By James Hanson

Given one of our favourite national pastimes is talking about the weather, you’d have thought we’d be a bit better at dealing with it.

And yet every time the UK is hit by conditions just a little beyond the norm, the entire country seems to grind to a halt. Why?

This week’s snow and ice have led to hundreds of schools being closed - 384 in Wales, at least 320 in Scotland, 186 in Northern Ireland and more than 100 in England. The weather is also affecting travel, with National Rail warning of major disruption.

To make matters worse, conditions are likely to worsen as the week goes on. The Met Office has issued further weather warnings for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, as Storm Goretti arrives. And yet,........

© LBC