The planet strikes back!

The Guardian pushes the joke a little too far, of course. If the passengers shivering in the tents at Heathrow could get their hands on the writer, he might be smiling on the other side of his face:

Freezing fog: what's not to like? I like to think I'm a caring kind of guy, even where arrogant sociopaths who pollute the skies are concerned, but - respect to all you air passengers huddled in your blankets out there - don't you think this might be the planet trying to tell you something?
And if, like me, you're lucky enough to be snug as a bug in a well-insulated home, doesn't this have to be one of the best environmental stories of the year? Don't you love Nature herself finally taking over, to ground the planes that helped make this the hottest year in history, forcing everyone on to trains and coaches instead? Sorry, but ever since this fog thing started, I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face.

But one cannot deny a certain schadenfreude in those of us who are not expecting to grace the European ski slopes over the festive season. And our (slightly) guilty pleasure would have been enhanced by the fact that Heathrow (that modern temple to greenhouse gases) seems to have borne the brunt of the disruption, were it not for the fact that it had knock-on effects everywhere else.