Those from cold climates do a lot of sniggering when other places shut down with tiny bits of snow. The latest snigger was from President Obama when his daughters' school shut down in Washington DC. I think it is a direct result of his comments that local schools stayed open recently when they should have closed.

What he and others don't realise is that snow is more trouble when you only get a little bit. Small amounts of snow can be too shallow to plough, and rain can wash away the salt. These things are less of a problem in the frozen North. Another problem in moderate climates is that the snow melts and then refreezes over night, leaving black ice.

Those who snigger at places like Washington or London usually come from places where the snow is always deep enough to plough, and where it stays cold enough that there is no rain to wash the salt away or to freeze on the roadway, and cold enough that the snow doesn't melt and re-freeze.

Well, it's always fun to poke fun, so perhaps I shouldn't be trying to dispel their illusions.