British skiers make the most of the snow

More than six million people are reported to have taken the day off work yesterday, and more than 3,000 schools were shut due to the heavy snowfall. It was weather that many people have not seen for 18 years, and as a result many railway stations, bus stops or roads were closed or impassable. Many people headed instead for the nearest park or field instead to throw a few snowballs.

One North London skier told how she and some friends headed up to Primrose Hill yesterday with their skis, via the London Underground. "The reaction from everyone on the tube was pretty much as you'd expect, the odd raised eyebrow and I'm not sure everyone appreciated the safety factor of checking the tube map out on the way home to make sure we knew where we'd gone." "We bumped into some seasoned long-skis-with-rear-entry-boots chaps on the top of Primrose Hill, then bumped into some guys from our season and were able to hijack their kicker. We were mildly perturbed by the grassy nature of the run-up and the even-more-grassy landing, but we acquired an audience at the top cheering each descent and started feeling like celebrities. We then skied off down to the pub for a spot of après where we were unceremoniously refused Jaeger-bombs, Chartreuse and Genepy, so settled for pints of Amstel instead".