Snow in the UK generally means that the country comes to a halt. Planes are grounded, cars stuck in their driveways and trains in the station. During the snowy and icy conditions, the national rail system blames delays and cancellations on ‘adverse weather conditions’. But how long before adverse becomes normal?

Adverse describes something which is acting against or in a contrary direction. So, in the case of a train journey attempting to get from A to B, adverse weather conditions are forces which are acting against these efforts. This is mainly because the weather is abnormal, unexpected, unprecedented and improperly forecast and prepared for.

How long will it be, and how many weeks or months of the year does it have to be snowy, icy and adverse weather conditions, before it’s considered normal. If it snowed every day of the year we’d all have snow tyres. If it snowed every day of the year, I expect the trains would have snowploughs on the front. So why not build it in anyway.

This year, it snowed for around 2 weeks in some areas of the country. That’s about 4% of the year. I would estimate that anything around 10 to 20% could be considered expected. 20 to 40% could be considered normal and 40% plus could be assumed as probable.

So, what can we do about it? My answer is be prepared to spend a little bit of time and money on tools, equipment and clothes to help us prepare for these scenarios. When they come along, everyone is prepared!

Photo by Richard Stowey