These students are learning English in one of the snowiest parts of the UK. But they are not letting the weather cause them any problems!

They are part of a group at the Oxford House School of English, which is in a village just outside the city of Oxford. The area has had around nine inches (20cm) of snow this week. Freezing conditions mean the snow shows no sign of melting.

“Our students haven’t even made a snowman so far,” says Sarah Moorhouse of the school. “We often get snow in February which only lasts for a day, and they always rush out into that. But this group have only just arrived and don’t know each other very well yet.”

The school has not had many problems with the snow because all the students live with families in the village, and most of the teachers also live nearby.

“Our students from Germany and Switzerland can’t understand what the fuss is about because they are used to thick snow,” said Miss Moorhouse. “We have two from Kuwait who are not used to it, and our Italian students seem to expect the UK to be like this in the winter.”

The whole of the UK is covered in snow at the moment, which is very unusual. There has not been such a cold winter for 30 years. Before that, the last very cold winters were in 1963 and 1947.

Our usual weather pattern brings warm, wet air from the South-West. This means winters are usually wet but not too cold. There is some snow and ice most winters, but it is more usual in Scotland and usually does not stay for long.

At the moment the UK’s weather pattern is bringing very cold air from Russia and Siberia, which is why there is so much snow and frost. It is making the countryside very beautiful.

The snow is also causing a few problems because it does not happen very often. Schools have been shut and some smaller roads have been difficult to use.

Has your school got an interesting snow story? Contact Susan@Englishuk.com and tell us about it.