Last week’s snowy weather in parts of Britain proved once again that nothing is news to the BBC unless it affects London and south east England.

News 24 went into overdrive: Britain was at a standstill. Arctic conditions had overtaken the island and we were valiantly struggling on. Think of it as a wintry Dunkirk. Wyre Davies tried to look the intrepid reporter in the snow-swept Brecon Beacons. But the grass peeping through the snow confirmed this wasn’t 1963 or 1947. (And the A470 behind him looked easy-going for a Morris Minor, never mind a 4×4.) 

But much of Britain was unaffected by the snow, as the BBC news website sheepishly acknowledged. Many regions will have already experienced winter weather, but you’d never have known that from the BBC.

Talking of weather, why are the forecasts on the BBC weather website so often completely wrong? This weekend, they would have tempted you to cancel any plans to venture outside. Yet the heavy rain completely failed to materialise. Sunday was supposed to be the worst day, yet we enjoyed periods of lovely sunshine in Bucks and not a spot of rain.