Kerre McIvor: Taking on The Beast of the East

Members of the Household Cavalry return to their barracks as snow falls in London. Photo / AP

This time last Friday, I was lying on the sunlounger, soaking up the last of the summer sun and enjoying our Northland sanctuary one last time before we handed it over to another family for a year or so.

Tom was growling at me to put on sunscreen and I was luxuriating in the warmth of 24-degree heat and cloudless skies. My phone pinged and it was my daughter sending me a Facebook message from London warning me that forecasters were predicting a cold snap and snow on the Monday I was due to arrive. Pack your thermals, she said.

Only problem is, I don't have any thermals. I'm not a skier and I've never spent any time in a cold climate. I've grizzled about the cold before in Auckland but looking at the temperatures for London, I realised I have no concept of what cold actually is.

But if I was going to get thermals, I would have to try to find them in Northland. In February. Which was a big ask. The husband and I had to wait for the movers on Saturday then roar back to Auckland to meet them.

There would be little time for shopping on Saturday afternoon. Sunday, I was doing my radio show in the morning then heading straight out to the airport to begin the trek to London.

Reluctantly, I hauled myself off the lounger and began phoning stores in Kerikeri and Kaikohe to see whether they had received their winter stock. I struck out in Kaikohe and most of the stores would have been closed by the time we got to Kerikeri but the good old Warehouse was open till 7 that night and yes, they had received their first lot of thermal underwear for winter.

We got into the car and dashed across to Kerikeri. I bought two sets of tops and long johns and some woollen socks. I felt marginally more prepared and even more so when I found I had an hour spare after we arrived back in Auckland on Saturday.

I had just enough time to head over to a specialty store in Parnell and pick up a possum fur cape, hat and gloves. And my word, I've needed them. The storm the tabloids have labelled The Beast from the East, given that it's blown in from Russia, hit just as I landed on Monday morning.

But there's been nothing beastly about it for me. The skies have been blue and the snow is soft and delicate — nothing like the snow I've experienced in New Zealand. Then, it was like having a frozen daiquiri chucked in your face — all icy and sharp, and not at all pleasant.

Here, it's like being gently batted with kitten's paws. Very cold kitten's paws but manageable. London looks beautiful when it's dusted with snow. The papers are full of it, with the Daily Mail deserving a special mention for its end-of-days warnings and dire predictions of chaos.

The caps lock is on overdrive as the subs talk of England on RED ALERT: UK's highest ever weather warning for the second time in 24 HOURS as South West faces TWO FEET of snow! Despite the Daily Mail headlines, the rest of the UK is taking the weather in its stride.

Yes, the weather is bad — Marlon Williams had to cancel his London concert as he couldn't make it in time, given the state of the roads — but most of the counties are used to these sorts of conditions.

It's the Londoners who are going to town. Imagine if Auckland was suddenly blanketed in snow. You know how we Aucklanders do make a song and a dance about natural weather events to the derision of the rest of the country.

It's the same here. Still, we're talking about a country that has endured the Blitz, Thatcherism, Brexit and their national football team not winning the World Cup since 1966. They can cope with a few days of sub-zero temperatures. And so can I.

I feel very grateful that I got to enjoy the last of the golden weather and the great London snowfall of 2018 within just a couple of days.

• Kerre McIvor's Sunday Sessions show is on NewstalkZB today, 9am-noon.