But every other season I can remember we were open to Ruinettes by now. And currently there’s only a little of the real stuff in the shade (but not a lot). The rest is artificial.

Certainly not ideal.

It’s also certainly a lot less than normal but – and it’s a big one – it’s cold. Not baltic but consistently below freezing so the cannons are firing.

I remember about four season’s ago when we were short of snow at the start of the season, and it was warm. So the snow came, and didn’t settle well.

Today you really get the feeling that if we get some snow now it’ll settle on very cold ground and we’ll get the benefit of it all – not lose the first few days’ fall on wet ground.

So why haven’t we got any yet? Well, there’s been a big and unyielding area of high pressure over us. And all that swirling, unpleasant and wet weather that’s been lashing the west of Europe simply can’t push the high pressure away.

Which is why we have the same cold, clear weather over us. Have a look at the charts here – they give you a pretty clear idea of the front trying to smash through to the Alps and getting bounced away and off to the north and east by the high pressure.

Thing is, it might snow two feet next Friday and we’ll all forget about the stress and panic. So cross your fingers, keep an eye on the webcams and the weather forecasts (although don’t take them as gospel) and remember that massive fall back in October. Can happen again. And it always does.