Twelve Days of Christmas bring gifts of cold comfort

WHILE every year people may dream of a white Christmas, this year’s deluge of snow has meant that instead of decking the halls with boughs of holly we have been injecting the walls with bales of insulation.

The cold snap (when does it become a severe breakage? — the only snap in recent days has been of ankles and wrists) has meant that instead of flocking to the shops for presents for our loved ones, many are preoccupied with stocking up with soup, winter woollies and — for those willing to venture beyond the nearest corner shop — snow chains and crampons.

At least one Halfords store on the island ran out of snow-chains in recent days and the rest were stretched to breaking point in their attempts to keep up with the surge in demand.