There are 437,000 HGVs in the UK. At any time perhaps ~150,000 are on the road - they are used intensively. Assume half - 75,000 - high sided and vulnerable.

If on an exceptionally windy day, 150 end up on their side that is 2 in 1,000. Limiting HGVs to days when winds are forecast below a threshold set means that 998 out of 1,000 HGVs that would have got to their destination without incident would be delayed.

I also suspect it is wind gusts which cause the problem, not an averaged wind speed. These are hugely unpredictable and depend on precise wind direction, local topography, road camber, bridges, embankments, and even other vehicles moving close by.

The average numpty caught in a forecast snow storm is a fool thinking their own usually trivial mission is important, or "it won't happen to me - I am a driving god" deserves little sympathy.

But if Tescos run out of toilet tissue it is mainstream news prompting a shortage and riots.

Perhaps the insurance companies should have a clause stating that any HGV suffering damage due to driving in an area covered by a yellow amber or red warning would not be covered where the accident was deemed to be weather related.

Or perhaps they do.

Cue lawyers rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect! How often do weather reports get it wrong, whether significantly over-egging the chances of getting at all, affected area and/or seriousness of weather forecasted, or missing it completely?

Weather forecasting may be more accurate than it was 30 or 40 years ago, but in my experience they still aren't that accurate other than within an hour or two of an 'event', especially one that is so large that a blind man could see it coming.

I agree though that plans/ contingencies should be in place for businesses who rely on transporting goods - especially perishable ones like food or certain medicines - to allow for *some* disruption in their supply chains. Maybe food firms could build and share temporary storage facilities in strategic locations.

Over the past few years, we've seen how 'just in time' methodology only works well when transportation (and production) is not disrupted or to any great degree / for very long. Like with big delays on the rail network, often it's not just the delay to what your transporting the first time, its the knock-on delays because you reached your initial destination late, especially when the driver then has to take a mandated rest period and there's no-one to take over.

It may be a good deal more efficient when 'normal operations' are in effect, but even not accounting for weather disruptions or ones like the pandemic, one disruption in the chain can quickly lead to major negative consequences and for prolonged periods. Look what happened when that container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal.