BBC News Online: Talking Point

Snow trouble: How is it for you?

Year after year Britain faces the "big freeze" and even after the snow was forecast, roads remain ungritted causing more problems for travellers.

AA Roadwatch spokeswoman Joanne Webb warned: "The whole country is suffering with snow, slush or icy conditions. Nowhere is clearing completely."

What should we be doing to stop this from happening each year? What problems have you faced over the past few days?

Crippled by snow?? It was here and gone before we knew it! All year people dream of a white Christmas/ New Year then moan when their dreams come true. Chill out before we thaw out.
Leah, UK

We in the UK are caught out by snow because we do not get enough to justify the cost of putting into place the sort of measures they take in, for example, Canada. Would taxpayers be happy to pay to keep teams of snow ploughs and salting trucks on alert for three months a year just on the off chance that we may get a day or two of snow?
Gill, UK

It's been great! I haven't heard anything about global warming for at least 24 hours!
Dave Tankard, UK

As for the scandal over the lack of treatment of our roads...I agree. Even up to five years ago, I remember grit boxes on every street corner, or near enough. This year - when we all really needed them I could only find one box and that is in approximately 4-6 square miles of housing area...and it was never refilled. Oh dear - it looks as though the councils or whoever is ultimately responsible for this has indeed made a blunder. I think three days after our only big snow fall is too late to get the country moving again - and they were helped here by a thaw. That's quite sad.
C J McWilliams, Northern Ireland

Can't we cope with anything? Other countries can deal with weather conditions whatever the extremes.
Richard Medlycott, UK

Ah, I'm glad to see that the weather is still the favourite topic of conversation for the British!
Diane, UK

Coming back to Chicago flights were cancelled from Manchester to Heathrow and Heathrow to Chicago O'Hare. Manchester had very little snow, the M62 was clear and the radio stations were still advising people to stay inside. After changing my flight details and finally getting down to Heathrow there was no sign of extensive snow, just a scattering is how you could best describe it. O'Hare on the other hand had several (real) inches and still kept open even during the snow. It does seem to effect the UK more than most countries.
David Sansom, USA (British)

While I appreciate that the recent snow has caused difficult and hazardous driving conditions, the behaviour of some motorists is truly bewildering. I set out across the Mendip Hills last week before the gritters had been out in hope of reaching work on time. Some motorists insisted on tackling hills in first gear, which of course caused every one in the queue to get stuck, wheels spinning. Angry lorry drivers just gave up. I lived in Russia through the winter, and the people there would laugh at us Brits and our inability to drive in wintry conditions. Come on folks, let's consider other motorists and use our heads!
Chris Booth, England

It was great! Going away for New Year and the roads were almost empty. A journey I expected to take 2-3 hours took half that. Two years ago I was in the US for Christmas and in one night 12 inches of snow fell. Their response - get out the shovels, clear the driveway and get on with life. So much for global warming. Perhaps the doomsayers who predict the next Ice Age will get a chance to carp for a while.
Karl Peters, UK

The roads here are cleared and gritted mid morning after a nightly fall and nobody is late to work in spite of this. Driving styles are adjusted and of course the vehicles are prepared well in advance. The trains and buses are similarly prepared and continue to run to time. Mind you there has been a bit more national investment in these services than in the UK.
C Bennett, Switzerland

Problems? Not for me. I love the snow. It just seems to me that the local governments are unwilling to spend money to alleviate any slight problem and the media then blow it out of all proportion. I spent time in the States during last winter. They never seem to have a problem.
Lee, England

A lot of people are saying that the UK is never prepared and caught out every time. What exactly is preparation for the weather? We have the gritter lorries out on the roads without fail, we have good emergency services to cope with any weather. The problem is the public's over-reaction and descriptions such as "Arctic conditions" or "Britain comes to a standstill". Britain is prepared, it always has been and always will be.
David Stewart, Scotland

As a Brit spending my first winter in Toronto I was amused a couple of weeks ago after a fall of 25cms of snow when the Toronto Transit Commission apologised that some passengers had experienced delays of nearly ten minutes - and it made the news - a pretty normal day on the Northern line I seem to remember.
Linda Harris, Canada

I do not believe how rubbish things are. A tiny amount of snow brings the rail network round London grinding to a halt, with trains on Thursday being "delayed" by more than an hour!

Why do we have a transport system unable to cope with normal British weather conditions. It is winter. We have snow in winter. Why does this come as such a surprise? As much as I hate to sound like one of Monty Python's four Yorkshiremen, when I was a lad I used to walk to school through over six inches of snow. Life went on, the country did not grind to a halt, there were no major news items about "The Big Freeze" every time two snowflakes fell from the sky. Watching southerners moan over tiny amounts of snow which are nothing compared to the snowfalls we had in Yorkshire every year, makes me laugh!
Antony, England

I am currently enjoying a Christmas holiday in Quebec. My friends and I had a good laugh about the weather back home. I saw headlines like "big freeze cripples country" when there is a couple of feet of snow outside. As a nation, we are quite pathetic sometimes.
James, United Kingdom

Pathetic UK as always. Moaning, whinging people who have no balls but snowballs. It is not cold in the UK, nor is there any snow that can be called snow. Here it is -27C here, it is usual and everything is working fine.
Andy Lambert, Russia

What ever happened to that British 'stiff upper lip' mentality?
James, Canada

It makes me laugh how the gritters gun passed me in my car, about 100mph at the last minute, surely we need to be a bit more prepared for the bleak British weather.
Debbie Hester, England

This country grinds to a halt at the first hint of snow yet where I was born in Kitchener Canada the routinely get snowfall measured in feet and cope just fine - although I concede my father crashed his car while trying to take my mum to hospital to give birth to me. Me, personally I like this weather as it beats being rained on all the time. Just need a bit more planning to cope with it.
Mike Rodgers, UK

You southern softies! Half inch of snow and your all done for. I live in the wilds of Ayrshire, southern Scotland. It has been as low as -12 over the past week and I have approximately 12 inches of snow on the ground. The road outside my farm front door is still totally covered in snow and ice but does it stop me? Scots are used to bad weather - we always get a laugh when the south gets it bad and its suddenly a disaster. Up here we just learn to live with it. Buy a Land Rover - I even made it to work Thursday morning after 12 to 15 inches of snow and roads untouched by gritter or plough. Great Fun - more on the way I hope!
Simon, Scotland

Come on guys, we can cope, just be patient it will soon disappear for a few years.
Kari, England

Tokyo is similar. Snow causes chaos. Only mobile phone companies make money.
Yoshi, UK

We have about four inches of snow outside - and my kids can't actually remember ever seeing the stuff, so we stayed at home and had a huge snowball fight! Much more fun than walking around moaning!
A Farrow, UK

At 5.30am on Thursday morning I had to drive from Bognor Regis to Dover to cross the channel to Calais, then drive south to Lyon. Needless to say the roads in southern England were untreated and treacherous. I missed the ferry by 90 minutes. From Calais southwards, they were treated and clear. Yet both countries had endured similar conditions that night. Moral is - the French authorities raise the money and spend it for the citizens. In England the authorities cut taxes and services.
Peter, France

Although our weather extremes may not be that extreme, the 'Big Freeze' poses many dangers to road-users, especially those living in rural areas. I myself have witnessed two crashes due to iced-up roads, and have been involved in 3 near collisions (no sarky comments, please). Not enough is done to clear the roads, and people out of towns and cities suffer as a result. But isn't the snow pretty....
Joe Dixon, Scotland

Tokyo is similar. Snow cause chaos. Only mobile phone company makes money.
Yoshi, UK

Writers who say that this cold spell denies the existence of global warming are either very humorous or plainly silly. 2000 has been the warmest year since records began.
Pascal Jacquemain, UK (French)

Do the people of Norway panic if they have a day of sunshine?
Jus, UK

We're having a mild snap, the temp is only -20, Winnipeg
Mark, Canada

So where's this global warming then?
Paul, Isle of Man

The weather in London hasn't been too bad. The main problem is that people here can't drive. You should drive like you would walk on ice. Slower without sudden stopping or accelerating. The amount of crashes is ridiculous.
Nick Hall, ENGLAND

I am from London, but I live in Wisconsin, USA. There is about 3 feet of snow in my front garden, and it's -10 degrees outside. Why are YOU complaining?
Phil, USA

This isn't the "Big Freeze" - it's just an inch or snow at a time when there is no other news. And we British like nothing better than moaning about the weather...
Peter, UK

My local pub has snow and ice in the car park. I asked the landlord why he hadn't salted or sanded the entrance. He had been told not do anything as if someone subsequently fell over - the brewery would be liable. By doing nothing, the brewery would not be liable although the chance of injury would obviously be higher. Litigious society rules!
Malcolm, England

I love the snow. It's brill. It's freezing outside whilst I wrap up warm. You've got a good excuse to get to work late. You can throw snowballs at anyone who looks miserable. And the newspapers have something to report; after all, who'd have thought we'd get snow in Britain?
Marcus, England

Snow chaos? Come on, guys - get a grip! 5mm overnight and a bit of a temperature drop below 0c... hardly a problem, is it? Winter happens every year, but we always seem to be caught unawares. Every other country in the world can deal with it - why can't we?
David, UK

It's precisely because this doesn't happen each year - it's 10 years since there was a significant snowfall that lasted more than few hours here in the West Midlands - that we make such a fuss about dealing with it. It simply doesn't snow often enough, at least for those of us south of Manchester, for it to make economic sense to invest in the efficient measures that countries like Canada and Norway take for granted.
Simon Bayliss, England

To quote the guard on my Connex South Central train, 'Sorry for the severe disruptions to your services that an eighth of an inch of snow has caused'.
Doug, UK

I can remember as a kid in the UK when the snow was banked up on the front door and we had to dig out to the front gate and then go by bike to work 10 miles away. What's wrong with the people today, get out and get stuck in- stop whinging. By the way I am 64 and enjoying the heat in WA.
Emlyn Williams, Australia

So where are the headlines about global warming now? Perhaps we should just accept that British weather is changeable and start planning for ALL eventualities.
K Rowley, UK

This has come as a Christmas blessing. My flat backs directly onto the Northern Line tube in North Finchley. Who would have thought that 2 centimetres of snow would give me a good night's sleep by brining the trains to a grinding halt! Only in the UK could this happen - North American states such as New York seem to cope okay with feet of snow all winter!
Andrew, UK

Our region of the world has been experiencing the coldest December in history. Is this global warming?
D. Walsh, USA

The bus to work was delayed so I took the train instead. Got a few corking photos of the snow-covered trees. Perhaps the vociferous global-warming brigade who jump on every warm day to spout their twaddle will shut up for a while.
John B, UK

The only problems I have faced with the bad weather is having to drive behind people who insist that the only safe speed is about 20 miles an hour. Strangely these are the same people who turn their fog lights off two weeks after the fog has gone!
Ian Bailey, England

Despite the blocked roads and pavements the four-wheel drive terrorists are out in force. Mounting pavements to cut corners and miss stuck buses and lorries. The terrorists fail to notice that pedestrians still require to walk on the pavement as they snow plough tons of snow and slush at them.
A McMurtrie, Scotland

Over the past 3 weeks we have had 26" of snow, the most trouble it has caused is while it is still falling, the difference here is that we KNOW we get snow and we KNOW how to deal with it. How many more times in the UK are the authorities going to be caught napping before they finally learn the lesson that it snows in winter?
Adrian Hancox, UK - Living in Chicago

Gritting is not effective at temperatures below -3, so complaining about the council not doing its job is an exercise in futile. I have been speaking to people today who have never driven in the snow and who have no idea of the correct techniques for stopping and starting. They are driving too fast or are too close to the vehicle in front and most have no idea how to use a gearbox effectively.
Basically, use your common sense, if you do not now how to control your vehicle in icy conditions STAY AT HOME, you are an accident waiting to happen.
Alan Manson, Scotland

I read there was half an inch of snow in Kent and the place grinds to a halt! This is why we are no longer a great empire. We have become complacent, our time has passed.
C J Hendrick, Antarctica (on vacation) Brrr!

Here in Soham (Cambs) the landlord at the Red Lion public house has sanded the entire pavement and provided free halves to all who bring ducks in from the cold.
Dave D., UK

Every year it's the same old thing. The British government obviously doesn't budget for winter storm emergencies or road clearance. Neither are driver's prepared either in driving skills or winter tyres or emergency equipment. Over here, we have at present an accumulation of 5 feet of snow with temperatures at minus 38 degrees. The sanding trucks are out constantly and so are the snow ploughs and nearly everyone owns a snowplough for their driveways.
It's time the local municipalities in Britain learn to budget for such adverse weather conditions and study how countries that do expect heavy snowfalls like Canada to see how it's done. Then spend the money to educate drivers and render the roads safe and clear.
Kaye, Canada

The Midland metro (Wolverhampton to Birmingham) has not even bothered to clear its stations of snow or put grit down. Now that the snow has frozen each stop is like a skating rink. Nice to know they have got the publics interests at heart!
C Smith, England