I think the red snow could have been caused by incorrect voltage on the hdmi frying something in the tv.
Just off to order my new pi now. I heard there is no waiting list..

When I first attached the raspberry pi to my TV I had a problem with a red 'snow' appearing on the TV. I think I just rebooted the PI and it went away. BUT then later the red snow appeared once or twice with the pi not connected. Got rid of it by going into menu and out again (on the TV). Then we fi...