The Big Melt

In the opinion of 100% of people I've spoken to this week - friends, colleagues, taxi drivers - this is the worst weather that Warsaw can throw at its citizens. Everyone is unanimous - "give me a sharp frost, -15C, crisp snow on the ground, blue skies - rather than this mucky slush".

Warsaw is drowning in meltwater, there's nowhere for it to go. Giant prisms of filthy ice melt down, rained upon by the sides of roads, brown salty slush thrown up by car tyres from the asphalt onto pavements, dog turds re-emerging from under the disappearing snow - and the rain keeps falling. And then the temperature falls, and the rain comes down as snow again, except the ground's now too warm for the snow to settle.

Below: Looking out of my bedroom window - dismal. The sleet's turning to rain as it urgently makes its way to earth. The remains of the snow are visible on the lawn, on the field beyond, the ploughed furrows are filled with water with a thin icy crust. And under it, thick, cloying mud. 

Below: looking out of from the balcony at the front of the house. The ploughed earth cannot absorb any more water; the next few days will be a test to see how efficient the new drainage system (only partially completed) for Jeziorki is in keeping the fields from flooding.

So much from Jeziorki, where the crows turn back. But what about town? It's ghastly. Below: March of the Foreign Investors' Delegation to the Mazowsze Marshal's Office, ul. Floriańska, Wednesday 30 January. These are not streets for smart business suits or footwear.

A propos of which - my winter footwear (Biedronka boots) are fine for tramping around muddy fields, but do not go too well together with my well-tailored slimline Vistula suits. My Loakes Chelsea boots (both pairs) have been appropriated by Eddie, and anyway they lack a chunky, gripping sole (essential when running for trams); something like that would be suitable for the next two and half months, when there are likely to be fewer sharp frosts.

This time three years ago:
Waiting for the meltdown (a whole lot more snow in 2010 than this year)

This time five years ago:
Warsaw's inadequate airport (since then Terminal Two has been opened, a railway line links it to the city centre and a new road will soon link it to the motorway 'network')