But, as pundits pointed out, serious snow has in recent decades fallen on London so rarely that investment in the sort of kit that might have kept the city moving snowploughs, bulldozing attachments for the fronts of trains and special tyres for buses, of the kind deployed in cities such as Moscow or Stockholm would not make sense.

ECONOMIST: Struggles and revels in the drifts

The theme of the speech, as many pundits have pointed out, was a move toward the center and a pledge to work with Republicans, while guiding the nation.

FORBES: Obama Shows Real Leadership at the State of the Union