• Transport round-up: How London has coped
• Many a slip as walkers tackle the ungritted pavements
• Christian Wolmar: This transport collapse is inexcusable
• London's streets empty as snow shuts theatres and bars
• Hotels profit from stranded commuters
• Gallery: The big freeze causes misery in London
• Gallery: London's winter wonderland
• Poll: Should transport chiefs have done better?

Reader views (209)

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TFL failed big time ! It's just a laugh.

- Neon, London

Did they do well? They stopped dead! I thought I would not take the car on Monday, the safer option being to trudge through the snow to the main road and pick up a bus, but oh no, not a single bus was on the road, so I was forced to skiddadle my way myself. It was totally pathetic! Three days on and my one way side street has yet to see salt or grit and is now a solid sheet of ice from one end to the other. Thanks for nothing TFL and the council.

- Deborah, London

Its not the type of organisation but the leader of the organisation!

I felt bad for the night workers who were stranded in London when the buses and tubes were cancelled. Ken with all of his faults would never have left Londoners in the lurch like that!
As for the councils not gritting the roads and schools and other public places which is their jurisdiction for want of a better word, it is clear that the money lost in ICELAND was needed!

- Liz, Thamesmead England

"Ummm you do realise that 55% of the Underground is actually overground don't you?"

Indeed. But this is a dedicated transport system based of railway lines which with the appropriate planning and investment should never have suffered the total chaos it displayed on Monday. Buses on public roads are a somewhat different matter.

- John David, London

Sorry to come back again, but there are a couple of points.
On the training & ability of bus drivers.
Until 1987 all London bus drivers had to train at Chiswick Works (this site is now three tall office blocks) on the skidpan to make sure they could drive in the worst of weather. When this was closed nothing replaced it.
In the worst winter of 1947 London Transport kept going, and to see the photos of this all you need to do is Look at the photos available on the London transport Nuseum web site.

- Gerry, Chatham KENT UK

TFL could not run a booze up in a brewery, every year its the same when the 1st bit of snow causes chaos, this time we had plenty of warning but what was done?-Nothing, only after the event were roads gritted etc. To many jobs for the boys attitude stil applies

- Mike, London England

I was driving a bus at 00:30 am on Monday morning in/out of London Bridge station. With 16 years of HGV+PSV experience, driving in all weathers, I can tell you it was pretty hairy at times. It should be borne in mind that buses are glass-houses on wheels able to carry upto 90 or so people - the potential for catastrophic accidents/injuries goes without saying. After sliding my way across the bridge into the station, earnestly avoiding others, I (& many others) had tremendous difficulty scaling the bridge's northbound slope - cars who'd failed lining the side of the road. I witnessed several accidents on my return journey.

Without a huge increase in extreme weather equipment/resources - for both local authorities & operators - studded tyres, diff-locks etc., it's very easy to lose control. The cost of such extra investment has to be balanced against the losses to individuals, companies & the economy as a whole, when these infrequent/unpredictable events occur. It's very well paying for Russian style machinery etc in readiness, but if they're only going to sit in storage for the next decade or so, it's not exactly cost effective. This is, I believe, the dilemma. It's not an easy one to call.

- Don't blame Boris, London, England

No one is expecting huge sum of money to be spent or snow-ploughs, etc. but transport systems like The Tube which mainly run underground and on rails should not have been reduced to the chaos of yesterday.
- John David, London

Ummm you do realise that 55% of the Underground is actually overground don't you?

- Lone Gunman, Anywhere but here

'London Transport workers are overpaid as it is.' Are they supposed to drive on roads, and in conditions, that are potentially lethal? Bus drivers and train drivers are responsible for the safety of their passengers - a serious responsibility. They deserve every penny they take home. The question is 'where was the salt/grit'? Perhaps our brilliant new mayor can explain why London was so unprepared. He took power long before the winter months, so why hadn't he looked at plans for 'bad weather' contingencies? Place blame on those who are elected to look out for our interests in fine or foul weather.

- Charlotte Cornwell, UK

Neither Boris Johnson, nor his transport commissioner seem to take their jobs too seriously. The chaos yesterday was caused by negligence, underinvestment and poor decisionmaking. It's all well saying a bus on treacherous roads is hazardous; but no bus at all is even more dangerous: each bus that doesn't run forces up to eighty people to drive. No bus service also means lost business on a huge scale, and it leads to the cancellation hospital appointments, job interviews, exams...
Anyway, those buses could have run without problems if they had been fitted with winter tires, and if basic road clearing had been carried out. Have a look at some pictures from Freiburg in the Black Forest (http://www.bilder-von-freiburg.de/Freiburger-Strassenbahn-Bild3.html) to see how people there are dealing with quite a bit more snow than London! Maybe Boris Johnson and his transport commissioner should replace just one trip to Cannes with one to a place where they could actually learn something for their job?

- Gerhard Bissels, London

It's a disgrace! We all knew the 'big freeze' was coming, the Councils and London transport should have worked together to ensure the roads were gritted, even if it meant putting on extra staff/vehicles to get the job done. The excuses Peter Hendry provided are pathetic! How can London - a 24 hour city come to a standstill!
This is 2009!!! Get your act together, other countries can do and it's not like we've never had snow before!

- Peter, London

The transport system in London failed to deliver yesterday and again today. This is not acceptable, we are continually told that we are expected to use public transport and then when there is a blip it fails.

We are continually told by our political masters that we live in a first class city, with excellent services etc. and yet when there are adverse weather conditions or whatever reason they feel appropriate to use as an excuse, the city and country grinds to a halt.

However, am I surprised? and the answer is no, with a government and a Prime Minister that effectively have not been elected, who employ "spin" and whatever other dubious resoures to cover their failures and lack of control of government, the banks and financial institutions.

It surprises me that there are so few comments to this news item, probably because the public/electorate are now so used to poor service standards from government/local authorities etc. that they have given up the fight.

If this country is to be successful again we all need to work to ensure that public services are provided, and if not demand that they are, governments deliver and stop spinning,governments control the financial institutions in our country and those who may operate in our counrty.

- John O'Meara, London

Ohh my godness ,,,

- Sven Svensson, North Pole, Sweden

The winter of 1940 or 1941 (memory fails me as to which) was probably as bad or perhaps worse than London has just experienced. Schools in London (or at least my bit of it)carried on as normal including the odd trip to the freezing, damp, air raid shelter, as high explosive and incendiary bombs rained down.. Public transport including the tube carried on as normal. What was very different was the standard of local government.

- Kenharvey, Ramsgate, South Africa.

It's "Elf 'n' Safety" gone mad.

- Roger Slade, Winchester, Hampshire, England

It was not good enough. The London Transport workers are overpaid as it is. To see the bus drivers yesterday playing a snow ball fight on TV was just too much. They need their pay cut or they have to work. It is that simple. Gritters or no gritters, a shovel would have been good for this little snow!

- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London

Who cares if buses were cancelled yesterday? It's a once in a decade event to have snow like that, and better to have a few buses and tubes cancelled with people having an impromptu bank holiday than to spend millions of pounds on snow ploughs and the like that will lie dormant for the next 20 years. I don't want my hard-earned taxes to go on frivolous expenses- fair enough if we lived near the Arctic and had several feet of snow every winter. But not in London, where snow is a rare phenomenon. Have the day off, and have done.

- Richard, London, United Kingdom

Credit where credit's due. Here in Barnet, the gritting lorries were running continuously from Friday, through the weekend and Monday. Yesterday I had to drive all over the borough from before 9 am. All of the main roads were fine for large vehicles and secondary roads were passable. Only side roads were really slippery. Why were there no buses at all until mid afternoon?
A postman told me that he and his colleagues who managed to turn up had been asked to volunteer to deliver mail, effectively at their own risk. ie, sustain an injury and your employer will blame you.
By the way, in 1991, the buses were running. The problem was that they were stuck in queues of stationary traffic.
Finally, a word to our North American and other friends from colder climes. It's all very well paying for snowploughs and standby crews, or winter tyres for your car. Please bear in mind that in London, these will be completely unused five years out of six. Even when they are required it may only be for one or two days. It is actually illegal to use studded tyres on roads here.

- Len, London

Mr Peter Hendy, you and all those other overpaid cretins have obviously not done everything you could. We all knew that there was going to be snow over the weekend but did anyone think ahead and think, "Oh, let's salt the road or the tracks will be frozen, let's try to keep disruption to a minimum," but no, you prefer to line your overflowing pockets with more money. Me like many others took hours to get to work and will now probably take even longer to get home. This disruption is a joke and I hold you and the rest of the fat cats at fault!

- Aria, South London

I saw on the BBC one pm news an interview in Tehran where it was snowing. Surprise surprise the traffic was flowing freely. As one who failed to get to work again to-day in Holborn as Croydon seems to be on another planet!!! A spot of snow and everything stops!I recall in I think 1995 it got to minus 18 degrees. So we have had colder.

- Jim, London

Peter Hendy, your best is not good enough. Also, how much is being spent on the Olympic Games and when are they going to come around again? Oh, I forgot that is to impress the world, while we only live here. The expression "fur coat, no knickers" springs to mind.

- Patricia, LONDON

Gerry, Chatham KENT UK

I suspect you are right to question the ability of managers. For too long, there have been too many excuses for the failure of our transport system - in this case despite snow warnings being issued the best part of a week ago.

Commuters are not interested in announcements telling them that their services is running normally as if this were a major achievement. They want - and need - to know that the bus and train services they are using are reliable, particularly having recently suffered excessive fare increases.

There should be a fare freeze until service providers can demonstrate that they are running consistently reliable services. At the same time, the performance of managers should be scrutinised and those who fail to deliver a proper service (measured by whether services operate on time with minimal delays, stoppages, cancellations) should be sacked - that, after all, is what happens in most businesses (except banking and public services) who are suffering financial loss as a result of this incompetence.

This means that we should not have any fare increases for at least the next two years while this mess is being sorted out..

- Simon, london

No one is expecting huge sum of money to be spent or snow-ploughs, etc. but transport systems like The Tube which mainly run underground and on rails should not have been reduced to the chaos of yesterday. This appears to have been a complete lack of planning and, of course, no doubt money. TfL saying they are sorry is really not good enough. As for the "private" rail companies running in and out of London I would say before you keep putting your fare up to line the pockets of your directors and shareholders actually delivery an effective and reliable service as people have had enough of your greed and you are actually no better than the bank industry and your time will also come!

- John David, London

I was amused by a report in one of today's Milan dailies
saying that the mayor of Milan had compared London's problems to Milan's,saying that Milan continued to function and London came to a standstill.London is 10 times larger than Milan and the quantity of snow was at least 5 times more.There was no comparison.
May I add that the center of Milan was like an ice skating ring yesterday,so much for the mayor's comments.

- David Nigel Braham, Milan Italy

Can anyone explain why trains STILL aren't running normally between Victoria and Croydon? Is Croydon at the top of a huge mountain range or something?

- Jethro Payne, Streatham Common

Hmmm, so buses can't run because of the snow? Maybe this is the answer Boris!

http://www.snowplownews.com/images/ask_mrplow/plowbus.jpg

- Icyears, London

Hello to all you lovely people commenting from Canada, I couldn't agree with you more. I was in Canmore Alberta over Christmas with feet of snow and temperatures of -30 and windchill of less than that. On only one day was I prevented from getting to where I wanted to go and that was due to a REAL (as opposed to imaginary!) blizzard and a temp of below -35. Get a grip UK.

- Geraldine, London (unfortunately)

I personally loved yesterday - it was great to see so many families out being happy. I do however wonder when the local councils will ever get to a point when they can competently deal with snow. It was forecast a week ago and when was the first gritter seen on the streets where I live? Sunday evening at about 7pm. All the pavements are now icy deathtraps and no further gritting has ocurred. Is it really so difficult? All we want for our council tax is a Council that can make life bearable - provide policing, collect our bins and grit our streets ahead of some forecast snow.

- Ag, The Village of London

Glad to see Lambeth council has its priorities right again.

After having to abandon my car on Sunday night in a restricted parking bay they tell me rather than sending our gritters to help us all get moving, they have done relly well in getting the tow trucks back on the road to kindly lift immovable cars illegally parked like mine, onto the back of a truck and take them to a nice warm warehouse. And they'll only charge me £200 for the pleasure of taking a morning off work to try to get there to get it back!

But its ok.....although they can't employ any common sense before towing you away, you will have the opportunity to waste even more of your time and money by going through the appeals process. Where no doubt some other ignorant jobsworth will tell me there is no grounds for appeal based on adverse weather ' because its not printed on the form Sir'.


When are these cretins going to realise who they work for!!

- Mac, Clapham

I would like to know why the Evening Standard and the BBC is of the opinion that the snow has resulted in misery. Misery for who? I have yet to come across a person who has not found joy in this unusual and extraordinary weather. Maybe all those who are miserable have stayed indoors, wherein I would say that is an improvement for London, which is a city renowned in the rest of the UK for its unfriendliness and appearance of unhappiness. As for getting back to normality, normality is the return to the so-called 'delights' of a recession and ever-growing unemployment and related worries. I prefer the wonder and escape of the snow myself.

- Sasha, NW3

Boris Johnson thought it went well yesterday. He's a joke. Great for dinner parties and hosting gameshows, but running London? God help us.

- Grace, London

Peter Hendy - your apology is not accepted as there is no excuse for the utter chaos that constituted the transport system in London yesterday.

As for you, Boris Johnson, what exactly do you do, as you obviously do not have the best interests of Londoners and those who work in London at heart.

The pair of you should be completely ashamed of your abject failure but no doubt you will eventually leave your posts with a large pay-off as opposed to those of us who actually work for a living!

- Alison Petrie, Cheshunt, Herts

god help us if anything ever serious happend. Most people in the UK are like cattle now - used to being herded from on place to another without any thought. At the weekend a power cut in Tesco's Brooklands occurd and the gasps of terror as people stood about with gapping mouths - we really have become reality TV fodder dumbed down by 10 years of Labour.

- Fly, london

If you build important things on the cheap you pay for many years.

South London's rail tracks and the tube all get their power from the ground and so are far more unreliable. North London uses overhead and so are able to run services.

I know lets compund the heathrow mistake.

- Terry, London

STOP MOANING! Is that all we are now? a nation of damn moaners? yesterday was brilliant, made a nice change, most people i saw where in a great mood, and the streets looked lovely, the comments here make me ashamed to be british,

- Daveb, london

I use SouthWest trains to work then a bus (none available yesterday). SW Trains reportedly ran two trains per hour, yesterday. Could not board them... Today they are still running two trains an hour, simply not acceptable. They had time to improve their service wo why didn't they? Today, but not yesterday, managed to get a District Line tube as an alternative. We all got chucked out at Earls Court. Same for the next train. Finally managed to get on a train which got stuck at Embankment for half an hour due to loss of power. Am sorry Boris but London is not doing well under the circumstances. I am happy to allow for disruption on day 1 but thereafter, this is not acceptable for a leading capital city of the world and just proves the mediocirty of the people "in charge" of transport in London.

- Daniel, London

Is Al Gore available for interviews at the moment? I have just shovelled eight inches of global warming off the front drive.

- Mark, Bournemouth England

It still amazes me that after over 100 years of trains going in, out and around London the Brits still can't deal with snow, leaves and once I even heard "due to extreme weather conditions, the next train has been cancelled", it was 20 degrees outside and perfectly sunny. Perhaps they should stop creating an enquiry into WHY the system doesn't work and whose fault it is and start spending that money on fixing the situation!

- Sarah, Chiswick, London

HELLO LONDON,
Yesterday I was listening to the radio and a lady was calling in about the weather and get this,
She said, Adolf Hitler dropped 350 million bombs on Britain during World War Two and Never stopped Britains from going about there business, if he had dropped 350 million bags of snow, London would have been his for the taking?.
Thats food for thought?.

- John.L., Scarborough N.Yks U.K.

The reason for this failure ? - money and planning.
Let me explain as a commuter of 35 years from Hampton Court to London. In the 70s we had simple electric trains whose components did not burn out due to snow. That's why most of the newer delicate trains are in the sidings as they don't wish to have to repair (spend money)on them if they send them out. Secondly main line electric trains had a diesel locomotive attached to them to provide the push. As these have been got rid of and there is no electrical compatibility with the new units this is now not possible.
Such is progress.

- Paul B, London

Of course London was a disaster.
Look who is running it.

- Steve, Gloucestershire

At least the weather is taking our minds off of all of the other dreadful, depressing stuff that is going on in this country. The reporting of the economic crisis and other negative subjects has been relentless. It’s nice to have a break from it. Although, one is reminded about the selfish, disrespectful teenagers that have been topical recently as too many of them in my area are throwing snowballs at everything and everyone (including old people.)

- Extremely Worried, UK

Well what would people have said if the buses were running yesterday and then there were accidents - surely the safety of people is more important. It seems to me common sense should prevail - I am sure a lot of you enjoyed having the day off spending with your families and like most people are back to work today like me.

- Helen, London

People people people.... London hardly ever gets snow - even when the rest of the country does. We can't deal with it, because we don't need to deal with it on a regular basis. Many people now have the capability to remote in from home, and it's to dangerous to attempt to drive or otherwise. Other countries that are commenting on here have heavy snow on a far more regular basis - almost daily... thats why you can deal with it much better.

Those who are not London based need not put comments on here as it does not effect you in the slightest. Those who are London based, if you don't like it, dont work/live there. It's not really that difficult.

- Sarah, London

As Chancellor of the Exchequer & PM Gordon Brown has spent billions on 'improving' public services. Yet after a moderate (& well forecast) snowfall everything grinds to a halt. What on earth makes anyone think that the PM is capable of leading this country out of the worst economic crisis in a generation? He is about as effective as a snowball in hell, although he will no doubt launch an inquiry to disprove this.

- Richard, London

Stop all this moaning and just enjoy the snow!!!

- Ken Joralemon, london, UK

Strange most of the country seemed to cope quite well, only London was a disaster. I see that Boris Johnson had time to pen a very long article in the Telegraph, pity he hadn't the time to make sure the buses could run.

- David, London UK

When I awoke at 6am to see the weather was still awful I did what we were advised and logged on to National Rail website to check on the train situation.

I wanted to travel from Wimbledon to Leatherhead and the website showed that trains were running and even "on time" so I boarded a bus in Tooting only to find when I got to Wimbledon that there were no trains to Leatherhead.

What a waste of time. No wonder people get upset when even a relatively simple task is fruitless.

The rest of the world just laughs at us.

Geoff Foreman

- Geoff Foreman, Tooting, London

its not so much the delays its the utter lack of information, if there are no trains/planes - I can cope with that, I will stay at home or go home etc, dont leave me standing on a platform waiting in vain

- Stephen, london, uk

Good Grief, why do people like to moan so much?
Yesterdays snow was a rarity in London - I, for one, enjoyed it.
Crystal Palace Park was beautiful, & it was heartening to see so many families out having fun together on an unexpected day off. Kids & Adults playing together, smiling, lauging with other people.
For just a few minutes, hours even, I think people forgot about the 'credit crunch' & concentrated on the crunch beneath their feet.
Mother natures little treat yesterday was a reminder to us all - life is for living - & the fun I had yesterday with my son in the snow was worth it.

- Ss, London, UK

I really don't buy the comment made that it's not possible to "plough" a city the size of London, I've lived in Chicago and they get feet and feet of snow, not just inches, like we have here, thats a city twice the size of London and that's ploughed without any problems!

The idea of a snow day is to close everything down so that main roads can be cleared, then the work on the smaller roads. Hasn't happened here! We just sit and wait till it melts, after the enevitable freezes which lasts for day! Now everyone will slip, injure themselves, claim off the Council for not having cleared the snow away and then costs the tax payers more in paying out on personal injury claims. Makes sense to fork out on some high tech ploughs etc. Might make a saving in the long run!

- Julie, London

Gee it's hot here. 24C after a rather warm 30C earlier today. But that's typical Sydney this time of year

Might go for a swim in the pool now.

Ciao then

- Michael Curran, Sydney, Australia

What I liked was the (temp?)restoration of a kind of community sprit, every one looked happy (for a change)took part in making snowmen or snow fights and people actually helped others out of the snow.

Yesterday was also Candlemass maybe someone above is trying to tell us capitalistic miserable farties something?.

- Gordon, UK

he he he .... london and snow ... the old story.
from russia with love, d.

- Dominik Von Muehlberg, Cologne, Germany

WOW!! I was in the last snow storm in London only 4 years back. Your still lucky you don't have to deal with minus 40 weather without the windchill!!!

- Daniel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Be kind, people. It must be frustrating for Londoners, but everybody else needs to shut up. The parts of this country that routinely get a lot of snow deal with it much better than this, but in areas like Texas, for example,where they never get snow, there is total chaos on the rare occasions when it happens.

- Jenny, san francisco ca ( ex-londoner)

I hate to repeat what so many of you have said, but it IS UNBELIEVABLE that a city cannot cope with such a small amount of snow...Come to Canada and deal with 40cm of snow in a 24 hour period!

- Jane, Ottawa, Canada

Stop complaining and enjoy the day off in a gorgeous winter wonderland!!! I've just moved back to NZ (where we get no snow in Wellington) after sever years in London. I LOVE snow and not once did I get a snow day and look what happens just weeks after I leave??? You don't know how lucky you are. The only time I ever though London was even remotely pretty was in the snow.

- Cate, Wellington, New Zealand

I am originally from Washington, DC which, like London, doesn't get much snow and even though the city has some ploughs, it does not have a snow mentality so 2" is enough to shut much of the city and the government.

Enjoy the beauty of the snowfall while it lasts.

- New England Snowball, USA

If I can drive a 2 wheel drive Porsche with fat tyres at 6.30am through London, explain to me why a 12 ton bus can't make it onto the road. As everyone pointed out coaches seem to be working. Maybe we the bus companies should either train their drivers or hire some from colder countries. I do notice that bendy buses seem to be the worst of all

- Jon, london

Boris has done his bit to solve the problem with his statesman like comment "It was the right sort of snow, just in the wrong quantity"
So that's OK then is it Boris?

- Andrew, London

I dont mind white stuff up to my knees for a week, we have had Brown stuff up to our necks for the last 12 years

- R Barnard, London England

Funny that Minnie because I lived in the US for nearly 20 years and everything there is very very tired, there's been little investment in infrastructure for decades.

If the UK is becoming a third world country it is another case of the UK following the US because they have been a third world country for years.

- Peter, London

I suppose this is one upside to having just lost my job. A few extra hours in bed...!

- John, london

We'd like to send you some salt, but we've run out
Got a few shovels though.

- John Mckinlay, Burlington, Canada

The Thames Clipper was running just fine today, no snowdrifts on the water... was let out of work early so treated myself to a trip from Canary Wharf to Embankment. Wonderful to see Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, The Globe etc from the river against the falling snow.

- Bill, London

It is outrageous that in London, the capital city, there were no buses nor tubes today. The main bus-route roads were fine as, I am sure, were the tube lines under the city. Not to run any public transport at all is an utter cop-out and makes us the laughing stock of the E.U.

- Peter David Ward, London

I can remember severe winters in the 1970s and 1980s and yes, bus services were severely disrupted but they did at least try to maintain a service. I was astonished when I found that they'd pulled the plug on the whole network and were not going to attempt to run even partial services. Like other people who've left comments I also saw plenty of lorries and coaches today so it was hard to see why at least a token service couldn't be run on main roads. As for the trains and tubes, yes, they were all over the place but at least they were attempting to operate a service and didn't just give up.

- Paul, London

Does anyone know which theatres are closed? I'm meant to be travelling down to London tomorrow to see the Buddy Holly Story, and I can't find out what's happening anywhere.

- Judith, Ffair Rhos, Wales

So, 11 inches of snow (yes, that's what we've had in South London) is just a dusting, is it? What patronising twaddle. But that's to be expected from those oh, we're so superior than you, loud mouths from across the pond. How many other local newspapers around the world do spend their time pontificating to?

- Roger Kennedy, Purley UK

I fail to understand how 6-12 inches can grind an entire city such as London to a standstill. I cannot even remember a time when show halted the train system here in Chicago. Even the major snowstorm back in the late 90s when we had 38" of snow at O'Hare didn't halt the rails. And with 6" of snow I wouldn't even consider *not* driving. Maybe there's just absolutely no infastructure to deal with snow... but isn't that itself a rather strange problem?

- Joe, Chicago, United States

A snow day is considered a luxury here. Who wouldn't want an excuse to stay home with a bonus day off? My staff and I have been wishing for one since the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, we work for state government, and it would take more than six inches of snow to get a day off during our current legislative session.

Enjoy it for us!

- Amy, Richmond, Virginia

Vancouver, which doesn't get a lot of snow, has just been through a similar situation as London and parts of
Britain. The buses did keep on running. The rest of the country just thought Vancouverites were whiners because
they couldn't deal with the snowfalls. Hope there isn't
much more snow in the forecast.

- Jn, Vancouver,Canada

Do I get a refund...
So the snow causes havoc to our transport system, but as I was unable to get to work because of the transport shutdown/delays, will Boris allow TFL to give up a refund... I Doubt it..

- Graham, Wanstead, London

What a horrible bunch of glum naysayers. Yes, snow was forecast, but not to such an extent. Where's the difficulty in understanding that other countries, you know, the ones where all is ever well, have such snowfalls regularly and so, naturally, are better equipped to deal with said moments. Once in 20 years does not qualify us to moan, moan, moan, engage in hyperbole and be so gleefully dismissive (jason sheffield, suzi, too mnay list).

- Be Happy, london

Mmmm - California shuts down if there is more than 2 inches of rain and their economy is about the same as the UK's.

- Hugh G, Reading, UK

That is rubbish, Hugh.
I lived there for 30 years and the flash flooding can be far more violent than anything in the UK and it is very slippy if after a protracted time of no rain, but LA and California are far more competent than London at clearing roads and the traffic slows but does not stop (as in London).
Then again, who isn't more competent than the UK. After the US living here is somewhat like a third world country except more incompetent.

- Minnie, London, UK

Bring in the army to clear the roads - gritting doesn't work. We need the roads clear for buses, taxis, cars, cycles and pedestrians.

International media is reporting this in terms of its effect on our economy... see the CNN homepage. We should take decisive action now to get things moving.

- C, London UK

OMG, so much fuss for so little snow???
Im originally from Czech Republic, where a typical winter is like this- but lasts 3-4 months.. We are supposed to be a poor country ,,from East'' But we always manage this weather and no-one has got trouble to get to work or not uses excuse to not go to work because of snow.. Here in UK- one of the richest countries and 10 cm snow causes End of the world and everything stops... Hows that possible? Today was forecasted since Friday, so how come no-one is not prepared for today's snow conditions???

- Tina, London

Hey everyone chill out; this weather will last just a few days. I'd rather the buses were taken out of service than for one to have a dreadful accident with passengers on board plus pedestrians and other vehicles.

Also in a few weeks time you'll be moaning about your Council Tax bill. If Councils bought in enough snow ploughs to cover main roads and side roads like the one I live on for use every 20 years, our Council Tax bills would be even higher.

Stop moaning and enjoying the pure white.

- Snowbuddy, Bromley

Well we all turned up to work and were willing to go out , i have never seen or heard of this and as an experienced driver i can confirm i believe as was mentioned in another post that the reason we were not allowed out was purely down down to the management worrying about litigation/compensation culture. Sad but true , there are some of us who are proud of our work and are professionals and would have happily given it a go at least on the main roads today.

- Bus Driver, southwark

How can six inches of snow in the capital be a crisis? Weather forecasts are an amazing thing, they tell you what is going to happen before the event so that you can plan! Look at the positives at with six inches of snow on the rail lines at least fallen leaves can't bring the network to a standstill.

- Anthony, Fall River, Canada

(p.s) Looks like Boris better re-run his bus compettion as we need buses with snow plough attachments? Do these exist anywhere I wonder?

I have seen historic photos of London Trams which had snow plough attachments! And we like to think we have made progress in the last century..

- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex

FINALLY I see people smiling to each other! I pay £116 per month for the tube and today it's not working, and I say who cares???? People should relax and live each day less seriously like today... thanks to the snow!! p.s. I agree that it's ridiculous that the busses are not working in a city like London.

- Frank, London, Wimbledon

"All because of 4in of snow. A nation to command respect, I think not.... - Jason Sheffield, London, England"

Mmmm - California shuts down if there is more than 2 inches of rain and their economy is about the same as the UK's.

- Hugh G, Reading, UK

The picture of westminster in the snow looks like a victorian christmas card.
Beautiful london.

- Martin, Sheffield

Allow for the fact the country is now run by sqeaky-voiced would-be somethings of both sexes!Perhaps this is a case for nationwide meditative aphonia?

- Peter Seekings-Foster, Mildenhall, Suffolk.

Please could the Mayor explain why 1) no London buses ran today and yet the continental double decker coaches coming from Dover were whizzing along the A20 into London? 2) No SouthEastern trains ran into London Bridge but the American run DLR could operate into Bank? "British jobs for British people" ... now that's funny.

- Anne Aherne, London

This is a global problem,it all started in America.

- Alex, brighton

One of the most powerful nations in the world....?????? Hmmmmm

6800 buses grounded, 11 tube lines disrupted, untold rail services stopped, cancelled, suspended......

All because of 4in of snow

A nation to command respect, I think not....

- Jason Sheffield, London, England

- Harriet Marshall, London WROTE :.... shutting down when it snows is a joke. How can business and the UK survive when the global warming hits even harder.....

Harriet, 'snow and 'global warming' is an OXYMORON

How can snow and global warming be connected??!!!

In fact there is no such thing as global warming, it is a myth. We DO have Climate Change so expect an ice age very very soon.

- Kelly, Marsden UK

There's a lot of whinging on here today, get out and have a snowball fight & release the tension. Snow like this doesn't happen often in London, it won't last and there are loads of parks to go out & enjoy yourselves in.....and they're free. Work will keep until tomorrow.

- David, London

We rarely get snow, so what's the point investing millions?
Everyone's smiling, everyone's taking life less seriously. It's exactly what London needs right now. Miserable commuters reading depressing headlines on the front of rubbish newspapers isn't helping.

- Andy, London

Honestly, when I came to work this morning the streets were full of people telling their bosses they couldn't get in, despite the Northern line working fine.

It’s fine out here, what’s the panic and drama!?

- Emily, London

Tomorrow I will probably wake up to at least a foot of snow (possibly more) - I shall still be expected to get my son to school by 8.30am, whether the digger and gritter have been through my hamlet or not (most probably a digger will come round about 10am). I know it's going to snow, so I've covered the windscreen of the car, put a tow-rope, shovel and blanket in the boot and, living in a snowy area, I've put snow tyres on, but I shall still set my alarm to get up an hour earlier in case I have to clear some snow to get the car out.

Whatever happened to the British Indomitable Spirit?! Dealing with crisis was the great British Thing! The weather reports have been saying it's going to snow for several days: why didn't everyone set their alarm clocks and get up earlier to sort it out?! It always snowed in Kent when I was a kid, so this 'unfair to compair to countries with lots of snow' theme is a bit daft. It's a question of attitude and professional pride: the French might have a 35hr week, but they stick to it rain or shine!

- Roz, Chamonix, France

Buses are running down here in deepest Canvey Island so why no buses in London?

Perhaps its because tory councils wont fund griting of the roads. I remember when streets had concrete containers holding grit ready for when snow happened.
As for 62/63 we had 6 weeks without water and yet the buses kept running.

Just be grateful you still have enclosed buses as Boris wants to bring back the freezy open platforms!!

Anyway the DLR is still running as it nearly always is but it was designed with electric pickups which are covered and dont freeze like 3rd rails.

I am surprised the Red Arrows are not running as the still use Artic Buses which sound perfect in this weather. In fact, they operate on the continent in far worse conditions!

As for suspending c-charge Boris is just pandering to the motoring lobby on a day we need to keep cars off and buses on the road. A case of NOGO BOJO unless you have a 4x4.

Finally, people no longer take care of their street I remember when people swept the snow off the pavement and used ashes from the coal fire to make it safer to walk on the frozen ice but that was when we had a community spirit, but once Thatcher said "Their is no such thing as community" society became broken.

- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex

the "emergency" turned out to be what I call a dusting of snow. What's the problem Britain?" - Celeste, New York USA

It's a ploy, there was no problem - we just like to keep out as many American whingers as possible. Worked well didn't it!

- Greg, Kensington

Well said Mike G, London. Some clarity amongst the nonsense being written here.

- Paul S, Ealing

What approximately 30-35 years ago when snow was worse than this I rember when was knee deep and buses and transport still ran these days we give up and don't try hard enough!

- Leroy, Norbury

I lived in Montreal for 5 years. Snow and ice lie on the ground from November to March (some years) And yet the city manages to function full time and no-one misses a days work. A light dusting here and the city comes to a stand still. Pathetic. We're already in a financial mess and we can't afford to lose working days (most of the shops in Hampstead were closed!). I walked to work this morning and will walk back. People are just work shy in this City and take every excuse to skive off.

- Susannah, London UK

Sorry James of London but I remember in the bad winters of the 1960's the majority of buses in Birmingham still managed to run so what's the problem for London in the 00's?!

- A Spencer, London

I am in charge of road maintenance in London and we never heard of such a thing as "snow". We were caught completely unaware and unprepared. If only there was a way to forecast the weather from one day to another and to get rid of that strange white powder. I guess we'll have to shut down all roads now until it goes away.

- John, London, UK

"Last I checked, the buses were running in Helsinki, Stockholm, Moscow, etc." - Chaz, London, UK

Well done Chaz for identifying countries which have sub-zero temperatures for 6 months of the year.

Do you want London to spend millions on snow clearing equipment which lies idle for 362 days of the year instead of spending it on hospitals or schools?

- Mike G, London

It's all Gordon Brown's fault! He should have fixed the sky whilst the sun was shining!

- Snowflake, London

Well luckily I work from home (!) and you would think in this day and age many other workers would be set up to do the same. All the roads around us in my area were snowed in, but our street pulled together and got snow-shovelling this morning - also a great social event! We then got the wheel barrows out and picked up some salt from the boxes near our street and spread the salt to help everyone out. It's a pain, but it's all about helping each other out. Maybe we need to weigh up the costs of getting some snow equipment in for emergencies versus millions of workers not getting in to work and losing the economy a lot of money ...

- Dan, Surrey

"I dread to think what the Olympics is going be like if this sort of thing happens during them. - Sarah, London"

What, snow love? Remind me, what time of the year are the Summer Olympics held?

- Mark Lee, Vauxhall

Can't understand why people are grumpy. With the amount of snow which has fallen over the last 24 hours you couldn't possibly get the buses onto the roads. It's not like it snows all year round in this country. Why are we a nation of moaners?

- James, London

The government should put an end to this snow malarkey right now !

- Paul, Tonbridge

Just wondering if the snow has affected the Standard?

Seems as though we will have to make do with last week's entertainment news, while we wait normal service.

- Charles, London

unbelievable!

considering the extortionate amount of money we pay to use public transport i would expect that the bus garages could have some snow chains????

i have seen plenty of lorries making deliveries on london streets but not a single bus

- Gianpaolo, london

I agree with Graham, our compensation culture is the one stopping the buses today, not the weather. That's is why they run during the Blitz.
In the meantime, I will enjoy the sheer beauty of a white London.

- Mayas, London, UK

How come six inches of snow, which was predicted, can shut down a whole country.

Where are the gritters? Or are they frightened to come out in the snow?

- Ann, London

As usual, we are warned about the bad weather and still we are not prepared.

Surprised myself and walked from my home near West Sutton station to St Helier Hospital where I work, took an hour to walk it.

However all of us have been sent home because the snow was getting worse.

So a repeat of today's performance again tomorrow no doubt.

- Sheila, Sutton, Surrey

I flew into London a couple of years ago when there was a "weather emergency". Gatwick was closed and we circled. When we landed, the "emergency" turned out to be what I call a dusting of snow. What's the problem Britain? What's the excuse? Poor visibility at the airports I understand but the current storm was forecast. No wonder you lost war of independence in 1776--too much snow in the colonies.

- Celeste, New York USA

But it looks so beautiful!

- Delphine, Oxford

Why have a lot of people posting on this site got such a martyr complex?Its such a joy to see people of all ages out on the streets and the common having such fun,its BEAUTIFULL,and i don't care 2 hoots that i might have lost a days pay,its worth every penny just to see smiley happy care free people in London for a change.

- Kev, London-UK

Stop whining, come and live in Toronto, Life does go on. the sun will shine again and all will be lovely in the garden !

- Jon, Toronto, Canada

So Mayor Boris Johnson has announced the £8 London congestion charge is to be suspended for the day as a "gesture of appreciation" for those who have travelled to work". Pity then that his generosity has not filtered down to the CC website which has no such news and is accepting payments gladly. How many people will have paid today when they shouldn't and what's the betting that they will never see a refund?

- Henry, Chiswick, London

How do Germany, Switzerland and Austria manage? These weather conditions are average there.

- Viola, London, UK

Oh stop whining! We've just been out sledging with the dog, everyone is out and about in the parks. My husband got into work by 11am by tube. My son is absolutely delighted - he's never seen snow like this and I can't remember snow like this since 1978 or 1979. It's wonderful.

- Sue, Finchley, London UK

Had to laugh this morning. My overground train pulled into Stratford and the announcer stated that passengers should remain in the train to Liverpool Street as he had no information as to when the next Central Line train was arriving. At that moment a Central Line train appeared.

I thought, good job it doesn't snow in July, but then something equally farcical will occur during the Olympics

- Bj, London

i've made one good choice----to come to spain it's cold 11c but nothing like London.....keep well wrapped up

- Derek, oliva valencia spain

I spent December in Minneapolis, where it snowed harder than this everyday for a month and that didn't shut the city. Then again, their councils bothered to grit the roads. Why do pay our taxes again?...

- Andy, highgate

Very clever comment, Bob. So, having a day or two off work will save more money and be cheaper than gritting the roads and helping people to go to work. Your employer must be lucky to have you.

- Js, London

Speaking as a Canadian, I can confirm we deal with amounts of snow like this all the time, but that is because we have the infrastructure to support it (fleets of ploughs, snow-tires on the cars, a population used to driving on snow, and dare we say it a just-make-it-work culture.) Withdrawing all the buses is a laughable overreaction - cars staying off the roads unless absolutely necessary isn't.

- Dave, London, UK

I remember Feb 1991 snow I was working in Westminster area ..on top of that an IRA bomb went off at Downing street..took me 5 hours to get home from Victoria to Wanstead..dont remember all the tubes being down but certainly hardly any buses about..this happens rarely..stop moaning get out there and enjoy the snow and the day off..!

- Lisa, manchester

If the buses were to run and there be an accident nearly everybody on the bus would be claiming for compensation from the bus companies which i expect they would have to pay out. If Britain didnt have such a compensation culture then i expect the buses may still be running today

- Graham, London

Well done London's public services. Yet again, you have failed to deliver. Tesco, Starbuck's even the milkman were out this morning - clearing Westminster and Camden pavements in some cases. As for TfL buses, most of the tube and the Royal Mail, nowhere to be seen. Pathetic. Public Service ethos means: no trains or London buses on Christmas Day (despite us being a multi-cultural Britain) and turning over in bed at the first sign of some snow. Meanwhile senior public service managers will no doubt be stuck in their expensive warm homes way outside of the capital. Let's strip these organisations of their soft touch Spanish practices and get some robust management in place. Londoners who actually live and work in the capital are fed up with their arrogance and self satisfied attitude. Heads should roll Boris and the next lot should be compelled to live within the M25

- Michael, London, UK

So we have snow - it's beautiful. It's lovely to see so many people out there laughing and playing and enjoying this rare treat.

Personally, I got my daughter up and dressed for school as normal: we had a great laugh getting the snow cleared from the car. Then had to get a shovel to clear snow, as wheels spinned trying to get out of drive. My daughter shrieked with laughter.

Drive was slow but we got to school. Ok, sent back home after all our efforts but we made the effort. Went off then did all the shopping, a few snowball fights along the way but plenty of laughter again.

Sod health and safety. Get on with your lives as there's worst things at sea than a bit of snow!!

- T M, London

Haskey why on earth would you care what an eastern european thought of us?

- Tony, London

I cycled 17.5 miles on a Brompton bicycle to work in London from Surrey. The reason I did so is because I am sef-employed and to do otherwise would mean losing money.
I have no doubt the journey back home will take even longer. They warned in January that more and worse weather was on the way and have increased the warnings over the past 3 or 4 days. It's all very well saying that we only have such weather every x number of years - the point is I have not seen even the faintest EFFORT to get trains to run. Nope: as soon as you give a British employee a weather warning he starts making plans for a lie-in. Take the company I work for: all the self-employed associates are here; the employees have all mysteriously failed to turn up and they are the back-up staff so no-one can do any work. Welcome to the modern Britain. pathetic!

- Kardinal Birkutzki, London, Uk

This is ridiculuos! The Uk is part of north Europe and it should come as no surprise that the degrees sink below zero- it happens every year! I thought this was a 'developed' country.... shutting down when it snows is a joke. How can business and the UK survive when the global warming hits even harder.....

- Harriet Marshall, London

I agree with Bob, people need to grow up! Everyone has emergencies, some bigger than others and gritting roads a day before isn't going to help! Infact you ignorant lot really should read, listen or watch the news! Because then you would have known they tried their best with keeping the major roads in London clear but the snow was too damn heavy. After 18 years a snowfall like this has come about, its highly unlikely that this state of condition will contiue! I am missing work and uni im over it so should everyone else be, not the end of the world!!!

- Sonia, London

Boris cycled into City Hall this morning. Well done!

- John Ackers, London

Although I enjoyed my longish walk to the hospital i work at, please please can the gritters get cracking as we're rather short on staff....

- Anne, London, uk

A bit of advice to all those well meaning people, who I have seen on TV, helping to push cars from the side roads towards the main thoroughfares.
Don't. If they can't make it under their own steam then they are not capable of driving in these conditions.

- John J, Edinburgh, Scotland

Has anyone seen Boris Johnson, errr I believe he is supposed to be the Mayor, he seems to be totally absent?Perhaps he's in a bunker somewhere directing operation?

- David, london UK

Welcome to the club. We here in the American south get ridiculed by our northern neighbors for shutting down over a few inches of snow, but when you're not used to it, have little experience driving in it, and don't have the road equipment for dealing with it, there's not a lot you can do but wait it out. And to Linda in London, look at some pictures of what Hitler and his planes [not army] did to London during the Blitz, if you want to see some REAL damage.

- Nancy Harding, Richmond Va. USA

I dread to think what the Olympics is going be like if this sort of thing happens during them.

- Sarah, London

london is ridiculous. how can a city that likes to profess to be a world city grind to a halt? the roads have clearly not been gritted or cleared properly. maybe if councils spent more time doing the job they are paid to do and not keep spying on us then we wouldnt have this problem

- Josh, london

bussiness men gone crazy cause they can't work today..
well I'm just saying
May this snow clean up these bad people

- Peter, London

Got a Picadilly Line Tube from Cockfosters at 6:15 this Morning. It moved half way to Oakwood and then Broke down. Took nearly an hour for a team to come out and help the driver and then another hour before they decided to walk us along the track to Oakwood Station.

- John, Cockfosters

I love it !!

- Teddy, Islington, London

What are all these buildings that are so important to get to? I have a conference call with some folks in the States this afternoon, work is going exactly as normal only the view across the Thames is more distracting than usual this morning.

- Mike, Runnymede

Laughable, predicted snow and the UK cannot manage! Virtually everything comes to a grinding halt. Other EU countries are more than prepared for this type of weather and they manage very well. We must look so 'soft' that a few inches of snow stopped the whole country!

- Denny, Poole, Dorset

I've just driven into the city to do a job and i havent seen so many happy families out and about in years.

- Allan C, east finchley london

O stop moaning, go out and enjoy it,i have been out having snow ball fights with the kids in the road it was wonderful,one little Somalian girl was full of joy she had never seen snow before.Why are most Londoners so work orientated,seize the moment,you will be a long time dead.besides are young people need your interaction.

- Kev, London-UK

What a nation of moaners! Bring back global warmning!

- Julie, London

Gerry from Chatham, I remember the storm you are talking about, and I could not get a bus, and when I got a lift to the station, I had to come home again because there were not any trains. So despite what you are saying, my experience says different.

- E Sullivan, London

I blame Gordon Brown. He's responsible for everything!!

- John, Dundee, UK

Last I checked, the buses were running in Helsinki, Stockholm, Moscow, etc... So what's the real reason to shut down the entire London bus system?

- Chaz, London, UK

Buses withdrawn? This is so pathetic its laughable. The roads should hve been gritted over the weekend , especially on saturday when the weather was fine dry and clear. The health and safety brigade have done more damage to this country than Hitler did with his entire army. It makes me wonder just who they are actually working for ....?

- Linda, London

I cannot believe how thick some of the people are who post comments on here! Firstly, how can you plan to keep the roads clear of snow? You cant do anything about the snow until AFTER it has fallen. Gritting DOES NOT stop snow laying on the roads, all it does is stop the roads from freezing over. The only way to keep the roads open would be with snow ploughs, and think just how many you'd need to keep all of London's bus routes free from snow? This kind of extreme weather happens in London on the very rare occasion. Far better to just have a day or two off work rather than waste public money trying to clear the snow. It's amazing how many people think that gritting is the magic solution!

- Bob, Enfield

Well, I'm enjoying it. It's a pain not being able to get to work, but it's really rather jolly out there. Snowmen are popping up everywhere and everyone seems to be in a really good mood.

Do be careful if you've not been out yet though. The pavements are still deadly and I wouldn't risk taking a car on the roads.

- Ian, london

Your article says it all, really - "Every bus was withdrawn from service for the first time in living memory because of fears for passenger safety - not even the Blitz stopped the capital's buses running."
During the Blitz we didn't have Health and Safety legislation to "protect" people from trying to live their lives. Also I'm afraid Gerry of Chatham is right. The people employed by transport services have no sense of pride in their work and are of a lot poorer calibre than those employed in the past.

- Kate, London

Good point Jack. As a nation we like to talk ourselves down far too often. Six inches of snow is going to cause chaos for a country where snow is rare. Fact.
Now I'm just hoping Stockport gets battered tonight and I can have a day off tomorrow.

- Rad, Stockport

I suppose the brains of britain with their clever words like International centre of excellent,Multicultural centre of the world plus all the EU rubbish about the Olympics,are all at home today.
Please Sir I can't get into work today the snow is too thick.

- David,Chertsey, Chertsey.UK.

I cycled to work with no problems. I did avoid the main roads -- I didn't trust drivers and didn't want one to try and overtake me. It took 15 minutes extra, but I left early for work and got here on time. It was fun!

Who else is in this office? The other people that cycle, and those that walked. Some of the people that walked came from further away than many that stayed home because of the snow.

I notice the only railway that's running fine is the Eurostar; good for them!

- Matt, SW London

OK so I'm not a meteorologist has anyone figured out how the snow managed to break the Waterloo & City line? Or is it just a case that LUL will take any old excuse to fail & shut up shop for a day?
Cm, London

CM, it's probably the same reason that a lot of other companies are shutting doors today - if staff can't get to work, then they can't run trains safely.

- Waldopepper, London

What would have happened if it was actually cold and we really had some snow?

2 degrees centigrade is not anywhere near being cold, that is just about 36 degrees Fahrenheit i.e. 4 degrees above freezing.

The media are just blowing a change in the weather out of proportion to create a different type of news story.

- Ian, Reading, England

Side roads in Wandsworth are completely snowed up. No sign of gritting. The main roads are thick with snow and slush and don't seem to have been gritted either. Although the Northern Line was running (apparently with "minor delays") I couldn't get into the booking hall at Tooting Bec, let alone onto a train, because it was so crowded. It does seem incredible that with all the warnings, the transport system should still collapse.

- Ian Brack, London

This was forecast in plenty of time, a little snow and this country and London collapses.

In many other countries they get real blizzards and several feet of snow and yet transport does not collapse, everyhting functions. I am sure these countries are laughing at us today

- Deborah Nelson, London, UK

I woke up this morning on my cruise ship here in Grenada and looked at the website.
I am so glad I am not at home having to put up with the perpetual whining of some people.

- Tangomike, Kensington, London

It is a bit weird there being no buses .. yet there are plenty of coaches zooming by the office towards Victoria Coach Station. And while all kind of office workers are missing, I still got my Egg and Bacon sandwich from the Victoria Cafe which was fully staffed .. it takes a lot to snow the Poles in! Oh, and has anybody mentioned 'global warming' yet?

- Paul, London

If we were all expecting the snow, then why, on Friday, didn't everyone divert their work phones onto their mobiles, taken the office laptop and worked from home - like I did?!!

- Eileen, London

Relax - enjoy it

- Si, London, UK

After crashing the night in central London, today I walked back from London Bridge to Dulwich because the trains and buses are unable to cope. A pleasant-enough walk (barring a few snowballs in random estates), but this is pathetic, surely...?

- Sarah, London

Lots of snow here.

I suppose the reason why there is chaos here and not in Eastern Europe is that they regularly get weather like this and invest to cope with it. Getting heavy snow once or twice a decade here does not warrant heavy investment in snow clearing equipment.

- Tom, Watford (UK)

thank you to: the coffee shop that was open at 7am; thank you to those transport services still working; and thanks to all those who are trying to get services working.

Its not the end of the world - though Boris - having no bus service - that's your responsibility and for TfL roads not being prepped - but it has been 8 inches of snow which we don't normally get so why should we be so prepared.

To all you whingers I suggest you get out from your computers and go and play in the snow and get a life. Or heaven forfend - why not help someone else- get the salt out and do it yourself - and by the way - is the elderly next door neighbour okay? and what did you do when you passed the homeless person this morning as you walked in from your nice heated home.!

- Jc, se1

To be fair to the bus drivers - the gritting on the roads has been so patchy that many of the roads are very very icy. TfL are only responsible for gritting 5% of the road network - the rest falls down to local authorities.

Most of the drivers are pretty skilled and were driving fine in the weather late last night, despite the poor conditions - the problem is other drivers! On Tulse Hill last night I saw a car nearly go into the back of a bus which was pulling over at a bus stop, simply because the car's driver was going too fast and had no idea how to handle to road conditions, and skidded. The car ended up going up onto the kerb - fortunately nobody was injured.

- Mark Lee, Vauxhall

The grit trucks came down my road three times last night, still got nearly a foot of snow on it. Looks like I'll be working at home today, whatever did we do before the internet? Oh yeah, go out and throw snowballs.

- Carl, London, UK

It beggars belief that one of the world's major cities can be brought to an alomost complete standstill. this was not a freak storm, the authorities knew about it days ago, yet are to inept to have done anything about it!

- Robert, London

I have finally given up this morning attempting to get from home in swiss cottage to my office in the city. I usually cycle to work which would be foolish today, and the local underground lines are not operating beyond Baker Street and no buses either why!!!, this weather was forecasted with plenty of warning..So now I have run out of options, Both my children's schools are also close today..So instead,we are off to Primrose Hill for a bit of family fun, should have bought that sledge in the sales..

- Alan Mckenzie, London UK

The A13 was treacherous last night, where were the gritters?

- Julie, London

Boris Johnson must stand up in front of workers in London and explain why his capital has closed down and everybody is grounded. I am old enough to remember 1947, the smogs of the 50s and 1963. The transport never stopped. A capital city and the roads are not treated for a few inches of snow! Clearing the snow? A job for benefit recipients.

- Royg, Solihull, ENGLAND

I live in Paris and the buses are not running today because of the snow ....

- Paul Thomas, paris

"I bet all the Eastern Europeans living in London must all be sniggering at us. It’s embarrassing!"

What you mean all of those Eastern Europeans who have had to come to the UK to get work. It must be great having roads open during blizzards in Lithuania and Poland, just a shame there are no jobs to drive to on those lovely clear roads.

- Paul K, Wembley

The last time we had this amount of snow in London was on 7th February 1991 (check the records if you don't believe me), and the same thing happened - travel disruption, London 'shutting up shop'. If it's the case we're only going to get this once every 20 years or so, then is it asking too much for the public/utility services to have a plan of action? Meanwhile, if we can, let's enjoy it! Where I live in East London, kids and adults were out as early as 5am playing snowballs and building snowmen (and women too!). Many people in my area had never see this kind of snow before, so for them it was a real treat. Personally, I booked this week as annual leave, and guess I got it right! The upside to all this is that with a serious winter, will come a gorgeous sunny Summer, the like of which we haven't seen since 2006. So, enjoy the Snow now, brave the cold, and bask in the glorious Summer sun to come.

- Joannie, London, England

London was overwhelmed by six inches of snow. You couldn't make it up. More seriously, this is not the worst weather conditions I can remember yet the public (not, of course, private) bus servives have been suspended and the Tube system has been badly affected - most of which run underground where, the last time I looked, it was not snowing. Yes, their is some over-ground areas of the Tube but we were told this weather was coming days ago.

- John David, London

All the London councils knew snow was on its way and what did they do! Absolutly nothing as usaul.

- Triffidqueen, Desk in London

I applaud London Transport's decision to take all the buses off the road. Quite apart from the road conditions, every time the tube is down the scrum of panicking commuters fighting to get on the buses is a danger in itself. This way, people who tell themselves that they are indispensable when they are not, or people who worry that their managers would think they were not making enough effort, will be forced/have a cast-iron reason to stay at home and take the pressure off the systems. Yes, it's difficult for those who really are indispensable, like the emergency services, but those jobs have well-developed strategies to deal with eventualities like this.

- Dalia, London

Same every year, a bit of snow and we grind to a halt - Why?
Its not as if we did not have notice of the bad weather coming about time a few jobs were lost at Councils Road Depts. then they may start to do something before it happens rather than afterwards

- Mike, London England

It's heartening to see that the above inflation yearly increase in council tax goes straight back into the community. As the article mentioned, this snow had been predicted a few days ago, so where were the gritting lorries? Do they not work on weekends? Maybe it was one of the many bank holidays that public sector workers get to take days off for. Just another example of laziness and incompitence, and we're mugs for just sitting there and letting it happen.

- Ted, london UK

Well said Tonyb in Melbourne.

I was in Finland a couple of years ago, they had unusually high temperatures and the tarmac on the roads started to melt causing transport chaos. This is the same Finland that the "other countries never grind to a halt" brigade like to wheel out as an example in cold weather.

And don't even get me started on what happens in California if they have a bit of rain!

And the "perfect" transport system in France gets hit by strikes on average on 19 working days per year.

And the Swiss Rail System moves only about 8% of the number of passengers that commute into London alone. Do you think the bloke who runs your corner shop could be Chief Exec of Tesco?

Bah Humbug!

- Jack, London

Does "Two flakes of snow and everything grinds to a halt" qualify for the Pound?

Anyway - we have had 5 days of notice that the snow was on its way. Why no preparation? Why are so many involved in keeping our transport running "unfit for purpose"? Boris had better be seen doing more than making noises.

- W R Stevenson, London SE26

london has the most expensive and sufisticated underground tube network in the world, and still it is so rubbish....
moscow however has one of the most simple and the cheapest metro network and it's never late and allways working, and believe me it gets much colder and much more snow falls out there..
TFL do something about that

- Davidoff, Romford, essex

Start rant-->
I live in Canary Wharf and there has been NO gritting of either the roads or pavements. So, Tower Hamlets council, thanks everso for making people's lives that little more difficult today. I mean, its not like you didn't have any warning of snow...
<-- end rant

- Stephen, London

OK so I'm not a meteorologist has anyone figured out how the snow managed to break the Waterloo & City line? Or is it just a case that LUL will take any old excuse to fail & shut up shop for a day ?

- Cm, London

well givenuphope, I remember February 1991 because I couldn't travel from barnet to central london. Also wasn't that the year of "the wrong type of snow" that stopped most of the main-line trains from running?

You just have to accept that its too expensive to have enough men and machinary available to cope with the once-in-20-years snowfall.

- Jim, copenhagen

Not only is the economy going the way of Iceland but so is the weather. London really is Reykjavic-on-Thames!!

- Peter, Tonbridge

It's crazy that all the *underground* lines are suspended, even the Waterloo & City (which would have got me to work)

& so glad the Health & Safety shut down all the buses, the lorries on the road, of which there were plenty, seemed to appreciate the extra space.

Another victory for the incompetence of our transport network

- Dh, LONDON

This snow has been predicted for a week - I've seen no gritters or evidence of any gritters across London during this time - presumably that is why the buses can't run.

Plus point - those that have had an extended walk this morning have generally acknowledged each other with pleasantries (except for the yobs targeting cyclists and pedestrians with snowballs)

- Andy, London

How did this country ever get through the Blitz? After dire warnings of 'extreme weather' our schools & colleges posted 'closed today' notices on their websites, in advance, yesterday. This morning- a bit of snow. It's January- it's Winter- a bit of snow- and that's considered 'extreme weather'.
So a whole day of education/work is missed for around half an inch of lying snow....how pathetic we are.

- Suzy, Essex

Boris has let those on low incomes who rely on the bus service down by cancelling all buses and causing them to lose a days pay. I know the bendies have had problems but the others should be out - the poor conditions on the major roads (red routes) is also down to Boris since TfL are responsible for keeping these clear.

- Jon, London

Since you asked...
Although today is exeptional, my train to London was on time. The tube journey made me late though...
That was after a drive following pathetic drivers to the train station. Peolple, please start in second gear when you have snow or ice and carry on driving in higher gear than you should to heve better control of your car. DO NOT BREAK SUDDENLY, use the engine.
Good luck!

- Bruno, Greater London

Outrageous! A few inches of snow and all the buses stop running in Central London. There were plenty of coaches driving about this morning, so why can’t our wimpy London Transport drivers cope with it all. All of us lot can (and do), so why not them. It’s meant to be a ‘public service’. Ha ha ha. But apparently only if it’s nice and warm.

I bet all the Eastern Europeans living in London must all be sniggering at us. It’s embarrassing!

I blame Global Warming. We have been warned… but we just won’t listen.

- Haskey, London SE1

Nj: last week we had it a bit warm here and the rail service fell to bits. And because of the heat the Southern Star Wheel(Melbourne Eye) is now out of service until further notice. So you're right: anyone who says "only in Britain" needs to expand their horizons.

- Tonyb, Melbourne, Australia

That'll be a pound please..

- Kris Wilson, London, UK

One bit of snow and the country grids to a halt

- Kris Wilson, London, UK

I'm sorry but the snow fall in February 1991 was harsher than this but all the key roads in and around London had been gritted in anticipation, all the tubes and buses ran normallyand I don't know anyone who took a day off work. The effects of nearly a dozen years of "Tough on transport, tough on the causes of transport" is what we have now.

- Givenuphope, London

Re: London' Undergrounds closure - But it doesn't snow underground! And anyways what does happen in the whole rest of the world were it snows? The chinese must find it hilarious, it gets very cold in Bejing.

- Daryoush Haj-Najafi, London

And another pound for the first person who says "Why oh why does snow in the UK only get media coverage when it happens in the South east. Our media is so London centric.. blah blah"

- Asox, London

one bit of snow and the country grinds to a halt........

please would you donate my pound to the charity of your choice.

thanks

- Ana, hong kong

bit of snow and the country grints to a halt. That will be a pound please Nj

- Maurits Van Eijck, Billericay, UK

Why does it keep being reported that we could have up to 6 inches of snow? By midnight last night we'd already had 7 and currently it's around 10 inches deep outside currently and still coming down.

- Bob, Cheam

I'm a retired (in 2006) front line Transport for London member of staff with many years of service behind me.
Never, never (even in the great storm that destroyed the seven oaks of Sevenoaks)has there been in all my tine of service a time when all the buses have been taken off the road, and never has there been a time when so much of the Underground has been suspended.
We used to take great pride in keeping as much as we could going.
Whats gone wrong?.
Is it the design of the modern bus, or Underground train tyhat can's operate in this weather?.
Is it the fault of all the privateisation thats gone on since 1987?, and made what was one system so disconjoined into many diferent operating companies that it can no longer function as one?.
It it the fault of staff who are ont of the same calibre as we were, and are without the knowhow, or training to deal with extream weather.
Or is it the fault of bad leadership by managers who have no real knowlidge of, or pride in (as it was known in my day)The Service?.

- Gerry, Chatham KENT UK

Well done Heathrow. It was open this morning and relations of mine landed just after 5 and were able to get a taxi to Clapham quite easily. It has now closed but of course safety comes first. The proposed third runway would not have been much help as it is too short for big planes. They need a spare runway they can clear whilst others are being used and this is not a possibility.

- Jack Spratt, Richmond, England

Unbelievable

It snows a little and the buses do not work and it seems that this is a war or something. It's got a good side though. It would be good it keeps on snowing heavily so the london transport companies, whose services are ridiculously expensive, would go bankrupt too, so it would be another millionaire bailout from the clever politicians in government and then we could develop here a new tourist infrastructure, the new Chamonix, so everything would be balanced and we will be happy capitalists again.

- Vladimir Medvedev, Snowland, Eggland

I was intrigued to see in your story that: "An army of snow ploughs and gritters were working to clear roads as much of the UK was blanketed in snow."

Presumably you meant outside London?

I cycled about 10 miles from Archway to Gunnersbury this morning - starting off about 7:30 am - and saw no evidence of any road gritting, except possibly Marlebone Road, although that might just have been cleared by the sheer volume of traffic. Even major roads were un-gritted; I think that's pretty scandalous.

- Douglas Hayward, London

A pound for the first person who trots out that tried cliche... "one bit of snow and the country grids to a halt... other countries get more snow but don't fall apart... blah, blah"... You know someone is going to.

- Nj, London

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