In a story that should have Ryan Murphy feverishly drafting a pilot, news has broken that 29 people were trapped by a mammoth snowstorm in a famous pub in England.
As reported by People, 29 pub-goers were reveling in the famous Tan Hill Inn, Great Britain’s highest-altitude pub at 1,732 feet above sea level, when chilly disaster struck. On Saturday, Jan. 4, an intense snowstorm blew in (well, intense for the U.K. anyway), in response to an amber warning notifying them of heavy snow and turbulent conditions.
Right before the snowstorm, staff received word that the nearby main road — which serves as the only viable exit — would close as a result of the storm. This meant that everyone who took shelter in the pub couldn’t leave, a situation with all the makings of a survival movie adaptation. While the stakes seemingly couldn’t be higher, a few people inside the pub spoke to the BBC about their surprisingly wholesome experience of being snowed in without knowledge of when they’d be free.
The group kept their spirits high by “playing games, watching movies, singing and dancing,” the pub’s manager, Nicole Hayes, said. While she admitted that there had been some fear and concern — saying some customers “cried” — the overwhelming experience was a familial one. “It’s like one big family here at the moment,” Hayes said from inside the pub. “We’ve all swapped numbers, swapped life stories, we’ve laughed, it’s been amazing.” Hayes’ optimistic response might seem surprising, but when the alternative is inducing pub-wide hysteria, it’s wise to maintain a glass half-full attitude.
Spirits are so high, in fact, that Hayes has used her free time while snowed in to help one pub guest build a snowman. The guest, named Paul Wright, was visiting the UK for the first time with his wife and son, and while a days-long stay in a pub might’ve put a damper on their debut visit, he too is remaining positive. “As well as making my first snowman I’m getting a liking for the huge Yorkshire puddings and the Tan Hill bitter,” Wright said, according to a post on the Tan Hill Inn Instagram page.
Elsewhere on the page, the pub shared footage of the intensity of the snowstorm, which clocked the venue as surrounding cars and roadways. Now, some three days after news of the snow-in broke, People reports that six of the people originally caught in the pub are still there. The days-long stay is not without precedent, however, since the pub was in a similar situation back in 2021. At that time, a whopping 61 people sought refuge in the venue as a storm brought in three feet of snow, which approached the height of the pub’s windows.
While it might seem like the beginnings of a suspenseful survival flick (though far chillier than Cast Away), an optimist might view the whole ordeal as a net win. After all, the rest of us are begrudgingly getting back into a post-holiday season routine, which makes the sound of a cozy pub disconnected from the real world sound endlessly enticing. With all that, it makes sense that Wright and his wife are enjoying a fireside beer inside the pub. Cheers to that, guys!