this morning at 8am and have an appointment for 10.10am. We also have two smaller satellite surgeries, and as one is a bit closer, I've arranged to go there. And as an Englishman living in Wales, everything including all medicines, is free. There are lots of returning,broke expats that will be glad of such a service. Certainly the NH isn't perfect, but if you are ill and broke they could be in a lot worse places. Despite the plaudits that the Spanish system receives, and with good reason, the vast majority seem to opt for private health insurance. I forget the figures, but the other new scheme starting in Valencia area, for a family of four, is not exactly cheap either.

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I venture to suggest that a significant proportion of British people living in Spain don't exactly 'opt' for private health insurance but, if like me they retired out here before reaching pension age and have used up their two years' E10 cover in the Spanish system, they have no choice but to have private insurance cover. I will happily use the Spanish state health system once I become entitled to do so.

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Several don't and end up in the morgue as a result. I was being a tad facetious, but it is an important point. You should never tolerate a smoking fire, and a chimney sweep (if he knows his stuff) is the best and cheapest place to start.

Carbon monoxide will kill you if it can.

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And you probably won`t know a thing about it either. :eek:

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Well, only if you are very, very lucky.

For anyone ever considering killing themselves with monoxide, eg a hosepipe from the exhaust, please consider this. It's not something generally known.

The first thing that monoxide does is to paralyse the voluntary muscles. That means you can't move. It then starts on the involuntary muscles, which means you go into seizures, vomit, and inhale the vomit.

Throughout all this you will be conscious, but unable to move a muscle to save yourself.

Very high levels, ie almost pure monoxide will kill almost as quickly as a bullet.

Low levels will cause eye irritation, flue like symptoms and nasty headaches.

Low levels are also associated with heart disease.

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I’m sorry, Bil, I normally agree with your logic, but your post indicates that you’ve heard from someone after they’ve died. Now, that’s a subject that interests me no end, and ignoring logic, perhaps it has happened?

I’m going to stop here because it’s well off topic and I don’t want to be responsible for getting such a long-running thread moved, but I couldn’t resist commenting.

To redeem myself, every time it gets really cold we look for extra means to heat the house thinking about anything from logs to gas heaters to boost our electric ones, and then the temperatures rise again, like today, and we wonder what the fuss was about.

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Ah yes my neighbors do this with hot ashes in a tin thing underneath, it's remarkably warm under there too, (pity about the rest of the house). I've had many an invite to join them while having a drink and eating mackrel that I thought was Tuna.;)

I can't wait to get back, I miss them and my village life so much after trying life in other parts of Europe.:(

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We 've got a cracking wood burner here and in Spain, recommend them to anyone who's Cold, we tried a gas fire with a bottle in and the condensation all over the house was sheer hell.

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In my line of work we would occasionally come across the tragic results of a too cavalier attitude to monoxide.

'Cos I'm a sad anal git I used to read up on stuff like that, so I'd know what I was talking about. That was basically a pathologist's run down on what was involved.

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Yeah, well, those catalytic burners produce over two litres of water per kilo of gas burnt, so it's hardly surprising is it?

Add that to a room with cold walls, and you are well away.

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Hot embers and ash under the table can produce more monoxide than I would be really happy with. If you start getting a headache, worry.

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Interesting, is that just bottled gas or does mains gas do that too?

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Well, it would if you burnt it like that. Mains gas appliances tho vent to outside so the water they produce goes outside.

Look at it like this. For an element like Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, the 'weight ' is twice the atomic number. (except Hydrogen which is one.)

So, H weighs 1, C weighs 12 and O =16.

gas is usually butane which has the formula C4 H10. This weighs 48+ 10 = 58

It produces when burnt 5H2O H20 weighs 18, so x 5 = 90

So for every 58g of gas you get 90g = 90 ccs of water.

If it's natural gas, it's far worse. CH4 weighs 16 and gives 2H2O which weighs 36, ie per kilo gas, more than 2 litres of water.

(Caveat, check my figures as I'm crap with numbers.)

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I was fortunate that as my husband was already retired when we moved here I was entitled to free health care as his dependant, and now in my own right.
So far I can't fault it, I'm permanently on several different medications all of which I had to pay for in the UK, here from day they have been free.

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We finally caved in yesterday and bought an Estufa, the gas man cometh this morning with the ammunition and we need to sign a new contract, at least, that’s what the man said, ‘Manana, por la manana’. Of course he’ll be here this morning, made a promise didn’t he?

And what’s happened overnight? The sun’s out this morning and it’s mild enough to have doors and windows open. If the gas man doesn’t come, it won’t matter.

I’m hoping the technology of these gas heaters has improved since we last used them, people have said on this thread that they don’t smell, well, I remember different.

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Its not that cold, its cold in scotland. At last sun is out and bit windy. Sick of the thunder storms and rain.

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A new gas fire can smell due to the paint etc warming and releasing a few solvents etc. However, beyond that first bit, they shouldn't smell, as that is often an indication that some of the products of combustion are escaping into the room.

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Cold in most of the UK. It's the coldest December in living memory - the only cold spells I can remember in December tended to last just a few days. Apparently an extra 300 people a day are dying :thumbdown:

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/851254-b...-300-every-day

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It isn't that cold :confused:

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Are you really in the uk?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...y-2163615.html