Well, it’s that time of year again, the first snowfall of winter and our roads are blocked, our trains cease to function and flights are cancelled as our airports shudder to a halt, paralysed, evidently by less than two inches  of snow. It happens every year and every year it seems that our public services and transport systems are taken by surprise. Why?

Why is it that winter snowfall is such a shock? Why is it that this country suffers more disruption and cancelled flights than Sweden, for example, a country which regularly has snowfalls of several feet over a period of four to five months?  Yet, bar the odd blip, they manage to keep things moving along quite nicely and airport closures and flight cancellations are something of a rarity for the Swedes.

I hate knocking this country, I really do, but why on earth can’t our transport system perform better than it does? Compared to many countries we, in the UK, are very lucky with our climate. I know we’ve had some recent floods, which were certainly dreadful  for those affected, but we don’t have the hurricanes, tornadoes and other extremes of weather suffered by many other nations who, in spite of those extremes, still manage to get on with daily life without excessive disruption.

It can’t be that hard to get it right, can it? Surely, it’s just a matter of planning and preparation, preparing for the inevitable changes in weather that the seasons bring and stockpiling enough salt and sand together with the equipment and manpower to deliver it. Common sense tells you that snow falls in winter and sometimes that snow can be quite heavy, it’s just a shame that common sense isn’t that common after all as far as our public authorities are concerned.