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A hi-tech snow event

• Rory Cellan-Jones
• 2 Feb 09, 15:29 GMT

The heaviest snowfall in south east England since the early 1990s has brought out the best in the most technically-aware sections of the population - or the worst, if, like many in other parts of the country, you think this is just an excuse for soft Southerners to stay at home putting their feet up.

From late on Sunday, social networks - particularly Twitter - were alive with excited speculation about the arrival of the snow. Then on Monday morning, there was a new rush of information and photos, with useful detail about transport problems, school closures, and local snow conditions. I set off for school with a child this morning - and when we arrived. Rapidly, more information came my way advising me on how I might get to work. The web was working in a useful collaborative way.

But Ben Marsh went one step further. He's a web developer who was hanging around on Twitter on Sunday afternoon. "I was looking at snow-related posts. Someone had suggested putting a postcode and a rating of how much snow they were getting next to the #uksnow tag on Twitter. Someone else said it would be really nice to see that on a map, so I thought let's give it a whirl."

By Sunday evening he'd finished it, and as soon as he put a link to advertise it, began to take off. Now it's receiving reports from across Britain - and Northern France - giving details of snow conditions, plus the occasional picture.

Technology hasn't just made it easier to communicate about the effects of a weather emergency; it has probably lessened its economic impact. Plenty of people appear to have decided it is better to work from home rather than risk taking to the roads or public transport - just stick "working from home" into the Twitter search box to find out.

Some may be skiving, but others insist that the arrival of broadband has meant they are as effective at home on the laptop - or even more so - than they would be at their desk in the office. While I have manfully struggled my way into the office today (okay, I only live five miles away), I've found myself speaking to plenty of people on the phone who are working from home, without any apparent impact on their ability to do business.

Among them is Ben Marsh, who besides knocking up that map, has been working away for his web development firm from home. "I've got remote access, I'm straight in - and I've got everything here," he told me. And before you ask, Ben is not a soft Southerner - he lives in Derbyshire and getting to his office in Derby just hasn't been possible.