Thoughts on the big freeze

In order to avoid tempting fate I struck out the word "final" at the start of the title of this post: there were snowflakes in the air in Whitehaven at several points today although it did not manage to settle, and although things are slowly beginning to return to normal there are still large snowdrifts in significant areas of Cumbria and other parts of Britain. The forecast is still for cold weather and it might be premature to assume the problems of the past week are about to literally melt away.

But whatever else we may say about the disruption which the weather has caused over the past few days, it has shown humanity at it's best.

The landlord of the Brown Cow in Waberthwaite, Phil Chapman, who provided accomodation to a dozen stranded people: all those other people from hoteliers and council staff to private citizens who  helped provide a roof over the heads of stranded travellers.

All those people who helped rescue stranded motorists, both those from the police and emergency services and people like Edward Mudd from Kirkby who assisted in digging two cars out of the snow out of common humanity.

All the electricity, telephone, and highway engineers who worked round the clock to restore service to those affected by the extreme weather

All the emergency services including police, ambulance, fire, local authority emergency support teams, and mountain rescue, all of whom did a magnificent job

All those who helped out their neighbours in communities which were cut off for a time.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who did their best for others and showed how people can help one another through a crisis.