Snow solution

Like everyone else I have watched as the first sign of heavy snow makes the UK apparently unable to function as a modern society.

Like everyone else I have wondered what we can do about it. But as an engineer I have shaken my head in amazement as people have suggested there is something especially British about the inability to deal with snow.

Like so many other problems we confront as a nation it all comes down to choices about how and where money is spent.

Preparations can be made for almost all major natural events. It is exactly the same debate as we have had after flooding for the last few years. Why were the flood defences not up to the job? Why were the drains not able to deal with the excess water?

In the case of the snow or the floods (and you can add to this railways getting too hot in the summer) the solutions are readily available.

The reason other countries can function so much better in the snow is that they have spent a lot of money on the equipment and infrastructure that allows them to do so.

We could do the same if we accepted that for the majority of the year, and in many cases all year, it would all be sitting around doing nothing. Like so much else it is all about priorities.

J Hall

Stafford