As today's photo essay shows, winter is in full force across Europe, causing havoc with the lives of millions. Airports have shut down, roads are treacherous, and rail derailments are becoming a frequent occurrence. But most of the temperatures Europeans are complaining about aren't all that bad. Yeah, sure, it's a bit chilly, but come on:
Judith Moritz reports from Woodford in Cheshire, where temperature
overnight plunged to -17.6C, below that recommended for a domestic
freezer.
The high temperature over the holidays in my native Iowa reached that level once, or maybe twice. Edward Lucas, in The Daily Mail, agrees with my sentiment:
Timidly shivering in their badly insulated houses, or tottering along
unswept pavements in unsuitable footwear and inadequate clothes, the
British present a pathetic sight in winter.
Not just incompetent in the face of the challenge of a cold snap - but too often joyless to boot.
What a contrast to Russia and other East European countries where I have spent most of my adult life.
Despite my pooh-poohing, the cold-wave sweeping the continent is having a severe effect. British demand for gasoline is at a record high, a Eurostar train stalled in the Channel Tunnel, and rather sadly a million Scottish sheep are in danger of dying. Perhaps most distressing for Britons, a wave of football fixtures this week have been postponed, with even more games slated for this weekend put on hold.
Europe is lucky in one regard this winter. The ever-constant threat of gas flow disruptions, as a result of geopolitical arguments in eastern Europe, has yet to rear its head this season. The only hiccup this far has been a row between Belarus and Russia, with Belarus threatening to cut off the flow of gas to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad over an oil price dispute.
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