Monday was supposed to be the quiet before the storm, the day commuters could make it into the office ahead of a week of strikes. The snow — and London’s ill-preparedness for such events — put paid to that.
The reasons for the disruption are well-trodden. The UK, surrounded by relatively warm seas, received less than 24 snow days a year between 1961 and 2010. London, in the warmer South-East and bolstered by the urban heat island effect, gets fewer still. The considerable investment required to better prepare and prevent stoppages is therefore considered not worth the expense.
