People who qualify for Cold Weather Payments should have received up to three payments of £25 so far this winter. Until last year this payment was only £8.50; it is paid each time the temperature stays below freezing for seven consecutive days. Those who receive the payment are those on Pension Credit, Income Support (if they have a disability premium or a child under 5) or income-based JSA or ESA with similar conditions.

All households including someone over 60 should also have received the £250 Winter Fuel Allowance (£400 if over 80). These payments did not exist until a few years ago.

Money helps to keep you warm, but more immediate concerns are the roads and deliveries of key supplies. Councils were advised in the summer that they should have at least six days supply of salt at all times, which means that it should be continually topped up during wintry weather. The salt mines have been working overtime to ensure that this standard of defence is maintained over the prolonged period of cold. Derbyshire, for obvious reasons, has always been a high spending authority on salt.

Roads are cleared according to a system of priorities agreed between the local authorities, police, emergency services and bus companies. Clearing roads is hampered by parked and abandoned cars and also by the very low temperatures. Salt does not combat ice effectively when temperatures are below –4 centigrade.

On this occasion so much effort went into the priority roads, with much good work rendered useless by further snowfall and heavy frost, that it was not possible to clear urban and minor roads to the standard everyone would wish.

Whilst local authorities and their employees did their best to keep our roads clear, the worst snows for 40 years presented a considerable challenge, requiring a degree of patience from all concerned.