The thing is mike were just not equipped to deal with <extreme weather>of any kind in britain,be it snow, floods, or drought. other countries have had to invest and adapt to cope with snow and ice because they know they are guaranteed to get it for weeks/months at a time every year.where as for all we know this could all be gone in a day or two.
so unless this happens every year for weeks at a time for the next 2or3 decades i dont expect to see much in the way of investment to keep our roads and schools etc open let alone airports in the near future.
keep warm folks
ph.