The Weather in England has taken a dramatic turn for the worst. Currently at level 3 Current alert level: Level 3 - Cold Weather Action. One level below level 4 Red — National Emergency.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/cold-weather-alert/#?tab=coldWeatherAlert

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21004656

Currently there is about 10-20 millimeters depth of snow in some parts of
England. Snow flakes have even been observed in London

Hopefully when the National Emergency is declared that folks in England have the good sense to wear some extra thick wooly socks and put a winter coat on and even wear some gloves when risking there lives when venturing outdoors.

When I read this.. "4 inches of snow is almost a national emergency there?".. I'd like them to spend some time in North Dakota or Iowa when we had a winter like 2010...

But then I realized they probably are not used to this, and don't have the equiptment or the plans to deal with this every year... and Ice is Ice.. Doesn't really matter how much you get once it coats the roads and starts snapping the power lines...

This is also like when it reached 83 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska when I was up there in the late '80s. People died because of the heat. Mostly "pioneers" - old folks. Either way, dealing with out-of-the-ordinary weather is always tricky.

I was a little involved in the setting the new warning levels for weather in the UK introduced because people were confused with the old ones. now it looks as if the new system is not understood properly and is getting confused with other incident alerting systems.

WEATHER Alert Levels go:
Green, No Severe Weather
Yellow, Be Aware
Amber, Be Prepared
Red, Take Action

Red as a WEATHER alert is NOT a national emergency, I don't know where that has come from. Please read: Weather Warning Levels

There is another, different system used to inform health care and social services of the possible effects of long durations of COLD so hospital care may be prepared and provision made to look after the old and vulnerable. This involves a mix of temperature and duration to trigger the alerts which trigger the national 'Cold Weather Plan' responses.
UK Cold Weather Plan
Although it is not restricted in any way it is not really for public use, just local government and emergency services.

Global warming....hmmmm.

Thank you, Ian. That's a useful clarification.

10-20 mm of snow is only 1/2-1 inches.

People would barely notice that here. I often don't even bother to shovel such a piddling amount, although I did shovel the porch yesterday of about that amount that came Saturday. Threw out some salt too. The snow becomes ice and gets slippery when it is really cold.

This morning it was 6F - about -14C.

It was close to 50F a few days ago though.

Must not snow much in London.

Reminds me of when I was in London for a study-abroad project in college and they had about an inch of snow near the beginning of our two months there. Everyone was wigging out about it and to the students from my school, it was hilarious because we were from New England where an inch of snow is barely noticed. The people we were working with accused us of bringing it with us... but we said that if that were the case we would have brought a lot more!

It's not only England wigging out about snow. When I came back to NC, the first winter we had a snow storm warning. I won't forget the pic in the newspaper, two guys had a case of beer, 2 packs of Newports and some chips. They were ready. Sorta kinda.

It's all in how you have been raised I guess. DW and I don't notice snow much, except for the fact the loonies around here can't drive in it. They can't drive in rain either. Or clear weather.

Thank goodness that the snow flake didn't make it to the ground in London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S55RicXuS0o

Although the original link to the BBC report video seems to have had its commentary changed and now longer mentions the subject name of this thread.