We were working on exactly the same information. We knew that snow was coming and that the depth forecast was 2cm to 5cm. The preparations that we put in hand—the deployment of gritters and the preparation of snowploughs ready to respond—were exactly in accord with the forecast that we were provided with and which was confirmed at one minute past eight on Monday morning.

I remind members that the reality was that the actual falls were in many cases more than twice the maximum prediction of 10cm of snow over the hills. The reality was that we had as much as 20cm—twice that maximum—in areas that could not be described sensibly as hills. We responded immediately to that and made sure that we moved resources from elsewhere in Scotland to respond to the unprecedented—a word that the police used—conditions that we faced.