A Soggy Year Is Capped Off By Snow...
 

LONDON, DEC. 28, 2000 (CBS News) - It's been one soggy year on this grey island — more so than most. Thanks to global climate change, or so scientists here think, England and Wales now get rain, rain, and more rain. Too much — even for the Brits. 

Flooding this year drove thousands from their homes, and there's been more than one stiff upper lip atremble on national television, describing the damage to their cottage or castle. 

It also meant the railway, already delayed by sweeping repairs, ground to a halt in many places due to submerged track. Planes were delayed by fog and soaked runways, and, well, it seems no one's gotten anywhere on time for about six months.
 

CBS

CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier

Then, as if the put-upon Pommes hadn't had enough, just days after Christmas, something fell out of the sky that no one's seen in a while — and I'm not talking about the paraglider that made that unannounced landing on Buckingham Palace. 

No, this was the genuine white stuff: snow. A dusting of about, oh, an inch or so.

And everything stopped.

The media spoke of "snow chaos." The radio warned people to stay off the roads. Kids were sorry it wasn't schooltime yet, so they could have had the day off.

But there was one group you would have thought would rejoice. The snow hit on the day of the English national bobsled championships. 

Surprise, surprise: It had to be cancelled. 

No one could get there. 

So much for the spirit of the Empire.