Historic Freeze Ups

Other than watching the really bogus apocalypse man on download there has been little to giggle about in the UK over the last few weeks. We have in fact been snowed in, snowed under and snowed out. Mostly because the government is NEVER prepared for a cold winter. Why not? We do get them - and far worse ones than this.

The worst winter here recently in Britain came in 1962. It snowed for 71 consecutive days. Snow fell every day between Boxing Day 1962 and March 6, 1963.

However even this is dwarved by the bleak winter of 1684 when the river Thames froze for two solid months. The ground froze, too, so no ploughing or planting of crops could take place.

Here we are after a piddly little 5 days of light snow in London and the wold is beginning to come apart at the seams for many folk. Down in Hampshire where there is 40-50cm of snow the world HAS come apart for many people. Fearing death and disaster headlines the Government did finally mobilise a few troops with APC's and landrovers to rescue more than 1000 stranded motorists on the M3.

Thing is - what happens in Norway or Sweden? People live on as normal because to them it is normal. the roads are cleared by snowplough every 12 hours, they dont bother with salting or gritting. Why? Because when it re-freezes into a skating rink it just makes the situation worse.

Why can our government not just fit some APC's with ploughs and let the army keep the motorways and main roads clear. Forget about salting and gritting when you have snowfall because it does not work!