Oh the weather outside is frightful

Well not really; it's a bit cold and misty with some patches of fog, but that seems to be enough for drivers. Still my pet peeve, can you see out when you get into your car - Yes? Then you don't need your headlights on. Some people actually had their fog lights on. Umm I can see further at the moment then I can at night with my headlights on, you don't really need fog lights.

I blame a couple of things, both connected to the fact that the extremes of this type of weather are not common to this country. Firstly new drivers rarely get taught in these conditions; sure you might get told what to do, but that's different from experiencing it. So as a result we over-react when conditions do alter from the norm "Do I need my lights on?" Hey better switch them on just to be on the safe side.

The odd thing is that we do get these mild events at roughly the same time each year, but as a nation we seem to experience collective amnesia and so it seems to catch us unawares every time. "Who'd expect mist and fog in December?" Umm everyone who's lived here for more then 5 years "Snow in February!" Your point being? This is probably the only country where an inch of snow falling during the snowy season can bring the transport system to a grinding halt - cars, buses, trains, and planes all seize up out of indignant shock that it's actually snowing at a time when it's expected to.

And so we mutter and mumble, groan and grumble; why weren't we warned? Why haven't the councils done something? Then the summer comes and the memories slumber and fade, until the same time next year comes around and we greet the morning with the rallying cry "Snow in February! Who'd have expected that?"