I was in Luton yesterday to run a storytelling workshop. Roads were not good, to put it mildly, and my participant list was completely re-drawn from people who had made it in to the children's centre where the workshop was happening, instead of those who had signed up and couldn't get in. Conditions were not improving when I got back to where I was staying in Leighton Buzzard, and I consulted with the charity who are funding the workshops - we decided to cancel today's session and I drove home to Wales.
As I headed west it was a different world, with far less snow and roads all cleared, so I wondered if I'd made a mistake to be so cautious - but near to home I found the Disneyland ride which is our hill. Like an uphill skating rink. Made it to the house but not into our drive, where ice under the snow meant my wheels were determined to take me and my car into a gate post. So I parked outside.
Today husband has been unable to get his car out of the road to get to work and we've watched council workmen (bin men included) try and fail to get to the local houses. The main roads have been gritted and are clear, but these local roads haven't been and aren't. The snow has continued to fall. I've heard from my contact that the venue for today's workshop would have been difficult to access because of ice and the chances were high that participants would have failed to make it in. And my journey home would have been even more difficult tonight.
It's all very well to say that other countries do this stuff better - I've been in Toronto when there was an unusually large amount of snow and there were delays and difficulties there, too. Same in Moscow. Same in France. You can cope with your usual climate, but sudden excesses of precipitation will throw us all off course whether it's frozen or not.
As to the daft wazzock who said schools closing would give children the wrong impression - she obviously hadn't realised that schools can't operate when their staff can't get to work.

I've made a snow cat in the garden and we're cosy enough here. No idea yet what tomorrow will bring and whether I can make it into the school where I should be teaching songwriting, but I intend to keep safe.

Anne