Have to mention the recent bad weather. I cannot remember so much disruption for quite some years, although I do recognise the effort that was put in by so many to keep the main routes passable.
As for where I live at the top of a hill in a village in Leicestershire, the understandable decision not to grit the local roads even once meant for interesting driving experiences morning and night. After a few days of struggling to gain any grip I followed the advice in a national newspaper and put some cat litter down on our drive and in the road. I have to be honest and say that I am not sure it helped at all but the cats in the cul–de–sac certainly appreciated it.
Finally, I think my children (all three grown up now) were even more pleased to see the back of the snow than I was. The reason for this being that they were fed–up to the back teeth of my tales of the great freeze of 1963. I suspect, however, that when their time comes they might regale their kids/grandkids with ‘horror stories’ of the winter of 2009/10.