Will remote schooling make ‘snow days’ a thing of the past?

Grabbing his sledge from the shed, Will Gore heads out for fun on the hills

We pulled on boots and gloves, hats and scarves, and trooped off (Getty)

Last week’s snow caused my children great joy – for the most part. For 24 hours they had kept an eye on the weather forecast, glad to see the dark cloud and double flake symbol remaining stubbornly in place on Sunday’s chart. Sure enough, the snow came almost exactly to timetable, light specks falling at a little before 10am.

I thought for a while that we might get only a dusting. But by a quarter to 11, the flakes were falling fast and fat.

“It’s so beautiful!” whispered my son, who barely remembered our last big snow. “Like thousands of feathers.” He and I ventured outside, laughing as the snow blew into our mouths and settled on our jackets. The pond we built during the first Covid lockdown was frozen over and we wondered if the frogs that had made their home in it were alright.