At the time when I was writing last week’s column, I was stuck in London, unable to find a clear path to West Dorset.

Having heard what happened to the passengers on one of the Weymouth line trains, I am profoundly grateful not to have made that particular trip - I am currently investigating what needs to be done to make sure that we don’t have a repetition of this lamentable episode.

Given the increased likelihood of extreme weather events over coming decades due to climate change, it is particularly important that our systems should be ready to cope with such events in a way that prevents the inevitable inconvenience from being magnified into unnecessary suffering.

But I don’t think we should focus only on the things that went wrong during the snowstorm. By and large, the more striking point is the good work that was done to get everything moving again pretty rapidly.

Our various local councils at all levels don’t often get much praise for what they do. But it is right to note they each played their parts with considerable efficiency during this particular episode - as did Highways England on the trunk roads.

We shouldn’t forget the very hard work that council officers and other public servants, as well as their contractors put in on occasions like this. But of course, as always in West Dorset it wasn’t only the official bodies that played their part.

It would be quite impossible for the authorities to deal with the snow and ice at anything like the required pace if their efforts weren’t complemented by the farmers who come out to help clear the way on countless rural roads and lanes. We owe them, too, a substantial debt of gratitude