Snow and storms are making a fool of UK (Image: Getty)
Our back garden offers an elegant snapshot of the current state of the British weather. The grass is a vivid green as it drowsily emerges from a covering of weekend snow. Meanwhile all that`s left of my son’s snowman is a hunk of midriff – think headless Sumo wrestler. In a puddle of sodden earth a forlorn carrot lies on the grass, which is at this moment being appraised by next door’s Tabby.
But that’s Britain for you. One moment it’s a fabled winter wonderland. The next it’s a case of let it slush, let it slush, let it slush. Yet however brief such episodes of bad weather maybe, one thing is entirely predictable. That regardless of the accuracy of the forecasts this country will be woefully unprepared for heat waves, storms, or in the case of the last few days, heavy snow or icy rain fall.
It was absolutely inevitable that major airports would close their runways for several hours due to the snow, on Saturday and Sunday while stranded cars would render key roads impassable. Even as I write it`s likely there’s more to come: around 90 flood warnings and 260 flood alerts are in place, with warnings that melting snow and rain could lead to “significant river flooding”. What are the odds this country will once again absolutely fail to slosh or slide up to the plate? A situation perhaps best expressed in one Radio 4 dispatch the other day when a breathless correspondent revealed that a snow plough was stuck in, er, the snow.
The question is why does this keep happening? Since it’s a situation which recurs whenever there is the slightest variation from our otherwise default position of grey sky, low cloud and sporadic drizzle. We have the technology to locate snowflakes from outer space – or at least in terms of when bad weather will hit our shores. Yet still reservoirs run dry, streets are flooded and in the case of snow our already challenging transport network creaks to a halt. Just ask anyone currently playing sardines at a UK airport of choice. Something has to change.
The age-old arguments of freak weather being, well, freak no longer holds. Britain’s infrastructure may well have been designed for a benign climate. Which is why railway tracks buckle in the sun and get blocked by snow: Or similarly our drainage system is helpless when dealing with heavy rainfall because it was built when we didn’t have super storms. But it`s clearly not working. We have to stop dealing with weather reactively and switch the dial to a pre-emptive approach – and end the age of under-investment in infrastructure which could withstand extreme episodes.
No money for this? Square that with the cost to the economy when the transport network is gridlocked or flooded.
Of course, once the crisis passes the temptation is to forget. As we always do. And the weather does move quickly, just ask our headless snowman. But even the biggest climate sceptic – and I count myself amongst them – can`t shrink from the reality of increasing flash floods, storms and heatwaves. Whether they are manmade, or god given. Anyway, although rare, this island nation has always had the capacity to experience extreme weather, however infrequent. Long before Greta Thunberg was a twinkle in the eye and a pain in the neck such events occurred. In June 1975 snow stopped play at several county cricket matches, including an inch settling on the pitch at Buxton cricket club in Derbyshire. Yet the following year, Britain roasted as it experienced one of the hottest summers ever.
That’s why it’s time to break such our pathetically inadequate response to weather and for our politicians to stop looking the other way. If the UK is to be a serious trading partner, a place to do business, where children can get to school and transport can keep moving, the time to act is now. Meanwhile I hope the gritters are gearing up to do their job. Or maybe it`s just too cold to go out?