The media response to unusual weather is as ritualised and predictable as the stages of grief. First comes denial: 'I can't believe there's so much snow.' Then anger: 'Why can't I drive my car, why are the trains not running?' Then blame: Why haven't the local authorities gritted the roads, where are the snow ploughs, and how come the Canadians can deal with this and we can't? This last stage goes on the longest and tends to trail off into a mumbled grumbling background moan, enlivened by occasional 'Asylum Seekers Ate My Snow Plough' headlines from the Daily Mail.