The World must be Laughing at us in the UK 'NO GRIT,NO SALT'

Hi ya scorpio It does seem crazy doesn't it? I think that because we so rarely get snow to this extent we panic when we do and I don't think that county councils can justify getting decent snow ploughs because they would so rarely used, once every 10 years or so and the ploughs would just be sitting there doing nothing for years on end!! It does seem ridiculous running out of salt and grit though really. It took me nearly half an hour to find out if my kids schools were closed this morning. Nothing on the local radio website and the radio station hadn't called the schools name out. The phone lines were permanently busy and I couldn't get through. We haven't had that much snow and it is slushy but it is the problem of the teachers getting in from other areas that have been hit badly and I suppose it is a health and safety issue not having enough teachers in school to look after the kids! It does seem all a bit pathetic though and like you I never remember have days off school because of the snow!!

I seen it on the news tonight, that you have a salt shortage, I was amazed that this was a big news story. We got bad snow over here as well, but nothing like the amount you guys got. It just goes to show how unprepaired we are for freak weather like that. It amazes me here in Ireland when we get bad rain we flood really bad and when we get a heat wave, we get water shortage warnings. The mind boggles.

Hi Scorpio, Well just a few miles from me hundreds of people had to be rescued from their cars and the roads are all still shut, I walked to school and that is open and I will be leaving for work shortly but with the motorway being closed I am expecting a backlog of traffic so expect my journey to take a lot longer. Where I am just a few miles down the road we haven't had any LOL missed us expect for a small amount on Monday. I do think it is crazy how it all comes to a stop though. My daughter can't get back to Cambridge from a visit for work to Hammersmith because of the trains not running so having to stay with friends in the London area. I think it is laughable too. I think the schools closing was more due to the fact that the teachers couldn't travel in rather than the local children walking to school through the snow which they would have thoroughly enjoyed. It is sad that that young girl had to lose her life and her friends injured while on a made up sledge but a fatalist me and perhaps she would have met with a different accident had the school been open. Huggles. Ellie :D

I agree it is ridiculous two of my children actually walked up to school this morning in the snow after seeing on the school website that it was open. So they made the effort to go to school only to be told that the decision had been made to close the school when they got there. So they had a wasted journey. My children have only been at school once this week because of the snow. The rest of the time the schools have been closed. I can understand my two youngest primary school being closed as most of the teachers do not live in the area and it is too far for them to walk. I don't think we will ever be prepared as this happens every time we get snow.

We always treat snow like we've never seen it before. We don't get it like we used to so perhaps the collective memory is not what it was. However, we are so ill prepared that it beggars belief. I cannot get over how many schools are closed still. Here the primary schools have been closed all week. The closest one to here can be walked to in under 10 minutes. I have seen some grim faced mums about - clearly not relishing having the children home this long. Also, if the children are home, then Mum (or dad) can't go to work so easily so employers suffer too. Wiltshire where I live is almost out of road grit, and we have three major east west roads running through the county. Soon be summer!

Hi scorpio, Some of the schools in our area was closed but the roads were not that bad here and as we are not used to snow like this we were not prepare, the most we had was icy roads and that is usual dealt with but this is very unusual. People compareig with other countries that have a lot of snow is thaty are used to it and have more gritting machines and snowploughs we haven't. They are saying taht because of the global warming, we are going to have more of this weather everyyear so I think this goverment should invest in getting more grit lorries and snow plougs with the council tax we pay instead spening it on things that are usless to us. Love and hugs. Tamara xxxxx

I know...pathetic isnt it? Admittedly, it hasnt been too bad where I live this time but we have had far worse than this in the past and the country didnt grind to a stop. My dad used to drive a gritter lorry and I remember him being out at all hours - walking miles to the depot to get to the truck. I dont remember my school ever closing due to the weather - I lived in a small village & the school bus still ran to the next village. We weren't paying a tenth of our household income in council tax, yet the funding was still there for grit and salt. How come??