Hundreds gazed out of their windows as the first magical flakes of the season covered Surrey's landscape with a blanket of fluffy white snow on Thursday 12th January 2017. With the Met Office questionably predicting snowfall for some days now, our dreams finally came true when the first long-awaited sprinkling of snow finally appeared. 

 Some local schools such as St.Theresa’s of Effingham experienced not only a day filled with snow, but the benefit of frolicking in the fluffy white bliss during their snow day. Most schools however, were not so lucky.

However the heavenly belated Christmas snow has swiftly become treacherously icy in some places, affecting roads, railways and other transport links across London and South East England. The Met Office have issued flood warning and alerts across the country, including along the River Thames between Teddington Weir and Putney Bridge, and around the Dartford crossing.

 Emergency services have also taken to social media to remind the public to take extra care on roads, and TFL (Transport for London) have advised all users to check their website whilst planning their trip.

 Though snow is a welcome delight to most people (especially when greeted with “the real stuff” as of the most recent snowfall) some are more cautious about the disastrous consequences the weather can have on transport – and in short Luma Zaki put it “chaos on the roads”. Subsequently, TFL have attempted to alleviate disruption by de-icing trains using 100,000 tonnes of salt stockpiled across the South-East (enough to last up to 139 days’ worth of ice).

 Though the wintery bliss of snow cannot last all season, us Brit’s sure do enjoy it whilst it lasts!

By Munia Zaki

Notre Dame Senior School