£1billion for 4 inches of snow?!

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Apparently, the recent marginal snowfall which managed to bring this country to a near standstill yesterday and today, has cost British businesses in the region of £1billion+, and 1 in 5 people didn't get to work.

Anyone who lives in a country that normally can operate under several feet of snow with no disruption, or who is staggered when the UK grinds to a halt under a couple of inches of powder, may find these figures somewhat astounding. I know I do.

Particularly, because it strikes me on hearing it that a) £1bn is a fair way to giving everyone in rural Britain FTTH so they could contribute to their job wherever they were (the townies can walk to work presumably, most people in rural areas live miles from their jobs) and b) sets me to wondering how many of that 20% who didn't make it to work could have worked from home if the necessary infrastructures were in place and thereby reduced that incredible loss to British business.

Anyone care to hazard a guess on that second?

If we take it that even if the UK only had 10 days of 'disruptive weather' a year, (this is Britain, remember?! It rains constantly and when that happens we get life and property threatening floods on a boringly regular basis; when it snows, the country is brought to its knees; and when it is sunny, half the workforce pulls a sicky to sunbathe), the cost to business is enough to put FTTH in.

Has anyone got any figures on how much the weather costs this country's businesses? Surely there is enough financial justification for teleworking and remote system etc management just from the weather to put FTTH in?

Sadly, I am doubly dischuffed because the snow didn't make the slightest bit of difference to me. It snowed. The road was shut, but I work from home and all my clients know that. I still got out to the local shop though - a mere 10 mile jaunt to our nearest bread and milk seller. The Internet connectivity was as crap as every other day - still can't Skype the next village let alone my Canadian and American clients, and realistically it was actually probably worse than normal cos all those skiving gits were online flogging stuff on Ebay. Ho hum.