Big freeze: 'Most people rose to meet the challenges'

From this point in time – as a thaw had brought at least temporary relief – it looks like we'll struggle to emerge with pass marks. Hopefully, though, this will be at least in part because lessons will have been learned that help the response to future problems.

Let's start with the positives, most notably the fact that most people rose to meet the challenges the weather posed to their everyday lives.

According to business leaders, nine out of ten people made it to work, braving sub-zero temperatures, uncleared pavements and icy roads which made driving tricky and public transport hard to find.

And, despite much criticism to the contrary, the authorities didn't entirely fail us. More than 1,000 local residents complained to the city council about its reaction to the snow and ice, but at least the major roads were kept clear.

The Capital did compare unfavourably with Glasgow's clearer streets, and particularly its pavements. But the Met Office confirms that there was 50 per cent more snow to contend with in Edinburgh last week.

For their part, city council officials insist they were better prepared than most authorities, with 26 gritters and 5,700 tonnes of salt stored, including at a storage barn built just two years ago. Edinburgh, in fact, had to turn down requests for help from other authorities which were running out of grit.

But, despite this, anyone who took to minor roads and side streets last week, or just about any pavement outside of the city centre, would agree that more could have been done to keep motorists and especially pedestrians safe.

If nothing else, our most vulnerable people have been let down. Older people in particular have been hesitant to risk falling by leaving their homes. They still need more assistance in the short term – and not just by the authorities but in some cases also by their neighbours and relatives.

Some more snow is predicted later this week, but soon attention will move from coping with the emergency to learning lessons for the future.

No-one could sensibly argue that Scotland should be at the same state of readiness every winter as, for example, Canada, where some towns spend a tenth of their annual budgets clearing snow.

But better contingency planning must be possible, crossing council divides and co-ordinated by the Scottish Government, which has had to step in this year to avert salt shortages – and has only just succeeded sometimes. So far.

If some global-warming theories are right, our winters could actually get colder in future. So the lessons of the Big Freeze may need to be learned sooner rather than later.