Snow could cost UK £14bn

RSA predicts that a day of severe snow could cost Britain's economy as much as £690m and as much as £14bn over three weeks.

During the snowstorm in February 2009, experts predicted that 20% of the UK's workforce, 6.4 million people, failed to turn up to work. The current bad weather is worse, meaning the UK's economic output will be hit to the tune of at least £14bn over the next three weeks.

Not only will business productivity fall, but local vendors will also suffer reduced turnover and may even be forced to close for the day due to the lack of trade and staff.

Grit and determination

Marc Charlton, Media Relations Manager at RSA, said, "In weather conditions such as these, especially with the worry about the lack of grit in some areas, it's imperative that businesses take extra precautions to help them continue trading.

“For those who work in offices, ensuring employees can log in to office systems from home will save businesses a lot of aggravation and lost revenue when staff are snowed in.

“It also means people won't feel they need to battle on dangerous roads to make it into the office. This is the third consecutive year we've seen snow like this - businesses must equip themselves to operate safely in conditions that keep their staff out of the office."