Ben Carmichael: England: a Dusting of Snow, a Climate of Chaos

I went to bed last night with Oxford covered in a thin, quiet blanket of snow. I woke up to find the country in chaos. The Telegraph ran a headline saying, "Britain paralyzed by worst snowfall for 20 years." Meanwhile, the usually reserved Times of London reported: "Chaos after huge snow blanket hits UK." The Guardian followed suit: "England wakes up to snow chaos." I read these headlines with the shades still drawn. Outside my windows, where usually birds signal the shift from the gloom of England's night to the grayness of its days, there were students trilling about the snow. I threw open the window and found not a blanket of snow, but streets mostly black but for pockets of white and a chill in the air. So little snow, I thought, for so much disruption. And so I took the streets. Experience bore out the papers. Many of the businesses along Turl Street -- one of the quiet streets that typify Oxford, its pubs, clothiers and nested Colleges -- were closed, or just opening, at ... (link)