It's an unusual day in March. Mancunians are used to the weather gods delivering plagues of unseasonal cold, but today (March 9) is really taking the biscuit.
There's snow falling - sort of. It's not fluffy flakes this time, it's sticky sleet which coats the city's pavements and melts just as quickly. Everything seems to be running relatively smoothly, too - trains are working as well as they normally do in the north, buses are grumbling their way up Portland Street, and taxis are blaring horns across Deansgate.
But there are signs that the freeze is biting. Old ladies are shuffling past high street stores, but it's too cold to spare a minute and stop for some window-shopping.
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Men in sharp suits and big coats are hustling around meeting to meeting, trying in vain to get their numb fingers to manipulate their phone keyboards. Staff in high-viz clothing have accessorised with wooly hats, scarves, and gloves.
In the middle of this business is Omer Bin Saleh. And he just wants something very simple.
“I am after a good pair of quality socks,” he tells the Manchester Evening News.
He is sat by a bin on the approach to Piccadilly Station as the city begins to wake up on Thursday morning. Yesterday was the coldest day of 2023 so far, with the mercury dropping to -3C.
By the time Omer is chatting, it’s a slightly more palatable 2C — but with the sleet in the air, he’s clutching an umbrella. He has been homeless for ‘most of my life’, he says, and only came to Britain ‘a couple of months ago’ after a spell of sleeping rough in Europe.
When asked why he came to the UK, he replies: “The quality of life, even on the streets, is better. Sometimes life is just difficult.”
Last night though, was 'alright', he adds. "Nothing happened, I was doing alright."
Omer's definition of 'alright' shows just how brutal this weather can be for those at their lowest points. The MEN bought him some socks, and a bottle of cola, from a supermarket nearby. “Thank you very much,” he beamed. “That’s awesome.”
Life isn’t just difficult for Omer, at the minute. On the other side of the city, on Deansgate, it’s a bitter morning for Mark Taylor.
“I have been on the streets for nine months,” Mark says. “I slept literally there on Christmas Day,” the 40-year-old adds, gesturing to a doorway of the Kendall’s department store.
“It was pretty cold [last night]," he says. "Obviously over the last nine months, I have been out in -9C, so it’s nothing new to me.”
Like Omer, Mark's ability to brave the elements is one extended by his circumstances. Circumstances which he knows the cause of.
“It was an addiction and I lost my accommodation in the Lakes and then the job followed,” he explains, succinctly. It's evidently not something he is too keen to talk about, preferring to call out friendly messages to passersby.
Mark and Omer's resilience in the face of the cold is admirable. Fortunately, they were the only two homeless people MEN staff saw waking up in the city centre this morning - with another man asleep in a doorway on Peter Street.
Compared to other cold snaps, two is a relatively small number. But, with temperatures set to stay below freezing on Friday, and in the low-single-digits on Saturday, there are some options for rough sleepers during extreme chills.
"During periods of severe cold weather, additional emergency accommodation is provided by councils," charity Street Support Network say. "Adverse weather provision is provided when the weather is forecast to be sub zero.
"At this point the usual guidelines over who the council has a duty to provide emergency accommodations for are lifted, and extra provision is made for rough sleepers, regardless of their status. This winter, we are aiming to provide A Bed Every Night for people who are rough sleeping in Greater Manchester."
If you spot a rough sleeper in need of some respite from the cold, you can call 0161 234 5339. For referrals out of hours, call 0161 234 5001.
You can also make a referral online, or direct someone to one of three sites which do triages. They are The Booth Centre on Pimblett Street in Cheetham Hill (M3 1FU) from 9am to 3pm; Coffee for Craig at The Meanwhile, 153 Great Ducie Street (M3 1FB), from 6pm to 1am, by calling 07526 625734, or through Cornerstones Day Centre, pn 104 Denmark Road, Manchester (M15 6JS), from 10am to 2:30pm.
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