This is cross posted from the Snow thread that is running in this forum. Posted by DeepC
As someone else has stated on PPRuNe....
The type of snow we get in the UK is generally of a different type to more snow prone countries. It is typically very wet snow. Not blowable, brushes sometimes do more harm than good, salting has a very limited effect when it snows as hard as it did this afternoon in the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex regions. Very heavy, very wet snow.
Not the sort that has very good skid resitance when compact either so not an option to operate on compacted snow.
Typically we only get snow when it is within between about +2 and -5 degrees. Any colder and we don't often get snow. The problem comes when you have snow around sunset when the snow lays quickly but then the temperature drops lower and the slush freezes. Then it is very dificult to clear.
That is very helpful information and explains a lot. I was in my car when two inches arrived within half an hour, about 15 miles from LTN. Gritting lorries were trapped in the traffic jams and vehicles were sliding all over the place. The biggest problem came from the freezing conditions that followed as the skies cleared. I do not think that much can be done until the snow has landed.