Our say

Anyone who spent Friday in Cumbernauld or Kilsyth will know that a white out swamped the area. I hear Glasgow was largely unscathed, and once past Falkirk to the east the weather got wetter, if not better.

But in the middle was the micro-climate of blizzards and gridlock. And it’s amazing how much impact such a relatively light covering of snow had. At no point did I see the snow lying much more than two or three inches deep, but I heard reports of buses stuck on some routes, cars left abandoned, and, on the M80/M9 stretch traffic down to just one single lane.

Contrast that with pictures I spotted on Facebook of some of the Scandinavian countries where drivers were coping with walls of snow and carrying on just fine. Do we simply need our driving skills updated and for winter tyres to become compulsory?

Speaking of grinding to a halt, my 2013 fitness campaign has got off to a faltering start, but I am trying to get better. Undeterred, I was up at 5.30 am on Tuesday ready for a 6am swim. Pity my local pool doesn’t open till 7am, as I found out on arrival!