Should we have been better prepared?

Light snow was predicted but the severity of the snowfall, coupled with high winds causing drifts, resulted in treacherous conditions and left many roads impassable.

People were quick to blame the gritters, or lack of them, but a reader left a thought provoking comment on our website when he asked - isn’t it time that motorists who travel in snow and ice with ill equipped vehicles should be prosecuted for creating a dangerous hazard?

We see footage of traffic moving freely through the snow in places like Sweden and Norway without always stopping to consider that these vehicles have been properly equipped with specialist tyres or snow socks.

As East Sussex County Council pointed out, gritters are not a magic solution - grit only works in certain conditions and would have made little difference where snow was drifting.

We had many reports of vehicles insisting on trying to get up icy Guestling Hill only to end up sliding broadside on. It is a wonder there was not a serious accident.

Surely blame has to be balanced with a modicum of common sense.